Hi,
I'd like to build a bench power supply and feel comfortable with building a variable regulated DC supply, however it might be a bit more interesting and economical to attempt a dual output one that can provide AC or DC current, between 1.5v and 12v at 3-5amps. If someone can offer any warnings or pointers to get me heading in the right direction, i'd be most grateful!
A few of my thoughts on how to aproach the project:
Use a multi-tapped transformer - though i haven't found a suitable one.
Find a second-hand variac and build a separate transformerless DC module. (i like the sound of this, though variacs are a tad pricey!)
(this is a bit of a wild one) I've noticed that when fed a half rectified signal the LM338 chip will adjust it according to the ref voltage as with DC. There are also versions of the chip that handle negative potentials. So is it possible to adjust the voltage of each half of the AC signal separately then draw the output across both? If possible i could maybe get a variable supply with a simple 12-0-12 transformer.
It might be prudent to employ some sort current/voltage restrictors (a variable circuit breaker would be good).
Sorry if this is a bit of a noobish post but i've not got to the AC section yet but need to do some tinkering in the meantime!
I'd like to build a bench power supply and feel comfortable with building a variable regulated DC supply, however it might be a bit more interesting and economical to attempt a dual output one that can provide AC or DC current, between 1.5v and 12v at 3-5amps. If someone can offer any warnings or pointers to get me heading in the right direction, i'd be most grateful!
A few of my thoughts on how to aproach the project:
Use a multi-tapped transformer - though i haven't found a suitable one.
Find a second-hand variac and build a separate transformerless DC module. (i like the sound of this, though variacs are a tad pricey!)
(this is a bit of a wild one) I've noticed that when fed a half rectified signal the LM338 chip will adjust it according to the ref voltage as with DC. There are also versions of the chip that handle negative potentials. So is it possible to adjust the voltage of each half of the AC signal separately then draw the output across both? If possible i could maybe get a variable supply with a simple 12-0-12 transformer.
It might be prudent to employ some sort current/voltage restrictors (a variable circuit breaker would be good).
Sorry if this is a bit of a noobish post but i've not got to the AC section yet but need to do some tinkering in the meantime!