I'm new to electronics and decided to learn something new by trying to put together a small rectifier circuit that converts 24VAC to DC. So I put together a little full-wave rectifier circuit that consists of four diodes and an LED and ran into an issue when I tried to measure the DC output.
![IMG04.jpg IMG04.jpg](https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/data/attachments/267/267914-6cb7bbb87d643856db2d081dbe27070d.jpg)
This is a diagram of the circuit I put together on a breadboard and how I connected the probe of my oscilloscope to test it (btw I know the LED should have a resistor in the circuit). The next image is a screenshot of the half-wave rectification reading I am getting on the oscilloscope without the LED as a load, so DC positive connected to probe and DC negative connected to probe GND.
![PNG02.png PNG02.png](https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/data/attachments/267/267915-7652917d30da90bca37602b544b609bd.jpg)
But when I add the LED to the circuit as shown in the diagram, this is the reading I get.
![PNG03.png PNG03.png](https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/data/attachments/267/267916-3bc2d7b3d1d56d86c44cbc5704cc9cd2.jpg)
So after that, I decided to test the transformer alone connecting it to the oscilloscope like this.
![IMG05.jpg IMG05.jpg](https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/data/attachments/267/267917-a8fd883ed0ed3b3a05c6a64f6a7316b7.jpg)
![PNG01.png PNG01.png](https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/data/attachments/267/267918-dd2f0867536f976d2ce33a3d00934907.jpg)
The transformer seems to have no problem. It's just there to step-down 120VAC mains to 24VAC for testing.
If anyone possibly knows why I'm getting a half-wave rectification out of a full-wave rectifier circuit, I would really appreciate the help.
![IMG04.jpg IMG04.jpg](https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/data/attachments/267/267914-6cb7bbb87d643856db2d081dbe27070d.jpg)
This is a diagram of the circuit I put together on a breadboard and how I connected the probe of my oscilloscope to test it (btw I know the LED should have a resistor in the circuit). The next image is a screenshot of the half-wave rectification reading I am getting on the oscilloscope without the LED as a load, so DC positive connected to probe and DC negative connected to probe GND.
![PNG02.png PNG02.png](https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/data/attachments/267/267915-7652917d30da90bca37602b544b609bd.jpg)
But when I add the LED to the circuit as shown in the diagram, this is the reading I get.
![PNG03.png PNG03.png](https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/data/attachments/267/267916-3bc2d7b3d1d56d86c44cbc5704cc9cd2.jpg)
So after that, I decided to test the transformer alone connecting it to the oscilloscope like this.
![IMG05.jpg IMG05.jpg](https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/data/attachments/267/267917-a8fd883ed0ed3b3a05c6a64f6a7316b7.jpg)
![PNG01.png PNG01.png](https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/data/attachments/267/267918-dd2f0867536f976d2ce33a3d00934907.jpg)
The transformer seems to have no problem. It's just there to step-down 120VAC mains to 24VAC for testing.
If anyone possibly knows why I'm getting a half-wave rectification out of a full-wave rectifier circuit, I would really appreciate the help.