how to connect a full wave bridge rectifier on a veroboard
- Thread starter benjazzy
- Start date
A veroboard is very similar to a breadboard, except with a veroboard you can control where the breaks are.
Strips run horizontally across the board connecting all tracks in one row. You break a track to separate them. This is usually done by using a 5mm drill bit and turning it at the pin at which you want to break. You can also get a specialised tool which is essentially a drill bit and a handle, this makes breaking tracks much easier. The ability to control where the breaks are allows for much more flexibility. Breaking a track is semi permanent: you can't put it back, but you can solder a piece of wire between two tracks to bridge the gap, if you make a mistake.
Have a look at this veroboard I designed for a project of mine. I didn't get around to finishing it, but it should give you an idea. I designed this in Inkscape, drawing the components myself, but you should be able to use any good CAD program or even a basic image editor such as Paint on Windows.
Unfortunately it seems vBulletin has converted it to a JPEG, ruining the nice look of the original image. Ah well.
Strips run horizontally across the board connecting all tracks in one row. You break a track to separate them. This is usually done by using a 5mm drill bit and turning it at the pin at which you want to break. You can also get a specialised tool which is essentially a drill bit and a handle, this makes breaking tracks much easier. The ability to control where the breaks are allows for much more flexibility. Breaking a track is semi permanent: you can't put it back, but you can solder a piece of wire between two tracks to bridge the gap, if you make a mistake.
Have a look at this veroboard I designed for a project of mine. I didn't get around to finishing it, but it should give you an idea. I designed this in Inkscape, drawing the components myself, but you should be able to use any good CAD program or even a basic image editor such as Paint on Windows.
Unfortunately it seems vBulletin has converted it to a JPEG, ruining the nice look of the original image. Ah well.
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What components do you have?
Note that you should use a fuse in the wiring on the mains side of the transformer. This will protect the rest of the project in case the transformer develops a fault.
Note that all mains wiring needs to be insulated using shrink tubing, preferably two layers. Don't use "electrical tape", as the glue will get gummy over time and the tape will fall off.
If the transformer has a center tap in the secondary (or dual secondary windings of the same voltage), you can make a full-wave rectifier by grounding the center tap and use just one diode per winding end.
If there is just one secondary, you will need to use four diodes to create a full-wave bridge rectifier. 1N400x and 1N540x (x=1 to 7) diodes are very commonly used.
You will also need a filter capacitor.
What regulator do you have?
A 7805 series regulator requires one 0.33uF (330nF) cap on the input to ground, and a 0.1uF (100nF) cap on the output to ground. These two capacitors can be ceramic or metal poly film, and should be located as close to the regulator as possible.
Note that you should use a fuse in the wiring on the mains side of the transformer. This will protect the rest of the project in case the transformer develops a fault.
Note that all mains wiring needs to be insulated using shrink tubing, preferably two layers. Don't use "electrical tape", as the glue will get gummy over time and the tape will fall off.
If the transformer has a center tap in the secondary (or dual secondary windings of the same voltage), you can make a full-wave rectifier by grounding the center tap and use just one diode per winding end.
If there is just one secondary, you will need to use four diodes to create a full-wave bridge rectifier. 1N400x and 1N540x (x=1 to 7) diodes are very commonly used.
You will also need a filter capacitor.
What regulator do you have?
A 7805 series regulator requires one 0.33uF (330nF) cap on the input to ground, and a 0.1uF (100nF) cap on the output to ground. These two capacitors can be ceramic or metal poly film, and should be located as close to the regulator as possible.
