converting pc power supply to bench power supply!

[bd139]

My first bench supply was a repurposed car battery charger I found in a skip. I added an LM723 and 2n3055 pass transistor. Heatsink was from an old amplifier I tore to bits which the transformer had smoked. Had settable 100mA, 500mA and 2A current limits. Did 1.2-15v which was enough for me at the time. Had fantastic stability, noise, transient response and regulation, better than some commercial kit!

Probably still works today. It’s in my parents’ loft unless they’ve chucked it out.

Really you can build your own for virtually nothing.

[SeanB]

Still got the one I made from an old thinnet hub, using some 317 regulators on old CPU heatsinks. Should pull it out and see if it still works.