How many PSU's needed for electronic design

[tautech]

Hi,

How many PSU's do you generally need to have in your electronics lab for electronic design. I think in tems of  designing and testing  circuits with transistors, opamps etc. In my opinion one triple output PSU or three single output PSU's are enough, but I could be wrong.

regards,
Rob

On my bench, I have a triple-output variable power supply.   A Rigol DP832A to be exact.  This is sufficient for almost all of my work.   In fact, it would be sufficient if it went to 60V instead of just 30V.   

Can't you put it in series mode for 60V ?   

I could, but I typically need 48V and 24V at the same time.   And need them isolated.

Then you need another PSU. 

I've also found having a 10A supply to be useful at times....

And another to parallel the outputs for more current. 

[CJay]

I can only repeat what others have said about lead acids, they're very dangerous if not used *and charged* correctly.

For my needs, I've got a 0-30V, 10 amp supply, a TOPS3D 3 output dual tracking and 4-7V variable supply (tortuous description but...) and a Farnell L30BT which is dual 0-30V 1 amp.

I find I use the 10 amp supply most often as I repair transceivers, the TOPS3D is useful for audio work and the L30BT, it's not really used that much now, I could probably sell it and not miss it.

For higher power radio gear I use a couple of 17AH SLA batteries, fused at 50 amps and charged with a caravan battery charger which has an SLA mode.

[forrestc]

Then you need another PSU. 

I've also found having a 10A supply to be useful at times....

And another to parallel the outputs for more current. 

Yep....  or just a second one which does 60V at 10A, which is what I seem to have on my bench in addition to the three-output DP832A......

[setq]

As for the car battery dude, apparently they make pretty good ripple free supplies that can shift some serious current. He sells commercial MSF receivers for remote sites that were developed with this as a power supply.

I'm a big fan of making do. If you're caught short, you already know how to get out of a hole.

Yes, lead acid batteries can make quite good supplies, especially if you don't have anything else suitable. But make sure they are appropriately fused!  To this day, I still have a burn mark on my breadboard from not following this advice...

A 10 ohm resistor in series with your circuit makes a cheap 1.2A slow-blow fuse with visual and olfactory indication

[ZeTeX]

all
all of them
you can't have too many PSU's, the more the better.

[uncle_bob]

all
all of them
you can't have too many PSU's, the more the better.

Hi

That's pretty much been my approach to test gear in general....

Bob

[Rob Sims]

Thanks guys for the advice. It's all clear now.

[System Error Message]

as many as you can get your hands on. If you end up with thousands of PSUs than you have many spares, lots of spare components and lots of things you can work on at the same time (or seperately provide different voltage power rails).

[dannyf]

"How many PSU's do you generally need to "

I don't do much high powered high current stuff anymore. So I primarily use a laptop power supply (20v 6amp) down to 12v, 5v, 3.3v.

Otherwise, I use phone chargers regularly or battery banks as power sources regularly. Most of the time I don't need more 500ma and 100ma is good enough.

Having a whimpy power supply is a blessing and a safety feature.