Show your favorite and most used benchtop PSU

[Mark Hennessy]

Hello Mark

Thank you very much for the information.
I rescued this Power Supply from a WEEE bin which was sitting just outside SCAR before decommissioning works commenced. Being from SCAR or somewhere thereabouts, my guess is that it belonged to one of the News engineers.
The next problem was that it could not be logged onto the system as a working bit of kit to be redistributed as a) it was found in a bin and it did not power up at all and b) it was neither asset marked, bore a serial number nor had any brand name on it (it is now clear why). Basically nobody was interested in keeping it for redistribution so I asked if I could keep it and repair it. Permission was granted.
Once I got down to repairing it, I found that the secondary of the transformer was disconnected and none of the power transistors were screwed to the side of the case. I remedied these faults and it did then power up but had an intermittent fault which I eventually traced down to one of the wires being disconnected from the current / voltage readout selection switch. It was difficult to detect this fault because the Hellermann sleeve was holding the wire in place.
I wonder if the original owner could be found and whether or not they would like their lovely little power supply returned to them in working order?

Thanks for the update - yes, plenty of News engineers built those over the years. Of course, there would be no way of pinning it down to an individual, sadly. Keep it and enjoy it

Sounds like it was taken apart after it left me - perhaps because of that bad connection. There should have been a rectangle of Sil-pad and a couple of spring clips to secure the devices to the side, which I presume you were able to piece together?

I'm still working on getting permission to publish the details - just been far too busy to get my act together over the last few weeks, but as it's a very "generic" design, I'm confident it'll be fine. I'll probably put the details up on my website...

All the best,

Mark

[London Lad]

Here is my little collection.

[minime72706]

Though my main power supply, which I picked up a few years ago on eBay (new), is a BK Precision 1672 triple-output monstrosity, I recently got another one. Since it hasn't entered the mess of wires that is my workbench, it's easier to post photos of this one. I got it because it was smaller, though not lighter, and because it had an output voltage up to 60V. I can attain 60V with my 1672, but I wanted a single supply (technically dual) that could do the same.

I got it from a fairly local distributor known for their dealings with educational institutions, Electronix Express. What I bought was their part number "6003LK-2", which is advertised as a RSR Electronics product (Their parent company), but actually ended up being a Vizatek product. No matter the details, though.

I paid $145 for it and think I'll end up being happy with it; however, I wish the panel meters were more accurate.
In the picture below, I am measuring the current and voltage with my Fluke 117 and 85V respectively. The load ended up being the closest thing nearby when I decided to take a picture, a random 2W multi-turn potentiometer. I plan to someday build my own linear supply with readout accuracy down to 1mV, which I'll likely be very very anal about, but I'm not quite satisfied with what I see here. The current measurement is off quite a bit at low values, which is a problem in my book.



It has the most enormous torroidal transformer I've ever seen inside of it.
It also has a fan that seems to be on constantly, which is annoying. The same goes for my 1672.

Also, though the BK Precision 1672 also only shows current and voltage with 0.01 units accuracy, I found the panel meters matched my DMMs very closely in comparison.

I'd still buy another if I needed it, or maybe something similar. You can do pretty well in this price range.
I'm repairing some BK Precision 1630 DC power supplies from the early 90's for my former electronics instructor at my former High School and they're still working just fine despite heavy abuse. The main issue was that the cheap plastic front panel seems to have leeched its plasticizer, which made it brittle and caused it to crack. I imagine that product had a similar cost when it was new.

[Maximus]

I recently got a used BK precision 1660A power supply for $160 off ebay.  It works great, and at a glance its still within its specs and all the meters are still accurate.  The only issue is that the 4v-6.5v output tops out at 6.3 volts which is within its specified range but hardly ideal.  I think i will see if i can adjust it a little to get the full output range.  As a broke student, this seemed to be the best i could find in my budget. Its a HUGE improvement over the cheesy little one I built myself.



The little white arrows mark where the 12V and 60mA settings are on the 30V outputs, and where 5v is for the 6.5V output.  They were on it when i got it.

[minime72706]

I recently got a used BK precision 1660A power supply for $160 off ebay.  It works great, and at a glance its still within its specs and all the meters are still accurate.  The only issue is that the 4v-6.5v output tops out at 6.3 volts which is within its specified range but hardly ideal.  I think i will see if i can adjust it a little to get the full output range.  As a broke student, this seemed to be the best i could find in my budget. Its a HUGE improvement over the cheesy little one I built myself.



The little white arrows mark where the 12V and 60mA settings are on the 30V outputs, and where 5v is for the 6.5V output.  They were on it when i got it.

You may be fine since the entire front panel is covered in a metal "sticker", but that plastic front panel is bound to be EXTREMELY brittle. They used bad plastic in the early 90's and it becomes very brittle with time.

[idpromnut]

Thought I might throw mine in as well, thanks to suggestions on this thread

[c4757p]

I didn't know PD ever made supplies with digital readouts.

[staxquad]

Thought I might throw mine in as well, thanks to suggestions on this thread

who let the dogs out?

nice wide range

robrenz didn't need to see those (won't take more than 6 months to acquire one would be my guess)   

At 12 supplies I really have to stop.....  don't I....? ? ? 

[robrenz]

That really hurt 

[idpromnut]

I didn't know PD ever made supplies with digital readouts.

The 'C' and 'D' variants of this model were the only digital readouts that I found on ebay when I was looking.

[idpromnut]

That really hurt 

Dude, I understand the obsession... I've been eye-ballin' this baby for the last few days: eBay auction: #321272134668

[don.r]

They do a rack mount twin version of the 6050 in both analog and digital. I prefer the single versions myself. I thought about getting a 6050D and saw 3 for sale on eBay once for about $200 for the set. Felt I had enough PSUs at 3 though.

[idpromnut]

Each of those were ~100$ delivered from the US to up here in Canada. Vivre-la USPS!

[don.r]

My 2020A was delivered USPS as well from the States. I think it was $25 or so. Bargain.

[robrenz]

Dude, I understand the obsession... I've been eye-ballin' this baby for the last few days: eBay auction: #321272134668

I have 2 newer model 2005's that I have cleaned switches, pots, replaced neons, calibrated and full load tested for 24hours. They will have a calibration sheet with my 8846A .0024% as the reference that I will be selling. (replaced by HP611X supplies)

[idpromnut]

Dude, I understand the obsession... I've been eye-ballin' this baby for the last few days: eBay auction: #321272134668

I have 2 newer model 2005's that I have cleaned switches, pots, replaced neons, calibrated and full load tested for 24hours. They will have a calibration sheet with my 8846A .0024% as the reference that I will be selling. (replaced by HP611X supplies)

Awe, now that is just being cruel and unusual! 

[SLJ]

I have 2 newer model 2005's that I have cleaned switches, pots, replaced neons, calibrated and full load tested for 24hours. They will have a calibration sheet with my 8846A .0024% as the reference that I will be selling. (replaced by HP611X supplies)

Nice, I might be interested in one when your ready to sell them.

[Terabyte2007]

Here are my main unit's. I have a couple others that are not used much currently. I have my eye on a Rigol to replace all of these.

[idpromnut]

Oh, and I did a quick test, and as far as I can measure, those 6050 supplies can sustain the full 5A max rated current over just 1mV.   

Awesome. 

[robrenz]

I did some similar testing here thru reply #32.  Shows the resistance of your shorting bar has a large impact on what voltage you read.

[idpromnut]

Yes, I was reading that thread, which made me curious as to how my supplies performed. I ended up using a small piece of solid copper wire (14AWG, standard household electrical wiring) as my short.

[PeteJM]

Just picked up an AMREL PPS 35-2D.  User on the bay was selling it for $100 because he could not turn it on due to not having a 230 AC system in place.  Luckally, I happen to have used this type of AMREL before and knew it had a switch inside for 115/230.  Swapped it over when I received it, and it powered on like a champ!  Accurate to within +/-10mV

Pics to Follow when I get home.

[BravoV]

.... (replaced by HP611X supplies)

Assuming with the aim for 1 to 1 replacement, looks like cheap & used 611x will be vanished in the market soon. 

[robrenz]

Just got my second and last 6114A and only looking for a third and last 6115A so I can do a precision 300V that's it, no more!
All my Power Designs will be available as I get a chance to fully clean,test and calibrate them.  The PD's are great and almost as good on Volts as the 611X's but they were never designed for stable current supply like the HP's. Also the HP's rear connections allow every kind of parallel, series, tracking, ratio tracking, etc., connection for multiple units.  You can even disconnect the output cap from the rear terminals for sensitive current limiting.

[BravoV]

.... that's it, no more!

Sounds quite convincing, but I don't buy it. 

And please, stop exposing it's powerful features, I still don't have enough yet, at least still stalking for 6114A to company my 6115A.