Show your favorite and most used benchtop PSU

[calmtron]

My current workhorse(s) are:

• A very Chineese "SAKO SK1731SL5A" bought new from Komerci oHG (two independent 0-30V / 0-5A outputs, one fixed 5V/3A output)

Likes:
- Cheap!
- Plenty of power (two independent 30V/5A max outputs that can be connected in series or parallell with a switch on the front panel)
- Simple construction, can be repaired by the village blacksmith (the most exotic component inside is a TL431 reference)
- Comes with a carrying handle to avoid broken back.
- Schematic available.

Dislikes:
- Has the same precision as a binge-drinking village blacksmith. No multiturn pots and 3-digit LED voltage and current meters makes it impossible to set precise voltage and/or current limit. Hooking up a LED to it in CC mode is a bit of a gamble.
- Feels a bit flimsy and plasticy despite weighing as much as a small tank.
- Not the greatest regulation. Can be made to act funny with nasty loads. Drifts a bit when warming up.

• An equally Norwegian Mascot 7416 battery eliminator (8-16V) which powers my RTL-SDR / HAM stuff (13.8V)

Likes:
- Simple construction, again. Bog-standard LM723 circuit really.

Dislikes:
- No current limit, despite being very simple to implement with the LM723. Instead, it blows a fuse on the PCB on overload. 

[smashedProton]

Here is a pic of my power supply.  I had to add some new hardware to bring the voltage indicator in spec.

[nukie]

I finally found time to gather all of them and have a family picture. I know it says favourite and most used but I have many power supplies but non really fit the bill, so I switch between them depending on the projects I am working on.

The Kenwood PAR20-4H is the most used and it has 3 preset memory voltages and lots of function, I love the output on/off toggle switch on this. It also has incredible precision current adjustment down to 0.1mA and also front connection for remote sensing. Rotary encoder knob is very cool to control fine tune or coarse and nothing to wear out! Quite easy to use without the manual. The only problem is the 20V output limit. It has small vent holes all over the case welcome the collection of dust so annual maintenance is required. The massive transformer can be configured from input 100 to 240V. It is also very heavy at 8Kg.

The Kikusui PMC18-2A has a very small form factor, it is very short length suitable for small benches. Output on/off toggle is great. It hums happily at 60% load. Similar to the Kenwood the mains transformer can be rewired for various parts of the world. I would recommend this power supply if you only need less than 2A, it is easily available used, Made in Japan. The Kenwood replace the portable Kikusui on most occasions.

HP E3610A, this is my first commercial power supply, the cover melted when I tried to bake it after cleaning silly me... It's a very simple power supply, easy learn from and understand the inner workings. Very robust power supply lasted me for a long time. Replaced by E3615A due to limited wattage.

HP E3615A, similar to the E3610A except it is longer and heavier. No output on/off toggle, not good enough.

Philips PM2811, lots of features I don't need. I use this when I need high voltage, it goes up to 60V 5A. Illuminated LCD display, output on/off toggle, GPIB Output connection from rear screw terminals, no banana jacks, noisy fan.

All of them are linear power supply except the Philips SMPS with noisy fan .

[Shock]

Manson DPD-3030 Triple Output, Dual Tracking DC Regulated Linear Power Supply


Input Voltage:
Supports 110VAC up to 240VAC 50/60Hz and everything in-between)
Outputs:
Master/Slave: 0-30VDC 3A (per supply)
Series: 0-60VDC 3A
Parallel: 0-30VDC 6A
Aux: 1.5-6VDC 5A

Ripple noise (less than) 1mV
Load Current regulation 0.2% + 3mA
Line Current regulation 0.2% + 3mA
Ripple Current (less than) 3mA R.M.S.
Recovery Time less than 100 micro second

[SLJ]

So I just bought a Power Designs 2005. This will be the second Power Designs in my collection.  Bought it more for taking it apart and calibrating it.  Could not resist since the voltage controls on this are pretty unique. 



Now to find a service manual download for it.  Might be the hardest part.

[robrenz]

The 2005A manual is readily available but that 2005 is much older. Manuals Plus has the 2005 for $25.00

[SLJ]

The 2005A manual is readily available but that 2005 is much older. Manuals Plus has the 2005 for $25.00

Yea, but that's half of what I paid for the power supply.  Not gonna happen.


Here's what I found on-line for the 2005:
http://www.rako.com/Articles/29.html

[Fryguy]

My beloved source of power :

The Philips PE 1645

Output front and/or rear : 0-40V 0-25A DC

A classic linear benchtop PSU - capable of starting up or burning down almost any load 
This beast weighs about 40 Kg and is nearly indestructible by design .
I bought it at an amateur radio and electronics fair for 150,- EYPOs and it had just a broken cooling fan - a real bargain .
And by accident i bought the exact fitting replacement fan (a brand new Papst fan with ball bearings) a couple of weeks earlier at another fair for 1,- EYPO   

[robrenz]

My Power Designs supplies have a new friend. I just completed the physical restoration on it today  Specs are better on paper than the PD precision units but I have to do calibration and testing to find out. It is definitely better on CC accuracy and stability since it has specs on CC and the PD's do not. Restoration thread here.

[carbon dude oxide]

here is my first and only PSU. its made from an ATX computer supply abd con provide 12v, 5v, 3.3v and -12v the 12, 5 and 3.3 can all provide 4A per plug and the -12V can provide 0.5A. It does also ahve 2 earth connections which connect straight to earth via the iec cable.

i built this and integrated it into my desk as i always use it there (and i did not have any boxes big enough for it

its nice it does the job but i would like to make a nice portable one which will be my next project after i have finished my nixie tube clock i am currently thinking on some nice blue 7 segment displays to show the voltages in a nice rugged case, i dont want it just to perform very well i would like it to look nice too

either way here is my current intergrated supply:
 

[david77]

I've recently finished another power supply, as I had felt the need for a tracking low power PSU for some time.
I did not want to re-invent the wheel, so I settled upon copying part of a rather old but proven HP design, the HP 6236B. However I did not bother with 0-6V supply, only the dual tracking 0-20V part of it.
It's all packaged in a case made from PCB off-cuts soldered together and made from junk box parts I had laying around, the only thing I had to buy was a 10 turn pot. The one I had turned out to be broken, even though it was new and unused  .

[steve30]

david77, looks nice

Where are the meters from?

[toli]

Nice!

here's my favorite:






You can find more info and pics here:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/calibrating-the-analog-voltmeter-on-a-ps/

Got it for a crazy good price

After that I got another one which is 2X30V/5A and cost me just slightly more, but its nowhere as good so I use the weaker unit most of the time. Except for driving the motors where these 10A are quite useful
The other one can be found here:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/old-sunrise-regulated-dc-power-supply-rps3205/msg148815/#msg148815

[david77]

david77, looks nice

Where are the meters from?

I don't know, probably some old industrial equipment. They had °C scales that I had to change.
These meters were actually quite interesting, they could be described as analog mechanical window comparators. They used to have two tiny knobs each controlling a red pointer on the scale, so one could set a minimum point and a maximum point. There's a circuit board inside with electronics to detect the position of the needle and relay outputs for min and max.
I ripped all that crap out.

[dr.diesel]

They had °C scales that I had to change.

How'd you do it?  Print a new scale on paper/clear plastic and carefully tape it on?

[PedroDaGr8]

david77, looks nice

Where are the meters from?

I don't know, probably some old industrial equipment. They had °C scales that I had to change.
These meters were actually quite interesting, they could be described as analog mechanical window comparators. They used to have two tiny knobs each controlling a red pointer on the scale, so one could set a minimum point and a maximum point. There's a circuit board inside with electronics to detect the position of the needle and relay outputs for min and max.
I ripped all that crap out.

it is an analog temp controller of the most basic forum. See the attached image, from an ancient centrifuge in my lab, for a similar version. The lower is the set temp, the upper is the alarm temp (above which the centrifuge will not start).

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 4 Beta

[david77]

They had °C scales that I had to change.

How'd you do it?  Print a new scale on paper/clear plastic and carefully tape it on?

I take the original scale and scan that into Photoshop where I then alter it to what I need. Then I simply print it on normal A4 paper and use a glue-stick to glue the new scale over the original.
This way I don't have to deal with creating new scale dividers or where the start and end of the scale are. I'm a lazy bastard  .

[IvoS]

I hacked power supply design from AMB (sigma11) and made it adjustable with overcurrent protection, dual power supply , in-series connection capable. The output noise is around 40uV.

[robrenz]

Very nice!  How are you measuring the noise at that level, and is that rms or pp?

[toli]

I have a sigma11 to power my headphones amp as well, but its not variable, 24V only

BTW, I measure noise with tangents LNMP. The Sigma11 measured quite well, although I've seen better

[fpliuzzi]

@robrenz,
If you're curious the Tangentsoft LNMP (Low Noise Measurement Preamplifier) is described here...

http://tangentsoft.net/elec/lnmp/

At one point I was thinking about building one of these nice preamps myself, but then I came across a good deal on an HP461A amplifier (1Khz- 150MHz bandwidth, 20dB or 40dB of gain). I noticed the HP461A being used in the test setups shown in a few of the app-notes by Jim Williams. The HP is just another option to ponder.

Regards,
Frank

ps,  I really like what you did with your AMB (sigma11) power supply IvoS. Nice work.

[robrenz]

@fpliuzzi

Thanks for the info. I looked at that amp but ended up getting a Tek 7A22 differential amplifier for my 7603. Goes to 10µV/div. Also picked up a HP 3410A  AC microvoltmeter that I am anxious to try out for noise measurement. It goes down to 3µV full scale.

[Electro Fan]

Hi

My, at the time, most used PSU!

HP / Agilent E3632a

0-15V @ 7A
0-30V @ 4A
1 mV and 1 mA res.

The only dislikes are:
Loud fan..
And I think it is too much "work" just set the Voltage and amp. I prefere the analog style where you just turn the damn knob.

- Mads

I posted photos + a small video here: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/hp-agilent-e3632a-120w-supply/

- Did you mean that you would prefer having two separate knobs to control amps and volts, or did you mean you would rather have an analog knob instead of the rotary encoder, or were you saying you would like to some other type of control interface?  Thanks

[sync]

These are my preferred bench power supplies. I use the E3610A for single voltages and the 6236B for symmetrical ones. I moded the 6236B with a 10 turn pot for the 20V adjustment and added a variable current limit using the tracking pot.

I also have a HP 6234A (dual 30V/200mA). Nice little unit which is easy potable.
A Voltcraft VLP-2403 pro (dual 40V/3A) piece of shit.
A Nucletron NU1101. It's a linear 1000V/10mA supply.
A HP 6181B current source (250mA/120V).
And a few old self build supplies that i don't use any more.

[IvoS]

Very nice!  How are you measuring the noise at that level, and is that rms or pp?

rms. I have a low noise preamp just for this purpose:
http://tangentsoft.net/elec/lnmp/