looking for a new psu

[electronics man]

im looking for a new bench power supply for my lab, i have a budget of about £320, i would love a rigol Dp832 but it is too big for my bench, I have looked at the siglent SPD3033D http://www.siglent.eu/power-supply/spd3303d.html, the GUI looks very nice on this psu, it does look good enough for me and im not looking for anything super presision, all i need to know is is this supply well built and going to last me, if not could someone recormend one for me?

[PedroDaGr8]

im looking for a new bench power supply for my lab, i have a budget of about £320, i would love a rigol Dp832 but it is too big for my bench, I have looked at the siglent SPD3033D http://www.siglent.eu/power-supply/spd3303d.html, the GUI looks very nice on this psu, it does look good enough for me and im not looking for anything super presision, all i need to know is is this supply well built and going to last me, if not could someone recormend one for me?

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/siglent-spd3303d-review/

It's Siglent, way too new to know if it will last. Some will say its chinese crap so maybe it won't last. Others will say its built well enough maybe it will. The big thing I see is that CH3 has HORRIBLE overshoot problems. This will outright kill anything sensitive you have attached to that line if you aren't careful.

Honestly, with PSUs its much better to look for older used PSUs. Thats where the real value is.

[electronics man]

I don't think it seems too bad at all, I think the third channel isn't such a bad thing for me.

[electronics man]

Mabe they have fixed the problem?

[nanofrog]

Mabe they have fixed the problem?

Why the aversion to used?

As PedroDaGr8 stated, they offer rock solid performance at pennies on the original MSRP's. Can't beat that value vs. the Chinese supplies available, and although may be nice, digital interfaces aren't critical for a PSU at all.

If the DUT is very sensitive to voltage or current, just check it at the DUT with a DMM for an accurate reading, and adjust the supply accordingly (takes voltage drop of the wire between the PSU and DUT into account).

Thurlby-Thandar, aka TTi (current listings), would be one that should come up often enough in eBay.co.uk for example.

UK members would probably be better at specific brand/model recommendations beyond the TTi listings I linked (i.e. less common/popular than HP/Agilent for example), that wouldn't make your wallet scream for mercy and get you a PSU that would kick the Siglent or Rigol to the curb performance wise. BTW, the older units also tend to be easy to fix should something fail.

[electronics man]

Mabe they have fixed the problem?

Why the aversion to used?

As PedroDaGr8 stated, they offer rock solid performance at pennies on the original MSRP's. Can't beat that value vs. the Chinese supplies available, and although may be nice, digital interfaces aren't critical for a PSU at all.

If the DUT is very sensitive to voltage or current, just check it at the DUT with a DMM for an accurate reading, and adjust the supply accordingly (takes voltage drop of the wire between the PSU and DUT into account).

Thurlby-Thandar, aka TTi (current listings), would be one that should come up often enough in eBay.co.uk for example.

UK members would probably be better at specific brand/model recommendations beyond the TTi listings I linked (i.e. less common/popular than HP/Agilent for example), that wouldn't make your wallet scream for mercy and get you a PSU that would kick the Siglent or Rigol to the curb performance wise. BTW, the older units also tend to be easy to fix should something fail.

If I'm going to spend a lot of money then I want a warranty  + there's not much on ebay uk

[nanofrog]

If I'm going to spend a lot of money then I want a warranty  + there's not much on ebay uk

Warranty is one thing to consider, but do you want to deal with the hassle that can come with warrantying a broken Chinese supply (i.e. replacement unit has the same problem)?

Or has it ever crossed your mind that a top quality unit that's been in service for a couple of decades is actually reliable? 

As per availability, searching for specific models can help, as they may have been misidentified/listed, or even been offered under different brands. I'm just not as familiar regarding what's more common in the UK. TTi was one I could think of that's available on the used market there that you may not have heard of, but built decent gear.

Please understand, new does not always mean better or less hassle, and certainly not the best value if you know what you're doing.

Just something to think about. 

[electronics man]

I think I will just buy the dp832 I can always extend my bench back a little and it is cheaper than the siglent

[Zbig]

Just my 2 cents: I have SPD3303S and wouldn't trade it for DP832. The only known problem with Siglent so far is the power-on spike and overshoot problem on CH3, both of which could just as well already be fixed in newer revisions (discussed in the quoted thread). Rigol, on the other hand has/had problems with overheating regulator and at least two different revisions attempting to fix that, some false small current readings on one channel (with some firmware fixes later on) and the "current flows through the sense wires if you use 'wrong' GND terminal" design fault which, to my knowledge, wasn't and probably won't be fixed at all. Rigol seems to be more "popular" here because it was (sort of positively) reviewed by Dave and, ironically, because it's been talked to death exactly over its multiple issues. Meh, I'd pass. The Siglent's build quality seems very reasonable and anyone who likes to lump SPD together with all random Chinese PSUs, should do the same with Rigol, IMHO.

[jpb]

I bought my Thurlby Thandar (TTi) supply from test-measure.co.uk but sadly I see from looking at his site that he is now out of stock.

The TTi supplies are very good and they do sell ex-demo equipment (I bought my counter from them as an ex-demo).

The supply I got, the PL320QMD is very good though it is a little bulky. It only cost me £160 (new but old model bought from test-measure about a year ago).

You've not said what your requirements are but as you're in the UK I'd at least look into TTi, power supplies are what they have specialised in for decades.

[electronics man]

I realy do need multiple channels, and I'm not sure I like the fine and course adjustment

[echen1024]

I use old HP/Agilent/Keysight supplies. Good bang for buck, and easy to repair with full schematics and service manual. The E3600 series is quite nice, with excellent specs and simple and easy to repair.

[nanofrog]

I realy do need multiple channels, and I'm not sure I like the fine and course adjustment

10 turn pot adjustment will do nicely. Might be worth looking into as a retrofit project if you can't find one that already has it.

[electronics man]

I could do, I have a few 10turn pots lying around

[Arkku]

How about the Owon ODP3032? Anyone have experience with that?

[electronics man]

How about the Owon ODP3032? Anyone have experience with that?

I would avoid it you can get one from one of the top manufacturers for the same price

[nanofrog]

I use old HP/Agilent/Keysight supplies. Good bang for buck, and easy to repair with full schematics and service manual. The E3600 series is quite nice, with excellent specs and simple and easy to repair.

Very well built, top quality supplies for sure. 

I'm also quite fond of Power Designs for the same reasons.

[Arkku]

How about the Owon ODP3032? Anyone have experience with that?

I would avoid it you can get one from one of the top manufacturers for the same price

Well, it's true that it's only slightly cheaper than the DP832, but that's out of stock pretty much everywhere.

[electronics man]

How about the Owon ODP3032? Anyone have experience with that?

I would avoid it you can get one from one of the top manufacturers for the same price

Well, it's true that it's only slightly cheaper than the DP832, but that's out of stock pretty much everywhere.

I don't think it is cheaper I can get the dp832 for £301 shipped from batronix

[nctnico]

If I'm going to spend a lot of money then I want a warranty  + there's not much on ebay uk

Warranty is one thing to consider, but do you want to deal with the hassle that can come with warrantying a broken Chinese supply (i.e. replacement unit has the same problem)?

Or has it ever crossed your mind that a top quality unit that's been in service for a couple of decades is actually reliable? 

Everything has a limited life span. In the last couple of months I bought several HP PSU from the 80's (switchers). One model needed all the electrolytic capacitors replaced, the other model just runs fine after a thourough cleaning.

To the OP: Tenma (Farnell sells these) has some small form factor power supplies which (AFAIK) are well within your budget.

[Arkku]

I don't think it is cheaper I can get the dp832 for £301 shipped from batronix

You are right, I was thinking of DP832 + HR option.

[nanofrog]

Everything has a limited life span. In the last couple of months I bought several HP PSU from the 80's (switchers). One model needed all the electrolytic capacitors replaced, the other model just runs fine after a thorough cleaning.

Of course nothing lasts forever with the parts it was manufactured with.

Not to say that top notch performance and reparability isn't possible with new gear, just that it costs an arm and a leg vs. quality used gear (which wasn't cheap when it was originally sold either). In particular, more affordable new gear tends to have compromises that the older gear won't regarding performance, and still tends to be more expensive to boot.

So I tend to view used quality gear as offering a lot more value, even if you have to repair/refurbish it (does take some skill in making the right purchase of course, as well as repairing it should that be the case).

[G0HZU]

The chinese PSUs mentioned on here appear to me to be aimed at the small business user rather than a hobbyist. They offer various programming interfaces and would be suitable for setting up a low cost ATE system.

So if you feel you may need to exploit the programming interfaces then these supplies could be a good choice. If not, then I would agree with the other suggestions in that you money would be better spent on 'nearly new' PSUs from TTI/Thurlby.

Usually, these won't be programmable although you can get them with GPIB as an option. I have various PSUs from Thurlby here and I'm generally quite pleased with them. At my place of work we nearly always buy bench PSUs from TTI/Thurlby.

They are far from perfect and the fine/coarse pots can get noisy/jittery in operation but nothing a quick wiggle won't sort out. But best of all is the very simple layout and the easy to use controls and simple but clear display for voltage and current.

I also have some of the early Thurlby PL320 PSUs here from the early 1990s. These have the bright red LED displays. They are my favourite in that they give the clearest display that you can monitor at a glance but they are also the worst built inside. They are not reliable and suffer from intermittent joints and poor layout inside. This leads to dicky display issues and odd effects with the current limiting. Basically these supplies require high maintenance to keep them working reliably.

So I'd avoid these ones. The later ones have a softer looking LED display or an LCD display. The build quality of these is much improved but the readability of the display is not as good on the LCD versions.

I couldn't live with the Chinese PSUs because the user interface and display are just too annoying for general use. The programmability would be a big bonus (if I needed it) but I couldn't justify £300 for a two rail PSU even if it comes with a warranty.

[G0HZU]

Here's a couple of images of some of my Thurlby PSUs.

The ones below with the bright red LEDs are the (early) ones to avoid because they are poorly built inside. I really like the display on them but they need a lot of TLC to keep them running.

The second photo shows the newer type of Thurlby Thandar PSU. These are really well made inside compared to the early ones. I've got a couple of these and they work well. The only downside is the gloomy looking LCD readout. Its not so easy to read at an angle or from distance.

The little Philips PSU cost me £15 back in the 1990s and it has been a faithful performer ever since. It only gives 20V 1A on two rails but also does 7V 3A on the third rail. I've got many other bench PSUs but they are all single output type.

[electronics man]

how about this one
http://uk.farnell.com/aim-tti-instruments/pl303/power-supply-1ch-30v-3a-adjustable/dp/1510521