What is a bench power supply?
A bench power supply is a standard piece of test and measurement equipment on every electrical engineer and circuit designer’s bench. They provide DC (direct current) voltage to a device under test such as a circuit board or other product being validated.
What are variable power supplies?
A variable power supply is one which includes some means for the user to easily adjust the output voltage and sometimes the current. Adjustment is most often accomplished with a potentiometer, but may also be done with an analog control voltage, a digital input, an autotransformer, etc.
How do I build a variable power supply at home?
Step 1: The Parts List
- LTC3780 DC Adjustable Converter.
- Digital Voltmeter Ammeter Display.
- 500k & 200k Linear Potentiometer.
- 12V DC Fan.
- 7805 IC For 5V.
- 12V 3A Adapter.
- 100uF & 10uF Capacitor.
- 1N4001/1N4007 Rectifier Diode.
What is the voltage of ATX power supply?
The ATX connector provides multiple wires and power connections for the 3.3 V supply, because it is most sensitive to voltage drop in the supply connections. Another ATX addition was the +5 V SB (standby) rail for providing a small amount of standby power, even when the computer was nominally “off”.
What is ATX 12V power supply?
An ATX power supply provides a number of peripheral power connectors and (in modern systems) two connectors for the motherboard: an 8-pin (or 4+4-pin) auxiliary connector providing additional power to the CPU and a main 24-pin power supply connector, an extension of the original 20-pin version.
How to connect a variable module to an ATX power supply?
Get some banana leads and connect the +12V and -12V outputs from your modded ATX supply and connect it to the input of your variable module. Use a multimeter to measure the output voltage. Once you have built the circuit test it carefully and measure the output voltage.
What voltage should I use to power my bench power supply?
Learn more… If you’ve built a bench power supply using an old ATX computer power supply, you may feel limited by the choice of voltages + 3.3V, + 5V, and +/- 12V DC. Suppose you’re breadboarding a circuit that’s meant to be run off a 9V battery?
Why are bench power supplies so cheap?
And, thanks to mass production, they are cheap when compared to dedicated bench power supplies. In fact, if you have access to an old computer that is on its way to the junk heap you can rescue its power supply and put together a nice bench power supply for just a few dollars.
How many power supplies do I need for my workbench?
Every workbench should have at least one power supply. When you’re experimenting with electronics and microcontrollers a good power supply can be an essential piece of equipment.