Why I never mention my power supply.

Clive, can you recommend a Lab Power supply that won't break the bank and can do 60V @ at least 5 Amps? I want to play around, but I also wouldn't mind charging a few batteries i'm working on building. (13S12P Li-ions)

Alex

Bill, I did the same thing with a Apple Xserve power supply. 12V @ 30A Very clean.

Charles Bruckner

I tore apart a big file server some time back, and pulled two really beefy power supplies out of it. I found diagrams on a ham radio web site to override the "soft power" and other unwanted features. They're nice supplies. I have one of them running my large 3D printer.

Daddy Bearcat

Do you think he hasn't done that already?

Tom Scott

I use a similar setup.. +/- 18V power supply brick from a speaker system a friend found in a skip, connected to a buck converter module. I normally just use the +18V, but using the -18V as ground provides 36V if I need a higher voltage. Obviously not as convenient or professional looking as a proper bench supply, but considerably cheaper! I have a large brick type PSU from a Dell USFF desktop PC, but I haven't figured out how to get it to deliver a decent amount of current (which I'm sure it's capable of) without it cutting out. The speaker PSU is only rated 1A, but it's fine for most of my applications. If I need more current I'll use lead acid batteries.

Tom Scott

Might need to take it to bits?

My bench PSU is a spare Dell laptop PSU connected to a Chinese buck/boost converter module, been thinking about a proper unit, maybe I'll stick to what I have

Phil Collins

I don't feel so bad now about my cheap and cheerful power supply.

I hope you didn't pay 200 pounds for that turd. At least it has a proper output enable switch. I hate the idea of having to test current limiting by having to short circuit the PSU. I have a Gophert CPS -3205 and really like that you don't have to do anything dumb to set the limits before turning on the power and one button to turn it off. It says "Output" but we all know it's the "OH SHIT!" button.

Glad you finally published that, I got mine from Maplin, different model, phew. It still blows things up but I suspect that has more to do with my electronics lubricant of choice (ethanol).

Thanks for getting the video up so quickly.

Jonathan Brown

As I've mentioned in the YT comments, you could wire up a simple fail-safe circuit to disconnect or short the output when none of the range selection LEDs are on. Or throw it in the trash and buy something reliable :)

Kean

Well, on the other hand that could be quite entertaining :)

Ysjoelfir

This certainly rules it out for manually recharging batteries, lithium ion especially.

Seán Byrne

That’s funny. I was actually just thinking “I wonder what bench power supply Clive uses,” a couple of days ago.

All I was doing was rummaging through all the cool LEDs coin cells and stuff on the shelf. Ooh heat sink compound! LOL

Michael Thompson

Thank you for answering my question Clive and for informing me about this power supply bug. Have a good day.