DC Power supply anyone?

[Philldpapill]

I'm sick and tired of using my battery bank and battery charge in my "lab"(garage). So, I'm going to finally put my EE know-how to use on this and stop using the "ghetto" setup I have. I'm going to build a high power DC Power Supply.

What it will consist of, is a high power switch mode power supply that runs off the 120VAC(house plug). It's going to convert this 120VAC to an adjustable voltage output between 0V and maybe whatever... maybe up to 100V. No bulky transformers or anything. Here are some preliminary specs:

Output Voltage: 0V - 100VDC (?) --Variable-- Update: 100V @ < 10A
Output Current: 0A - 50A (?) (50A @ 20V, 10A @ 100V - 1kW total power output)
Input Voltage: 120VAC - 240VAC
Input Current: ~10A
Switching Freq.: To be determined(~30kHz?)

Anyway, when I build something for myself, I typically like to build a couple more to sell off or give to a friend since it's usually cheaper to by more than qty 1 of the parts.


Would anyone be interested in one of these? Price would be ~$150 (Updated: was ~$50 or $60) I think. This is going to be a very stable supply of power for your HHO cell. AND it's adjustable so you can find just the right voltage drop per cell...

[Roland Jacques]

Yes, I'm very interested. PM sent
The low voltage could allow me to do some experiment with far less expense

[keiththevp]

Any idea how much it will cost? Not that it matters since it is much easier then running a vehicle for hours on end to do bench tests. But as long as it is reasonable I am in.

[Philldpapill]

Great! This project isn't something that will be done next weekend... I'm just starting the design phase, and probably won't be done for a month or so.

Remember, this is a benchtop power supply that uses AC as the input - NOT something you mount in a vehicle. I'm going to use this for experiments and testing my cell.

EDIT: Keiththevp, you beat my post by a minute... The price range is probably around $50-$60. My commercial 20A unit was $250, but it's precise and extremely stable. This unit is more of a raw power, without a large amount of noise reduction... But then again, who cares about a small bit of EMI going through your HHO cell?(Perfectly safe... electronics being POWERED by such a power supply may not usually like it too much, but HHO cells aren't really electronics)

[Roland Jacques]

Phil what do you think about a volt and amp meter built in.
That would be worth an extra $30-$40 bucks IMO.

[Philldpapill]

Sure... It might be a digital readout like on one of those 2 line, 20 character LCD screens though. Or if you really want an analog meter, I can do that.

[Bayesoft]

I have designed a new type of hho dry cell with a plate configuration that I have not seen used, mentioned or tested anywhere else. Theoretically it's a perfectly sound design, but I can't speculate on it's performance until it's up and running.

A variable DC power supply would go a long way to determine precisely how it behaves under a given set of parameters. Much testing will be needed before I can share my results.

I would be very interested in seeing your work. I will be purchasing my components at the end of this month.

Thanks,

[Philldpapill]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking, Bayesoft. With an adjustable supply, you can compare the MMW at different voltages... Generally, the MMW increases at lower votlages/lower current densities. I'd really like to make some plots of voltage per cell, vs. MMW. I have a feeling it would be a decaying "f(x) = 1/x" type function.

I was developing an all-in-one AC powered system that could interface to your computer to display/log/change data. It can measure airflow, power, energy used, etc. etc. etc., so that you can do expirements fairly easily. However, there wasn't much interest in it, so it's on the back burner. This Power Supply also seems to have gotten very little interest(except for you guys!), but I'm primarily building it for myself, so this WILL get done soon.

Anything else you guys want on this? So far, the only extra is a voltage/current meter.

[Philldpapill]

If you guys want to make a cheapy variable voltage supply out of your existing PWM(run off 12VDC or your battery), you can adjust the frequency of your PWM to at least 20kHz, and then add a few capacitors in parallel with your load. Here is a good one that should work for anything below 35VDC: http://mouser.com/ProductDetail/Vish...2fzDhC1WShs%3d

Generally, you'll probably want at least 1,000uF per Amp. These are 10,000uF, so each one should be good for 10A. Just add multiples for however many amps you are pushing. Doing this alone should increase your efficiency somewhat, and cut down on heat. Enjoy.

[methaneb]

I've been dying to find a good benchtop power supply for under $100 (which is probably a self-contradicting statement). I've had bad luck converting ATX power supplies, and all of the DC 12V ones around here only handle up to 3 amps. I would definately be interested in something like this.