Power Supply For Testing Components, Other Testing Equipment.

[ocloc24]

I've seen a few posts on here of guys showing off their benchtop power supply's. I'm a maintenance technician and frequently have to electrically troubleshoot equipment. I'm pretty knowledgeable electrically, I went through formal training in the military to be a nuclear electrician, and have worked as a maintenance tech ever since overseeing all kinds of different equipment. I've always done most troubleshooting with a DMM. There's been countless times where having a power supply would have made work so much easier, being able to test a component without powering up the equipment itself. I toyed around with the idea of getting a Power Probe for a while but that wouldn't help much in my field. I do alot of work on cars at home, so maybe I'll get one eventually, but I'd like a solution for work first.

So my question is, are there power supply's out there that will do 110vac? And are there any that could possibly do 110vac AND 12v/24c DC for testing relays and other smaller components? Also what other equipment/tools have you found helpful in the troubleshooting/repair process that I may be unaware of?

Thank you.

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[DadsTools]

I use old computer AT power supplies for 3.3v, 5v and 12v DC. The AT format is from back in the day when desktop computers had 'hard' on/off switches directly wired to the ps. Lots of them still out there used, cheap. I know this won't cover all your requirements, but figured I'd mention it anyway.

 

[Warrenator]

Guys who work on old radios and TV's use an isolation transformer with a Variac to power up 117 volt AC equipment safely. Another trick is to put a low wattage light bulb in series circuit with the device being tested so it will never draw more than, say, 40 watts if there is a short.

 

[gungatim]

variac, but they are expensive.

I also have a computer supply turned into a 12v supply as well as a pair of 0-48 DC supplies from a lab auction.

 

[Sine Swept]

I have a Lab Volt 193P - it has adjustable AC 0 - 45volts terminals, 120volt 10 amp socket, 0-120volt 3.5amp socket and adjustable terminal 0-36 volt DC.

I bought it from the mother of a college student with a whack of parts and tools for under $100

The DC supply is only 5 amps so it has slight drawbacks but will power on a radio or small amp.

There are RC guys that rebuild server power supplies into big DC monsters, so if you need high current that would be the place to look.