Variable Dual Lab Power

Supply
Introduction
Havingjustbuiltyournewmasterpiece,itisusuallywithgreattrepidationthatoneapplies
power.Therearefewthingsquitesodishearteningasseeingyourcreation"goupinsmoke"just
becauseofasimplemistake.
Theeasiestwaytoavoidthisistohaveapowersupplythatallowsyoutoadjustthevoltage,so
youcanseethateverythingworksasitshouldbeforethemainsupplyisconnected.Thelab
supplyshownwillcurrentlimitataround800mA(thisvariesabitbecauseoftheregulators),and
cansupplyfrom+/1.2Vuptoabout+/25V.
Usingadualgangpotallowsbothsuppliestobesetsimultaneouslytothesamevoltage,andyou
canaddmeteringforvoltageandcurrentifyouwantto.Thesewilladdsubstantiallytothecost,
butcanbeveryuseful.
Description
ThepowersupplyisbasedontheLM317andLM337variable3terminalregulatorsICs,and
whileitisnopowerhouse,itisquitesatisfactoryfortestingmostpoweramps,aslongasthereis
nospeakerconnected.
Figure1shownthecompletecircuitdiagram,anditisquitesimple.Thereareonlyafewthings
thatyouneedtobecarefulwith(apartfromthemainswiring),andtheseare...

Makesurethattheregulatorsareproperlymountedon(andinsulatedfrom)asubstantial
heatsink.TheICswillshutdowniftheyoverheat,butthiswillshortentheirlifeandis
mostinconvenient.
Keepallwiringshortaroundtheregulators.Inparticular,theICsshouldbenomorethan
100mm(4")fromthefiltercaps(wiringlength).Morethanthisandtheywilloscillate.
10uFcapacitorscanbemountedclosetotheregulatorinputsiflongerdistancescannotbe
avoided.
Makesurethatthe10uFcapacitors(C3andC4)aremountedattheregulatorterminals.
Thepotscanbeanyconvenientdistanceaway.
Makesurethatthediodepolaritiesarecorrect(diodesare1N4004orequivalent).These
protecttheregulatorICsagainstreversepolarityandlargeexternalcapacitors,andmust
notbeomitted.

Figure1TheCompletePowerSupplyCircuit
NOTE:ItwaspointedouttomethattheoriginalpinoutsshownontheLM337wereincorrect

(Pin2asoutputandPin3asinput).SomesearchingrevealedthatSGSThompsonICsmaybe
differentfromNationalSemiconductordevices,socautionisadvised.TheICwillnotbe
damagedifPins2&3arereversed(becauseofthediode),buttheregulatorwon'twork.Thepin
outsabovehavebeenchangedtosuitthedataintheNationalSemiconductordatasheet.Ifyou
usetheP05APCBforthisproject,thenyoumustmakesurethatyourregulatorsusethestandard
NationalSemiconductorpinouts.
Thetransformerdoesnotneedtobeespeciallylargetypicallya60VAunitshouldbesufficient,
althoughalargeronewilldonoharm.Likewise,the4,700uFcapswillbequitelargeenoughfor
theintendedpurpose.Thebridgerectifiershouldberatedatabout5Aforcontinuousoperation.
The2kdualgangpot(thedotindicatesthefullyclockwiseposition)needonlybeastandard
qualityunit,butMUSTbelineardonotusealogpot.Theidealisadualwirewoundunitifyou
cangetone,asthiswillbemorerobust,andwillhavebettertracking.Astandardcarbonpotis
actuallyrunningatslightlyaboveitsratingsatmaximumvoltage,butthisisunlikelytocausea
problem.

Makesurethatallmainsconnectionsareshroudedwithheatshrinktubingtopreventaccidental
contact.Theentirepowersupplyshouldbeearthed(seeEarthingYourHiFiforfullinfoon
properearthingtechnique),andmakesurethatallmainsandearthwiringcomplieswiththe
regulationswhereyoulive.
Outputconnectorsshouldbecombinationbindingpost/bananasockettypes,andadditional
connectorscanbeusedifdesired.Makesurethatanyconnectorsusedcannotshortcircuitasthe
plugisinsertedalthoughtheICshaveprotection,itisbetternottohavetorelyonit.
Inuse,alwaysmakesurethatthevoltageissettominimumbeforeconnectingyourtestcircuit.
Advancethevoltageslowly,andwatchforabnormalvoltages,andfeelforanythingthatmaybe
overheating.

Figure2TheCompletePowerSupplyCircuit,Version2

Can'tfind2kpots?Itseemstobethat2kpotscanbeverydifficulttoobtain,andlikewise2.5k
potswhichwouldbeasuitablealternative.Theymaybeobtainableassinglegang,butdualgang
canposearealchallenge.
Figure2showshowyoucanusehighervaluepots,withtheadditionofatransistorandresistor.
Thesecanbewireddirectlyacrossthepotterminals,andalthoughBC5x9typesareshown,any
smallsignalNPNandPNPtransistorscanbeused.Thepotcanbeupto50kwithnoilleffects
usingthisscheme.Oneminordisadvantageisthattheminimumvoltageisslightlyhigher(by
0.650.7V),butthisisnotnormallyaproblem.
Meters
Theadditionofvoltageandcurrentmetersisuseful,butisfairlyexpensiveataboutAU$20.00
each(anditcanbeanuisancefinding1Acurrentmeters).Ifyouwanttoaddmeters,Figure2
showshowtheyshouldbeconnected.Onlyasinglevoltmeterisshown,anditwillbenecessary
tochecktheinternalresistancetodeterminethevalueofthecalibrationresistor.Althoughthis
meterisconnectedbetween+veandvesupplies,itiscalibratedtoshowtheaveragevalueof
onesupplyvoltageonly(sincethisisatrackingsupply,theywillbeverysimilarinvoltage).

Figure3AdditionofMeters

Isuggestthatatrimpotbeusedsoyoucancalibratethevoltmeter(assumingthata30Vmeter
canbeobtained),sinceitisunlikelythattherightresistancewillbeavailable.Figure2assumes
thatthemeterhasaresistanceofabout30kifyoursissubstantiallydifferentyouwillneedto
adjustthevalues.Ifyouhavetousea1mAmeter,thenthescalewillneedtoberedrawn,andthe
seriesresistorcalculated.

Forallcalculations,Iwillassumeameterwith1mAfullscaledeflection(FSD),withacoil
resistanceof58Ohms.ThisistypicalofonefoundinanAustralianelectronicssuppliercatalog.
Figure3showsthewaytoconnectaseriesresistancetomakeavoltmeter,andparallelresistance
tocreateanammeter.
Voltmeter
Calculatingthevalueoftheseriesresistanceiseasy.Wewantafullscalereadingof30V,but
sincethemeterisacrossbothsupplies,theactualvoltagewillbedoublethis,or60V.
R=(V/I)RmtrwhereRistheseriesresistance,IisFSDcurrentforthemeter,andmtr
isthemeter'sresistance.
R=(60/0.001)58
R=60k(The58Ohmscanbeignoredasinsignificant
Figure3ashowstheseriesconnectionforavoltmeter.
Ammeter
Ifyoucannotobtain1Acurrentmeters,youwillneedtousea1mA(orsomeothervalue)meter,
andmakeashuntsoitwillmeasurehighercurrent.Theshuntresistorwillnormallybeavery
lowresistance,andmustberatedforatleast1Amp.Tocalculatethevalueofashuntresistor,
youwillneedtodothefollowing...

Measure(orobtainfromthespecs)theresistanceofthemetermovement
NotetheFSDcurrentforthemeter(e.g.1mA)
CalculatethevoltageneededacrossthemetertoobtainFSD...
V=R*I(Rismeterresistance,IisFSDcurrent)...forexample
V=58*0.001=0.058V

Now,youcanworkouttheresistanceneededtoachievetherequiredFSDof1A...

R=V/Isousingthesameexample...
R=0.0058/1=0.058Ohm
Thereisasmallerrorherebecausethemeterisinparallelwiththeshunt,buttheerroris
negligibleforthiscurrent(0.1%).Figure3bshowsthenormalconnectionforashunt,andFigure
3cshowsthewayyoucancheat,usingafixedresistorandatrimpotforcalibration.

Asshown,thiswillresultinavoltagedropof0.1Vat1A,whichisunlikelytocauseaproblem.
A5Wwirewoundresistorshouldbeusedastheshuntresistor.

Figure4SeriesandShuntResistors

Becausetheshuntresistanceissolow,itwillbedifficulttomake,andevenhardertomeasure.It
isusuallyeasiertouseafixedresistor(e.g.0.1Ohm)withatrimpottosetthemeter.Thiscanbe
calibratedafterthepowersupplyiscompleteconnecta10Ohm10Wresistorbetweenthe+ve
andvesupplies,withamultimeter(settotheampsrange)inseries.Adjustthevoltageuntilthe
multimetershows0.5A,thenadjustbothtrimpotssothetwometersreadexactly1/2scale.
AllDCmetersarepolarized,sotheterminalmarked+mustgotothepositivesideofthe
supplyasshowninFigure3.Althoughreversepolaritywillnotdamagethemeters,the
readingswillnotbeasusefulastheyshouldbe.(I.e.theneedlewillbehardagainstthestop,
tryingtodisplayanegativevoltage )

Yourpowersupplyisnowreadyforserioususe.Themaximumcurrentof800mAto1.5A
(dependingontheregulatorICs)willbeenoughtotestanyClassABampupto+/25V(most
willworkfineatthisvoltage).NotethatitwillnotbesuitableforaClassAamplifier,since
thesedrawfarmorecurrentthatthissupplyisdesignedfor.Allpreampscanbetested,butmake
surethatyoudonotexceedthesupplyvoltagerecommendedthiswillbetypically+/15Vfor
opamps.
Iqbal uddin Khan
92-321-9207460
Iqbalsound@yahoo.com
http://asia.groups.yahoo.com/group/Engineers_Electronics_Pakistan/