Bench PSU options am I missing anything? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: Kessler
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: January 19, 2025, 09:38:19 pm
content: Hello everyone, I am a beginner here and I want to see if I am missing anything. After many years of watching the eevblog and wanting to get into electronics I bit the bullet last year and started my journey. I am in the process of building a lab and need a power supply. I do not want to get one of the ultra-cheap ones on AliExpress or Ebay. My budget is around 200 usd I do not want to go much past that amount.I am primarily going to be building guitar pedals and I am going to start working on designing my own pedal. The design is going to be based on a Fuzz Face circuit. The pedal will run off of 9v and likely use less than 10mA. This circuit, like other fuzz pedals, can sound and act very differently when the input voltage is lowered. I need a basic one output dc power supply. I assume a linear one would be better for the kinds of things I am doing. I want to have a good granularity on the voltage and current output. Guitar pedals typically run off of 9v 100mA power supplies. I do not plan on trying to design anything that will go past 18v and I deffinely do not need high amps.I am interesed in something new and I do not want to get one used or try building my own at this time. I have been looking at alot of options online and I have found the UNI-T UDP1306C. This power supply looks to me as one of my best options given my budget. Are there any other power supplies that are out there that I should consider looking at or is this my best option?

author: ledtester
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2025, 04:28:03 am
content: The UNI-T UDP1306C appears to be a switching power supply. For your guitar pedal projects I'd use a linear supply.The supplies made by Korad have gotten a lot of attention here, e.g. the KA3005 and KD3005 and you can find them for around $100.

author: Jwillis
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2025, 04:55:54 am
content: Have a look at these.https://www.volteq.comThey're not fancy programmable supplies but they are reliable and easy to use . They have gone by many re-brands like Mastech, Hyelec, HeTest, TE, ectAll based on the HY3003, HY3005 and HY3010 so if there is a problem (rarely), they're easy to fix.

author: calzap
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2025, 07:59:14 am
content: Advise stretching your budget a bit and get a 2- or 3-channel supply. Lots of situations where multiple voltages are needed. Many 2- or 3-channel supplies allow parallel or serial connections of 2 channels to get more voltage or current. Most 3-channel supplies have only 2 that are continuously variable with the third being one or a few fixed voltages. However, there are a few 3-channel supplies that have only one continuously variable output and 2 fixed.eBay can be a good source of good brand, good condition 3-channel supplies at cheaper prices. I’ve gotten used PSUs on eBay that were just as good as new ones I’ve bought.Mike

author: calzap
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2025, 08:08:34 am
content: Quote from: ledtester on January 20, 2025, 04:28:03 amUDP1306C is a linear PSU according to the specs.

author: pdenisowski
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2025, 11:20:26 am
content: Quote from: calzap on January 20, 2025, 07:59:14 amI'll second this recommendation. I have a couple of very, very cheap power supplies that I use when I need 2-3 channels simultaneously and it's a tremendous pain compared to using a single supply.Quote from: calzap on January 20, 2025, 07:59:14 amIn my experience, you can series or parallel connect almost any power supplies (not just channels on a single supply). Main thing is to be careful not to exceed the maximum voltage to ground rating (if you can find it ...) when making a series connection.

author: coromonadalix
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2025, 12:00:10 pm
content: normally you pay attention on the weakest in serial .... or even in parallel, the load is not shared evenly on all psu unless they are identicals or even use load sharing systems / connectionsthe weakest may heat more and could fail or enter in protection in cv cc etc ...

author: rstofer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2025, 05:58:17 pm
content: At $300. the Siglent 3303C is out of the price range but it would be worth getting opinions over on the Test Equipment pagehttps://www.tequipment.net/Siglent/SPD3303C/DC-Power-SuppliesFor bipolar op amp projects that are more or less dedicated I like this +- 15 VDC supplyhttps://www.jameco.com/z/JE215-Jameco-KitPro-Dual-Output-Adjustable-Linear-Regulated-Power-Supply-Kit_20626.html

author: Kessler
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: January 23, 2025, 12:25:06 am
content: Thanks for the recommendations I will look through some of the different options that yall recommended.

author: rdenney
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2025, 05:17:30 pm
content: What about used stuff? Did I miss where you specifically didn't want that?Example: Kikusui PAB series power supplies are well-regulated, decently made, can be connected in series or parallel, have switched outputs (which was important for me), and use a linear regulated supply. Yes, they are old, but they are also typically fifty bucks. I see a bunch of them on ebay right now.I have a PAB 32-2A--32 volts, 2 amps. It was dropped and crushed during shipping--really destroyed. There is a switch that controls the power supply to the front panel meter that was physically broken, which I still haven't sorted (the switch itself allows the meter to be externally controlled by a battery--not a practice use case for a bench meter). But after straightening the caved-in front panel so that the switches weren't all jammed up and the circuit boards touching, the voltage output with constant current switchover still works perfectly. That's pretty darn rugged. The unit was not padded properly in the box, and these are deceptively heavy. The box was dropped and the front panel was caved in a good half inch. (The seller accommodated me.) The point is that these are built like bricks and it takes extraordinary bad luck to get one that isn't fully usable.These have a maximum potential to ground of 250 volts, so seven of these puppies can be stacked in series to produce up to 224 volts without risk to anything inside the units (what you do with the leads is a whole other matter). Or, they can be paralleled to produce up to 14 amps at 32 volts. This is a key advantage of a triple-output supply. They can even be configured for master-slave operation, though doing that is fiddly and is really aimed at a permanent setup.I have been using until very recently only an old but superb Power Designs 2015A--20 volts at 1.5 amps single output--and these are also available for under a hundred bucks. They were the state of the art in the 70's and still hold up to modern competition superbly. I bought the Kikusui to supplement it.I also bought, in a moment of weakness, a Chinese switched power supply. The output from it is noisy with sharp pulses from the switcher. I'm told these can be managed with careful grounding setups, but a good linear supply won't impose nearly so much requirement for care. The output of the PD when viewed on the scope is indistinguishable from a shorted scope probe.The thing these supplies do that regular single-output supplies don't is allow you to limit the current output, so that as you increase voltage into a load, if the set current limit is exceed, it will reduce the voltage as needed to preserve that maximum current output. That's necessary for bench work to avoid blowing stuff up by limiting input current.And I found an older GW Instek triple-output supply (analog meters) for a little over half your budget. It's on the way, so I hesitate to recommend that without qualification. These are, by all reports, not as beautifully made as a PD, or as cheap as that line of Kikusui, but they have all the features people seem to want with a triple-output supply.Rick "supplementing the bench with redundancy for convenience" Denney

author: Kessler
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: January 24, 2025, 01:23:37 am
content: I am open to used to a degree but have mainly been looking at new units. I need 1mA resolution and having the ability to save setting would be very useful for me. I am going to be experimenting with the amount of voltage I feed the pedal. Fuzz pedals are simple circuits but are a bit finiky and for the sounds I want starving the voltage will better achieve the sound I am after. If I have presets to switch between I can test it at the normal 9vs and then lower it to various voltages while I have my guitar set up and AB the different setting to see what sounds best to me. I am planing on going after a more chaotic fuzz that is spitty make velcro ripping sounds. The best comparison would be to Jack Whites fuzz pedals he is currently using.

author: Electro Fan
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2025, 06:46:28 am
content: https://www.amazon.com/KORAD-KA3005D-Precision-Adjustable-Regulated/dp/B0084JFWNY/ref=sr_1_3This will give provide 1 mA resolution and .01 V resolution up to 5 A and 30 V.