Budget friendly adjustable bench Power supplies perfect for testing LED's and other uses!

Depending on your needs, a laptop supply should be pretty reliable no? (maybe they don't handle abuse such as shorting well?) Often available for free.

So you are saying that you can input 49V and draw, say 6V, at 15A with this thing?
If that is true, I am very, very surprised! I will have to consider the DPS5015. As some others mentioned, being able to go over 42V is a must for some of the higher power COB emitters.

Ditto, as I said above, I use this to test basically all my flashlight builds before putting batteries in as it allows me to see exactly what is going on. It REGULARLY sees the full 12A it can deliver at ~4v. Sometimes for extended periods in order to test thermal regulation on the light. All of this with a ~38V input voltage.

Besides getting a little warm it has shown no issues at all over the few months I have been using them.

Agreed, a better power supply is indeed a good idea. Something like the server power supplies that were posted earlier (or maybe in the review thread?) are ideal but also cost a lot more. I want to get a 5015 with one of those server power supplies but would have to sell the 3012 I have now to afford it, so kinda stuck at the moment lol.

For basic hobby use a cheap power supply is a cheap way to get it up and running.

The bang for the buck is what attracted me to these in the first place. I could not find anything close.

I usually get my power supplies from the thrift store. It’s like $1 for whatever you find in the cord box.

Good idea, although keep in mind that normal ATX power supplies are only 12V. Laptop supplies are usually 15-20v but not a lot of wattage.

These work fine, just keep in mind that these modules can only reduce voltage, not increase it.

An original (not cheap clone) laptop power supply ought to do the trick. Some of the older laptops (and even some of the newer gaming laptops) have 200-300 watt supplies! Generally only around 18V-24V, but that is plenty for most flashlight stuff.

Well, before just now reading the great news you reported in Post 40, I assumed the following wording was an attempt to say. “do not have too much voltage overhead”. We all know how wildly inaccurate translations to another language can be. Since it was talking about the high voltages, I interpreted it to mean what I understand of the budget buck circuits I have dealt with. Now I have no idea what it means:

“Input voltage range is DC 6-60V and 60v is the limit voltage; please leave a room to use.”

EDIT: Maybe the above means, don’t power so close to 60v that fluctuations and surges in the power supply push voltage above 60 volts. It would be cool if the designer chimed in on this current discussion.

^
That sounds reasonable (and consistent with my EDIT above). I’m even more stoked about this 5015 after hearing what you and TA have experienced. Thank you for reporting it. :slight_smile:

EDIT: I still plan on keeping the input voltage fairly close to output voltage, but it’s great to hear how hardy this unit seems to be.

Yeah, I have been truly impressed with the quality of these units which is the only reason I posted about them in the first place.

Heck when testing the voltage drop in my leads I did it by shorting them out and seeing what the voltage drop was at 10A. Did that for some time while trying to reduce it as much as possible and trying to figure out what the weak links were. 10A @ .5v was no problem at all even with 38V input.

I really don’t need anything with much power; I only use a power supply to calibrate drivers, not test LEDs. But this thread got me in the “upgrade mood” anyways.

This is what I had been using, a B3603 and a 9v, 1A power supply from an old LCD picture frame.

It works ok, but I never liked how exposed it is or how thinly protected the power cord was.

So I just ordered one of these for only $5

Which is actually a downgrade in that it is CV only, not CC, but for me that’s ok. The nice thing is that it shows Current and Voltage simultaneously and has a nice acrylic shell.

I’m pairing it with this 12v, 1.8A Bose psu I just got at Salvation army for $1. It’s a bump in power and an even bigger bump in quality. It has a single thick cord instead of the weak side-by-side glued-together cord on the old psu. 20awg vs 24awg and a lot more rubber.

Thanks for the heads up, I just ordered a few including a DPS3005 which is a 5A all components inside the display.

I have actually been looking at that same power supply for some time, It keeps popping up on banggood. Just could not think of a use for it.

One thing to keep in mind is that the cheap supplies can have a lot of ripple voltage, this could effect calibration on drivers. So if you notice the calibration is not right, I would look into that.

Hmm… Any good way to reduce that? Cap on the ouput?

Yeah, a cap would most likely help but I am not sure on the details of it. Tossing a largish cap on the output would not hurt.

You can pay more money for one that already comes (by the looks to me anyway) with bigger capacitors and inductors, but if you want LCD too, you're quickly headed toward thinking about the ones in the OP. I'd either be looking at the $10 with no display or go all the way for the 5015. I'll probably do both.

Yep, this is the same thing I ran into in my review thread posted in the OP.

I had an analog version to start with and to make it truly useable would have costs more then just buying one of the DPS models, so hence I tried the DP series and never looked back.

It does seem this way, but it also says:

"If you connect the supply power with output, the module will be burnt"

Hmm... so a battery on the output is ok, but a "supply power" is not? I'm guessing that's a cut and paste error from descriptions of other models. Or maybe it just means don't connect 60V to output? (Output is specced for 50 supplied voltage) Of course I wouldn't connect an actual AC/DC supply to the out, but I wouldn't think it should fry the DPS (might fry the supply if you try to turn on the DPS)

I also found this:

https://www.amazon.com/0-30VDC-0-10A-Bench-Power-Supply/dp/B01B87D14K/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1474160326&sr=8-2&keywords=bench+dc+supply+circuit+specialists

10A not 12. 30V not 50, no reviews, probably doesn't charge batteries, but the cost isn't really much more since it includes a supply, and it's all packaged up. My biggest issue with it is TA hasn't tested and reviewed it. So that makes the DPS5015 the winner.

I am thinking that is a copy and paste error or like you said, it is saying to not connect a high voltage line to the output. I have charged up to 24v packs with it without an issue so far.

That other unit is nice but for $110 you can get 2 of these if you wanted. Even if you got a very nice power supply you should still be able to buy a few flashlights with the leftover money.

Although if you want a premade unit with no DIY work needed, then it is not a bad unit based on specs alone.

Even acryllic isn't free. A nice premade generic enclosure is for both together or separate is at least $20 (and a long time searching and laying out and probably not free shipping), fans are a couple of a bucks. Switches, crimp connectors, binding posts, heat shrink, all add up too. I wouldn't exactly say for $110 you can get two. I would say for $110 AND a significant amount of scavenging and or purchasing accessories at additional cost, and time, you can get 2. Even if the time is free, I think it's hard to come in under $70 to buy all parts new to make up a nice single enclosure that has it all.