I have been pondering whether to set myself up with anodizing equipment. The most expensive part would be the power rectifier. It occurred to me that the rectifier does much the same job as an LED driver, it’s a constant current source while the voltage floats. I considered trying a driver connected to my PSU but someone pointed out there may not be enough load to stop the driver from frying.
I have tried to search around a bit but there’s not lots of info and what I do find is not highly accurate. For example I’ve read some people use a (car) battery charger as a current source. In other places I read that the charger’s current is not smooth or constant enough to properly suit this application. I have a (20amp) hobby charger that runs from the PSU. Would that be any better than a car battery charger?
Failing that, can I use something like this? Or can I get some other circuit board to run off the PSU? BTW the PSU is 11-18v (variable) up to 500w (I expect that claim is peak and not intended for continuous use).
I’m hoping some electronics guru here (I’m sure there must be some ) might point me in the right direction.
When I bought my power supply from Mastech they had Linear and switching power supply's. one was suitable for anodizing and the other wasn't. I dont know the specifics of the why or why nots.
Can you get battery acid as this is not generally available to the public here.
Heres a link for buying components here in Australia.
I think linear is the one needed. I did see caswell’s site and thought great I can just buy a complete kit. Except kit + power supply + dyes = more than I’d like to pay.
I don’t need large amounts so I can get battery acid from work.
Why do you need to be retired to use it? Is it really that time consuming?
) might point me in the right direction.