Bench Testing DC 12 volt

[landlockvasailor]

I need to bench test equipment and my old power supply is toast. The one that I am looking at is a 13.8 VDC with 4 - 6 Amps. I cannot recall whether most 12 volt DC systems would be safe. Any thoughts?

[sailingdog]

Yes, that should be fine... Bulk charging current for most 12 VDC systems is 14.4 VDC or so.

[Hartley18]

Originally Posted by landlockvasailor

I need to bench test equipment and my old power supply is toast. The one that I am looking at is a 13.8 VDC with 4 - 6 Amps. I cannot recall whether most 12 volt DC systems would be safe. Any thoughts?

Any reason you wouldn't use an old battery with an in-line fuse attached?

I've got a small motorbike battery on my bench for just that purpose..

Cameron

[EO32]

I use a car battery charger when working with 12 volt equipment. I figure most 12 vdc items can take a range of inputs, since your battery bank voltage varies when in use.

[Hartley18]

Originally Posted by EO32

I use a car battery charger when working with 12 volt equipment. I figure most 12 vdc items can take a range of inputs, since your battery bank voltage varies when in use.

I used to use a car battery charger - a nice 10A one too - until I blew up the regulator one day..

Unfortunately, battery chargers are not power supplies and are not designed to work very well (or very long) on high-resistance loads. If that's all you've got, I'd strongly suggest hooking an old battery up in parallel with the output... or suffer the consequences.

Cameron

[LittleWingCA]

An adjustable power supply that you can vary output voltage and set current limits is ideal since you can adjust the output voltage to simulate batteries that are getting weak. Adjustable current limits are nice too if you are testing equipment with different needs, and want to add some level of short protection, or ensure power ratings aren't exceeded.

[landlockvasailor]

Thanks for all the information, it is appreciated