Recommend me a Bench power supply

I'm getting more into tinkering with circuits and leds so I thought I might look into getting a power supply. I was eyeing a Mastech Hy3010E. I feel this would be plenty of power for anything I may toy with. Didn't want to spend more than ~$150 so this looked pretty good. Yall's thoughts other recommendations?

Hello Rjwpavo,

I have heard good things about those units. It should work fine.

Tom

What a coincidence...I just received my Mastech 3050 about 60 minutes ago and no matter what I do, it will not power up. Voltage is at the machine end of the house plug with 118 Volts, the fuse is verified and the 115/230 Volt switches are locked in place at 115. Cycled the power button many times. When I plug it in with the switch on, there is a slight arcing taking place at the plug so I know Voltage is getting into the machine.

I get no display lights, and no voltage measured at the front and rear terminals, no fan, no nothing. Talk about disappointment!! I think there were a few naughty words being muttered in the garage for a while. :shakehead

Being a ham radio guy, I use this http://www.alinco.com/Products/DM330MVE/

May I suggest you look on ebay. YOu can get them very much cheaper. I got one there in like new condition for way under 100 I seem to remember.

Here's a new one on ebay for 150
http://cgi.ebay.com/MASTECH-VARIABL...ryZ58288QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

The whole category at
http://business.listings.ebay.com/P...QfromZR11QQsacatZ58288QQsocmdZListingItemList

You didn't specify voltage or amps but check the price out on this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/HP-E3610A-DC-Po...ryZ58288QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

George

Well, as far as voltage, I really wouldn't need anymore that 18V, but more is OK. I'd like at least 10A....In case I want to play with car devices...

Don't short yourself for a hundred bucks or so. Some of the higher end Schulze chargers want 25 amps. You just never know what you'll want to power. A LarryK14, 600 Watt bulb takes about 22 Amps @ 28 Volts. Buy it right the first time.

I bought my supply at the first link in Guiri's post. Although it arrived DOA, they immediately shipped me another new one as soon as they hung up. They did not require the defective unit to be returned first. Very friendly and helpful.

BVH, sorry to hear your trouble with the PS. You are right about buying what I would possibly need the first time! Been there, done that.

I almost bought a brand new Lambda Genesys 40 Volt, 85 Amp supply. What stopped me was a Ripple of 8 mv compared to the Mastech's 3 to 5. Knowing what Silverfox has said about the sensitivity of some of the hobby chargers to high ripple factors, I went for the lesser power Mastech but it powers everything I have and foresee to have in the future. The Lambda was really overkill.

I ended up buying the HY3030E. 0-30V and 0-30A. I think if my fiance finds out what I bought this time, I'll be banned from CPF!:mecry:

I appreciate all the info and recommendations folks! :twothumbs

The OP wanted minimum of 10A, but for the possible benefit of other readers: I have this one rated for 5A, 0 to 30 V. I haven't pushed it hard (that is, not into the current-limited operating region), but it's been good for everything I've used it for in the past few months. Measured ripple from 1 to 5 mV at different DC voltages, but that's a huge ratio of max/min so I don't think my multimeter is very accurate in this range.

I haven't tried one of these yet, but the general idea looks like a lot of fun.

http://tuxgraphics.org/electronics/200707/bench-power-supply-unit.shtml

After a series of emails with Lazar who runs this website, and reading about the cheaper/lighter "E" Switching power supplies vs. heavier/more expensive "D" Linear power supplies, I opted for the latter in a Mastech 3020-D from this website.

Basically with linear, you get a much beefier transformer, able to handle sustained loads & heat, and with lower ripple and emi. I have not needed more than 20Amps for my purposes, so this one works great, and has been heavily used for all my destructive bulb testing. With what I have read for my battery charging, and light testing purposes, I would not get a switching PS.

On a separate note, I had ordered 3 PS's for my Hyperion charger from www.KitsUSA.net which kept arriving via UPS like they had been literally thrown against a concrete wall, with extremely poor packaging. The final one had rust all over the inside metal transformer....so I'm not surprised BVH that you got a "dead duck." Here was one of the pix I took of one version:

Since the OP already found his PS, I hope no one minds me asking advice on a different model. Any opinions on the Velleman PS3010U?
http://fixed-power-supplies.shopeio.com/inventory/details.asp?id=1586&cat=Power Supplies&sub=Fixed

I was about to push the button on this thing actually, but I am looking at a lathe now, so I probably won't be getting this anytime soon, but still wouldn't mind any pointers

*edit* Hmm after looking at the mastech on ebay that guri (sp?) posted I don't see much difference between it and the velleman, except price.

Vegas, right off the bat, that site does not know the difference between fixed and variable (adjustable) power supplies. My damaged PS in above pix is an example of "Fixed."

Velleman is a good name, although most speak about Mastech. That website does not specify if that is the beefier "Linear" or "Switching," but my guess is it is linear.

I don't believe 10A is an adequate current output, and if you are getting a variable PS, get one with some future capacity.

Also, many thanks to SilverFox who got me started in the right direction, giving me the same advice to get higher voltage/amp PS than you think you would need.

Thanks Lux, yah I had trouble finding it on the website too, because first I looked in the benchtop category and ended up finding it in fixed.

Well, I have a modified computer power supply doing the duty right now with a horrible rat's nest of digital multi meters hooked in here and there and another box with a pot. I suppose it will have to do for a little longer until I can afford something better. Sigh, I just hate using it, and I hate to invest any more money in it for panel meters and building a housing. Oh well, that's the way the ball bounces.

*edit*
I just noticed it appears that velleman makes mastech anyhow.
http://www.vellemanusa.com/us/enu/brands/

VegasF6 said:

Thanks Lux, yah I had trouble finding it on the website too, because first I looked in the benchtop category and ended up finding it in fixed.

Well, I have a modified computer power supply doing the duty right now with a horrible rat's nest of digital multi meters hooked in here and there and another box with a pot. I suppose it will have to do for a little longer until I can afford something better. Sigh, I just hate using it, and I hate to invest any more money in it for panel meters and building a housing. Oh well, that's the way the ball bounces.

*edit*
I just noticed it appears that velleman makes mastech anyhow.
http://www.vellemanusa.com/us/enu/brands/

Click to expand...

I believe that says that Velleman is a "distributor/dealer" of Mastech products which appears to be an independent Hong Kong based quality company with this home URL. (or this IP Kai Yin Trading is the true owner) Now that I look further, I don't see any ready evidence that Velleman manufactures anything. Hard to be sure, but they may have some distributed products "badged" with their name.

I'm looking to buy this Mastech bench supply:

http://www.powersupplydepot.com/productview.asp?product=14602+PS

But that company doesn't seem too Canada friendly. It's just that they don't know sometimes, more often with the companies in the southern USA. When I called to ask if I could just pay with my Visa instead of a wire transfer that cost me money to send.. she asked me if a Canadian Visa could pay in $USD. What a silly question. She must have never left her own country. I told her of course it can.. you can pay in any currency with a Visa, but I was still instructed to call back later and talk to someone who might know more.

Anyway.. short rant over, I've looked through ebay and such but I can't seem to find anywhere with a price that good on this particular bench supply. I'm hoping someone here knows another retailer where I could get it for around the same price without all the hassle of calling them long distance and such. It's not just the payment, I don't accept UPS shipments, they're brokerage fees are legal organized crime, so I'd have to make sure they shipped it USPS etc.. always such a hassle. I love ordering from websites where I can just pick USPS shipped to Canada, see the price I pay and be done.

I got a cheapo (€50, if memory serves me right) no-brand 5A, 0-30V PSU that's been working surprisingly well so far. The knobs have a tendency to fall off if you don't push them in every now and then, but aside from that everything's perfect. My three multimeters show the exact same value as the meter on the PSU, and it seems to cope well even with sudden full-power draws.

Sorry for repeating but....As I said in Post #7, be sure you don't want to spend a few extra dollars to get more Amps the first time around. 3 Amps is not very much power. Once you start using a PS, you'll find more uses for it and soon, you will have outgrown only 3 Amps. My $.02 cents, anyway.