Six Different Types Of Power Supplies

By Author: Diane Baker.
Total Articles: 2
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Conventional power supplies online have a very simple design but are relatively heavy and bulky for the high current equipment that need large frequency transformers.

Six Different Types of Power Supplies

Power supplies for all electronic devices are mainly divided into two categories;

1) Conventional (line frequency)

2) Switching power supplies

• Conventional power supplies

Conventional power supplies online have a very simple design but are relatively heavy and bulky for the high current equipment that need large frequency transformers. The convectional power supplies are sometimes referred to as linear power supplies and can be bought online and shipped right to your doorstep.

Linear supplies can at times be a loose term for the convectional supplies because the AC-DC conversion is essentially non-linear. The reason here is because the rectifiers usually feed in to the capacitive pools. Voltage regulators for linear power supplies online usually produce controlled voltage amount with the help of active voltage dividers which consume energy, thereby making it slow.
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• Switching power supplies

In its switched mode, a power supply with similar rating as the linear power supplies will be small, efficient but a bit more complex.

Types of power supplies

Alkaline batteries

Batteries are the power supplies that convert chemical energy into electrical energy. Getting batteries as power supplies online is easy today as there are many stores selling them. Batteries are common in most households and industries. Batteries can be primary or secondary. Primary batteries are the kind of power supplies used and discarded while the secondary ones can be recharged and reused over and over again.

DC Power supplies

They are the kind of power supplies online that are converted from the AC mode by a LED lighting rectifier.

AC Power supplies

This kind of power supplies online essentially takes some voltage from a wall outlet---the main supply and reduces it to the preferred voltage. It may do some filtering as well.

Linear controlled power supplies

The kind of voltage produced by unregulated power supplies online normally varies according to load and variations in the AC voltage supply. For the perilous electronic applications, the linear controllers are used to set up the voltage to an exact value. The controllers also greatly reduce the noise and ripple in the DC output.

Linear controllers also provide limiting of current and protect the power supplies. It also shields the power supply unit from getting an over current. There are modifiable linear power supplies with power adapters found in most service shops. With such supplies, you are able to adjust the voltage over a range.

Switched-mode power supplies

With this kind of power supply units, input for the mains is rectified directly and then filtered to get a DC voltage. The switching circuitry produces AC current that passes through the high frequency transformers or inductors.

Programmable power supplies

Programmable power supplies online units usually allow remote controlled output voltage through analog input signals or computerized interfaces. A programmable power supply is composed of voltage programming circuits, processors and current shunts. Supplementary features are overvoltage, over-current, temperature compensation and protection of short circuit. Programmable power supply units come in different forms which include;

1) The modular form

2) Wall mounted form

3) Floor mounted

4) Bench top

Programmable power supplies can be used in various applications like thermal analysis. This is because they usually give an option of using voltage converters with the high voltage supplies.
Resource: http://www.powersuppliesonline.co.uk/