HOW TO CONSTRUCT A REGULATED POWER SUPPLY

A Technical Report Presented to the Faculty of the Liberal Arts Department Technological University of the Philippines Cavite Campus

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Course Electronics Engineering Technology

by Robert John K. Ungria September 07, 2011

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Technical Definition of a Regulated Power Supply A Regulated Power Supply is a standalone unit or a circuit that supply a stable current and voltage. The output of a Regulated Power Supply is always in a form of Direct Current (DC).

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The following are the major parts of a Regulated Power Supply: 1. AC Cord is a conductor that connect temporarily the transformer to power source ; 2. Switch is a contactor that interrupt or allow the flow of current by sliding or pressing the button manually; 3. Lamp is a bulb that use to indicate the flow of current; 4. Transformer is an inductor that transfers electrical energy from primary coil to secondary coil. It can be a step up (increasing voltage output) or step down (decreasing voltage output ) (B. Lovell, 2011); 5. Rectifier is a diode that convert Alternating Current (AC) into a ripple Direct Current (DC); 6. Smoothing is a electrolytic capacitor that is connected across DC supply to filter the ripple DC output; and 7. Regulator is a Integrated Circuit (IC) that set a desired voltage output.

2 Figure 1 shows the major part of a Regulated Power Supply.

Switch Bridge-Type Rectifier Transformer Rectifier Capacitor/ Smoothing Lamp AC Cord

Figure 1. The Major Parts of a Regulated Power Supply The following are the subparts of an AC Cord: 1. Male Plug- it is a conductor with two or three pins that is inserted in a socket to make an electrical connection; 2. Conductor- A copper that serves as the path of electron from Male Plug to Switch ; and 3. Insulator it is a rubber that separates the two conductor of an AC Cord. Figure 2 shows the subparts of an AC Cord.

Male Plug Conductor Insulator

Figure 2. The Parts of an AC Cord

3 The following are the subparts of a Transformer: 1. Primary Winding is a coil of wire that stores electric charge from a 220V supply; 2. Secondary Winding is a coil of wire that serves as the output of a transformer. It produce different voltage value such as 110V, 25V, 9V, 6V, 4.5V and 3V) (Rajib 2008.); and 3. Magnetic Core is a magnetic material with a high permeability used to confine and guide magnetic fields in electrical. Figure 3 shows the subparts of a Transformer.

Primary Winding

Secondary Winding

Magnetic core

Figure 3. The Subparts of a Transformer The following are the subparts of a Diode: 1. Anode is a terminal of a diode that represent the positive part; and 2. Cathode is a terminal of a diode that represent the negative part.

4 Figure 4 shows the subparts of a Diode.

Figure 4. The Subparts of a Diode The following are the subparts of a Smoothing / Capacitor: 1. Plastic Insulator a plastic material that insulate the aluminum case of a capacitor; 2. Aluminum is a metal that serves as the container or case of capacitor; 3. Negative Charge Connection is a terminal that allows the electron to enter (Wort, 2009); 4. Positive Charge Connection is a terminal that allows proton to enter 5. Di-electric is an electrical insulator that can be polarized by an applied magnetic field; and 6. Metal Plate is a metal (aluminum) that serves as a conductor and stores electric charges.

5 Figure 5 shows the subparts of a Capacitor.

Figure 5. The Subparts of a Capacitor The following are the subparts of a Regulator: 1. Input Pin is a metal terminal of a regulator that collect positive voltage; 2. Common Pin is a metal terminal that is connected to negative voltage; and 3. Output Pin is a metal terminal that release regulated voltage. Figure 6 shows the subparts of a Regulator.

Figure 6. The Subparts of a Regulator

6 III. How to construct a Regulated Power Supply The following are the steps in constructing a Regulated Power Supply: 1. Analyze the components which are the following: 1.1 Fuse; 1.2 Capacitor; 1.3 Transformer; 1.4 Regulator; 1.5 Lamp; 1.6 Rotary Switch; 1.7 Switch; 1.8 Binding Post; and 1.9 AC cord. To check the connection and polarity of each component base it on a schematic diagram; 2. Construct a design base on schematic diagram. Put a sticker with the circuit design on top of phenolitic board to transfer the design. Cut the sticker base on the circuit design; 3. Etch the phenolitic board on a 25ml ferric chloride solution for approximately three (3) to five (5) minutes to remove the exposed copper. Shake the basin that contains the ferric chloride solution and phenolitic board to dissolve the copper for a shorter period of time;

7 4. Remove the sticker from the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) and clean the PCB using sandpaper or eraser to remove ferric chloride residues. Silver coat the board using soldering iron and lead. Apply a little amount of lead into the board until the connections are already coated to protect the PCB from corrosion; 5. Bore a hole on the PCB using hand drill base on the circular parts of the circuit design. Make sure that the hand drill is perpendicular to the PCB to bore perfect hole; 6. Use the other part of PCB that has no design and mount the components on their position base on the schematic diagram and solder the terminals of components which are: 6.1 Diodes; 6.2 Capacitors; and 6.3 Regulator. To solder terminals use a soldering iron and lead put the tip of soldering iron in the terminal of the component and apply a little amount of lead until the hole is totally covered by lead; 7. Use a drill to bore a hole on the chassis where the components should be place. Make sure that the size of the holes are enough to mount the component on the chassis; 8. Connect the part of the regulated power supply which are:

8 8.1 AC Cord; 8.2 Fuse; 8.3 Transformer; 8.4 PCB; and 8.5 Binding post. Base the connection on the schematic diagram. And to connect the parts properly use soldering iron and lead; and 9. Check the voltage outputs of the regulated power supply. To check the output of the regulated power supply use a VOM. rotate the selector switch of the VOM clockwise and select the 50 volts range for Direct Current Voltage (DCV) and put the test probe of the tester into the binding post of the regulated power supply and set the rotary switch of the regulated power supply in 12 volts output. Look at the scale of VOM and check if the needle deflects in 12 volts. Use 10 volts range of VOM in checking 9 volts, 6 volts, 5 volts, 4.5 volts, and 3 volts output of regulated power supply. IV. Significance : Using Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) plastic for chassis is much better than using metals because of the following: y Plastic is an insulator, thats why components are safe from short connection; y It is easy to bore holes in ABS plastic chassis unlike in metals;

9 y ABS plastic is not a heat conductor, when components heat up the chassis will not absorb heat; y y High heat resistance up to 80oC; and ABS plastic has a good impact resistance, even if ABS plastic chassis is drop at the maximum height of 4 ft there will be no serious damage in the chassis.

10 Literature Cited Lovell, B. (2011). Inductors. http://www.emergencyradio.ca/course/lect7.pdf Rajib, M. (2008). Fundamental of electric motors and transformers (http://www.lgedrein.org/archive_file/books/ces/Fundamentals_Electric_Motors_T ransformers.pd) Wort, S. (2009). Charge and Discharge of Capacitor (http://www.upscale .utoronto.ca/IYearLab/capacitor.pdf)