Looking at Leader 152, HP 6205C, HP 6255A, Topward TPS4000, BK 1651, Heath IP-2718, and GW GPC-3020.
I have a nice BK1743 but now have a need for concurrent + and - and seems I can get one of these two channel units for less than I can get another BK 1743.
Any obvious winners or losers here?
Thanks for any advice on these or another affordable model I may have missed.
Budget is < $100 US and I don’t mind a bit of recapping or tinkering and don’t need lab grade performance.
Jeff
I have a nice BK1743 but now have a need for concurrent + and - and seems I can get one of these two channel units for less than I can get another BK 1743.
Any obvious winners or losers here?
Thanks for any advice on these or another affordable model I may have missed.
Budget is < $100 US and I don’t mind a bit of recapping or tinkering and don’t need lab grade performance.
Jeff
While some of those are quality products they only supply (approx ) 0.5 amps and the costs are over your budget .
Have a look at the Leader 152 it does 1 amp at +/-25V-
Teardown: Leader LPS-152 Power Supply (Making) - Arantius.com
My older PS is a Farnell LT-30--2 very reliable .
Have a look at the Leader 152 it does 1 amp at +/-25V-
Teardown: Leader LPS-152 Power Supply (Making) - Arantius.com
My older PS is a Farnell LT-30--2 very reliable .
I have a hard time buying new bench supplies. The older Lamda, Power Designs, HP and others are really quite good and reliable. They are also typically very low noise and quite stable. Something like this Lambda LPD-421A-FM DC Regulated Power Supply | eBay would prove to be really suitable, in budget (assuming you are in the US) and should last almost forever.
This also would be a good option (I may get one for myself to replace a Heathkit without current limiting) Leader LPS-152 DC Dual Tracking Power Supply | eBay
Thats the one I recommended 1audio.
I don't think much of the fully digital twin display made in China power supplies , I have one and the left-hand side display failed -- I should have checked before buying it its a common fault.
Stick to the old models that old Farnell just goes on and on working and you can "dual it up " ( +/- ).
I don't think much of the fully digital twin display made in China power supplies , I have one and the left-hand side display failed -- I should have checked before buying it its a common fault.
Stick to the old models that old Farnell just goes on and on working and you can "dual it up " ( +/- ).
I realized that after I posted (and bought one). The China lab supplies do not give me the sense of confidence in their performance that the older supplies do. I have older (40+ years) Lambdas with less than 500 uV ripple and noise with original caps. The China stuff is not close new. And switchmode bench supplies strike me as noise problems.
I also am not a fan of SMPS , I know some people swear by them but every amplifier I ever built had an analogue linear power supply ---none of them failed and noise could be lowered to very low levels .
The same with all the self built test equipment --all linear.
The same with all the self built test equipment --all linear.
PS
That’s almost a consensus on the Leader.
I better go buy one before you buy them all up!
Thanks for the advice, all.
Jeff
That’s almost a consensus on the Leader.
I better go buy one before you buy them all up!
Thanks for the advice, all.
Jeff
I sold Leader years ago. Well made and reliable. Sold about 7k worth to Univ of Cal Santa Cruz. We never saw any returns for problems. I bought a 152 from Ebay and love it. We use to get 499.00 for the 152!
Not to rob your thread but does anyone know of a dual bench supply with higher than normal rails, say up to +/-80v, with adjustable current limit? This would be very handy for checking complimentary class A/B. I don't need it to drive a speaker - just need to check for proper output transistor bias and output offset with a mild load so therefore +/- 1 amp would be sufficient. I have a BK precision I've had to fix a couple times and provides +/-28 max.
Search eBay for "Lambda dual" They come in different voltage/current combinations. I have a dual 40V and a dual 250V in my collection. They are really well made and durable. Usually around $100 or so.
I just received the Leader supply. its quite well made and HEAVY. The supplies all seem to work pretty well. However I have a few complaints Ill be working on.
1) Current limiting does not go to zero. While not a disaster its less useful as a constant current supply. I may be able to adjust it I hope.
2) The common of the dual supply is connected to the common of the 5V supply. This is not what I would have expected and is less useful.
3) the controls are quite stiff.
4) Its not wide enough to support my Siglent.
Still should be quite useful.
1) Current limiting does not go to zero. While not a disaster its less useful as a constant current supply. I may be able to adjust it I hope.
2) The common of the dual supply is connected to the common of the 5V supply. This is not what I would have expected and is less useful.
3) the controls are quite stiff.
4) Its not wide enough to support my Siglent.
Still should be quite useful.
I don’t have mine yet but I did notice that common ground. In what way do you think that will hinder its operation?
Jeff
Jeff
The issue is sharing the ground between the 5V and the dual supply. Its not a dead end but something to keep in mind. More of an issue in mixed circuits and potential ground loops.
Do make sure to check out Thurlby power supplies (sometimes abbreviated to TTi). I have several of them. There is one in the US at the moment for $110 BIT on Ebay. I think they are probably the best value for secondhand PSUs. Eevblog has a long discussion on them.
Got the Leader today. Functions nicely. I think the stiff adjustments are intentional. At least for me it makes fine tuning to .01 volts. They feel like they are viscous damped.
One issue that I am wondering if others are seeing; the calibration of the meter to 0 for 6v calls for zeroing the volt meter with VR506. On mine, VR506 is moving the ammeter, not the voltmeter. All other adjustments worked fine and the volts and amps are in spec and rock solid. Thought perhaps it is a misprint in the manual but there is no other VR dedicated to the 6v meter adjustment.
Jeff
One issue that I am wondering if others are seeing; the calibration of the meter to 0 for 6v calls for zeroing the volt meter with VR506. On mine, VR506 is moving the ammeter, not the voltmeter. All other adjustments worked fine and the volts and amps are in spec and rock solid. Thought perhaps it is a misprint in the manual but there is no other VR dedicated to the 6v meter adjustment.
Jeff
I have had my Farnell 30v 1amp power supply for 10+ years and its still going strong.
Gets a lot of use for testing pcb's.
Gets a lot of use for testing pcb's.
Well made power supplies last a very long time. Some of my bench supplies are from the early 1970's and still meet specs.
