I don't want to get into a big argument here, and I mean no disrespect, but the thing is, power supplies for tattoo equipment aren't exactly the most elaborate things. At least not the vintage ones. Sure, now you can buy fully digital units with an external transformer/rectifier set-up, but from what I've seen in the industry, those tend to crap out after a couple of years. However, there are power supplies that are from the late 60's and 70's still in use today, its just that the younger guys dont want old school technology. Me personally, Im a big fan of the old school technology, and the power supply I have envisioned would be perfect with the one small problem of both the guys who designed it and put it into production are dead now, so buying one isnt going to be exactly easy and if anyone new tries to mass produce it or keep production up, I can almost guarantee that component quality is going to slip drastically.
I'm guessing now, after reading that, that there probably wasnt a voltage regulator included in the original design for a reason. But Im still confused on all of this. I've seen alot of power supplies (i.e. lab power supplies) running an LM317 and a rather large heat sink and doing just fine. Granted Im not sure that lab power supplies are used for extended periods of time (1-6 hours) in one sitting over pretty much all day, but I do know that alot of artists are switching over to laboratory power supplies and modifying them to make use of our foot switches and machine cords.
The transformer that I would probably use is a Radio Shack transformer rated at 25.2V/2A output. My machines run at around 7-10V max. The wont even come on at 2V. So, if roughly 2V are lost through the circuit, the 25.2 would drop to 23.2, but we'll call it 23 for the ease of math. Now, lets say that I run an LM317 regulator, which I think rates amperage at 1.5A max. So if Im using your math, which Im sure is the standard formula for this equation, at max, I would be dissipating about 24W of energy. Would a large heat sink and a fan not be enough to keep the circuit cool?
Im not terribly concerned about heating up the box because all power supplies get warm. As long as it doesnt get hot enough to burn skin, I can live with that.
The biggest thing I can think of that would make this different than other applications would be that, computer power supplies need to provide a constant stream of power throughout the length of time that a computer is plugged into it. However, with a tattoo machine, we are running them in short intervals over the course of several hours. There is never powered supplied to the machine for a period longer then roughly 2 minutes. At which point we let off the foot switch and our machines arent drawing the current. This power supply isnt something that is going to be plugged in, hooked up, and left to run for a multitude of hours at a time. Efficiency in electrical current and heat dissipation isnt of primary concern in my business, however robust power from a unit that is less apt to break than something made in a Chinese sweat shop is. Believe me, power supplies going out in the middle of a half sleeve tattoo isnt a good thing.
If you would like, I can link to the YouTube video showing the power supply in question so that you can get a general idea of what Im looking at putting together and maybe you would have some ideas on how to tweak or improve upon it from there?
I'm guessing now, after reading that, that there probably wasnt a voltage regulator included in the original design for a reason. But Im still confused on all of this. I've seen alot of power supplies (i.e. lab power supplies) running an LM317 and a rather large heat sink and doing just fine. Granted Im not sure that lab power supplies are used for extended periods of time (1-6 hours) in one sitting over pretty much all day, but I do know that alot of artists are switching over to laboratory power supplies and modifying them to make use of our foot switches and machine cords.
The transformer that I would probably use is a Radio Shack transformer rated at 25.2V/2A output. My machines run at around 7-10V max. The wont even come on at 2V. So, if roughly 2V are lost through the circuit, the 25.2 would drop to 23.2, but we'll call it 23 for the ease of math. Now, lets say that I run an LM317 regulator, which I think rates amperage at 1.5A max. So if Im using your math, which Im sure is the standard formula for this equation, at max, I would be dissipating about 24W of energy. Would a large heat sink and a fan not be enough to keep the circuit cool?
Im not terribly concerned about heating up the box because all power supplies get warm. As long as it doesnt get hot enough to burn skin, I can live with that.
The biggest thing I can think of that would make this different than other applications would be that, computer power supplies need to provide a constant stream of power throughout the length of time that a computer is plugged into it. However, with a tattoo machine, we are running them in short intervals over the course of several hours. There is never powered supplied to the machine for a period longer then roughly 2 minutes. At which point we let off the foot switch and our machines arent drawing the current. This power supply isnt something that is going to be plugged in, hooked up, and left to run for a multitude of hours at a time. Efficiency in electrical current and heat dissipation isnt of primary concern in my business, however robust power from a unit that is less apt to break than something made in a Chinese sweat shop is. Believe me, power supplies going out in the middle of a half sleeve tattoo isnt a good thing.
If you would like, I can link to the YouTube video showing the power supply in question so that you can get a general idea of what Im looking at putting together and maybe you would have some ideas on how to tweak or improve upon it from there?