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Connecting multiple bench power supplies to each other

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Cobalt60

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I was wondering if you could generally connect multiple bench power supplies to each other in order to increase voltage or amperage.

Thanks

-Chris P
 
Generally no. In some cases yes. Most DC wall warts are isolated supplies so you can put them in series to get a higher voltage but the current will be the lower of the two supplies and voltage stability may be lower. In parallel you have to make sure the voltages that the supplies actually produce (not the ones they're marked as being) is exactly the same, or current will flow between the two supplies. You can use a diode to prevent the current from feeding back into the supplies but you lose a bit of power from the diode's and it's not going to be as stable as if you'd used a single power supply of the proper rating.
 
If they are all the same type of units then yes you can used them in series or parallel to either get higher voltage or higher current.

What type of power supplies are they?
 
Well like maybe I could buy another Power Designs 3650, which is 36V/5A, so with 2 I could have access to 36V/10A or 72V/5A, or close to it.

I guess its safe to say they would all be linear bench supplies. Like right now I have the 3650, but if that ever proves to have insufficient specs, instead of trying to replace it Id like to know if I could just run 2 supplies.

Little quirks like current being the lower of the 2, or requiring a diode are no big deal. So it seems that the answer is yes?
 
If they are all the same model then running in parallel is typicaly no problem.
 
Only time you'll have a problem is if you don't hook it up right or pick out two wall warts that are ac. Not all wall warts put out DC. Some of them are just dropping transformers
 
I think you skipped a post.:p
We are not talking about wall warts. The Power Designs 3650's are DC linear sources. (or am I missing something?)
I would like to see a 36 volt 5 amp wall wart though! ;)
 
I don't no about 36 volts wall warts I was just pointing out if he did try to use them . I have some 24 volt 3 amp dc that charged battey backup in fire alarms.
 
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