Rectifier Circuit and Voltage Regulator Questions?

[sgonzalez90]

I'm sorry but I'm going to just say in advance that this may sound like dumb question. My partner and I are working on our senior capstone project and we have selected most of the components we are going to use for the bulk of the project.

My question is...how do we design a rectifier circuit with the standard American Wall AC Power output as the input, going into a voltage regulator. I know I obviously have to provide some numbers....but I'm not asking you to do the project for me, I would just like someone to point me into the direction of a how to or perhaps a tutorial of some sort to help me figure this out please.

Thank You.

 

[ccurtis]

Rectifying the mains voltage directly is not something I would recommend for a student project due to the thorough knowledge required to ensure safe implementation. Traditionally, the mains is connected to a power transformer to isolate the mains from everything else in the project. The output of the transformer is then rectified. Everything on the mains side that is not well insulated is covered with finger guards to prevent electrical shock/sparks and if the enclosure is made of metal it is connected to the mains ground (earth) terminal. The hot side of the mains should be properly fused as well.