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Situation in which a flyback diode is not a good idea?

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dah

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Hi guys,

My first post and I hope my question is not too stupid.
I am wondering whether there is a situation in which it is not a good idea to connect a large flyback diode to my lab power supply.

Concrete background:
I bought a 12V DC (car) ozon generator on ebay and would like to power it from my lab power supply with a switch. I don't know the exact internal circuitry of the ozon generator, but it certainly contains a high frequency high voltage transformer (~ 3kV). The ozon generator consumes ~ 7A and I would like to avoid damaging my PS when opening the DC circuit by just using a flyback diode (V(RRM)=1kV / I(AV)=10A) (in case it creates a voltage spike). I am almost certain that there must be something internal that prevents voltage peaks, but I don't want to risk it.
Is there any reason why this could be a bad idea?

Thanks!
 
If it generates bad spikes it most certainly won't be much good in a car full of electronics .

Now if you are talking putting a diode across the terminals of your power supply - it won't do anything - the spike has already been generated and is traveling up the supply line to your power supply.

If you are particularly concerned, you would be better off to use a Zener diode or voltage transient suppressor across the power supply.

And use one with a voltage rating equal to or slightly higher than the highest voltage your power supply can provide rather than a 12V one (other wise if you crank up the power supply, you could dump a lot of current through the Zener).
 
Now if you are talking putting a diode across the terminals of your power supply - it won't do anything - the spike has already been generated and is traveling up the supply line to your power supply.

ohje ... of course!!! thanks! ... my bad ...
 
yeah ... but I am not intending to use it for a car. I just wanted to have one that can be supplied with 12V DC instead of mains.
 
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