bipolar power supply?

n00b questions: 1) what exactly is a bipolar power supply? 2) why are they used? 3) can i use a PC power supply to power an amp that needs a bipolar power supply?

Reply to
blunbintles
Loading thread data ...

A bipolar power supply is any supply made by Phil A.

Actually they probably mean one with + and - rails w.r.t. ground.

Reply to
Mark Harriss

It's basically a power supply that has equal positive and negative rails with respect to a common ground. i.e. +/12V So a bipolar supply will have a positive terminal, a negative terminal, and a Ground (or Common) terminal.

They are used most for analog devices like amplifiers that need to accept and generate positive and negative signals.

Most likely. A PC power supply has both +/-5V and +/-12V outputs, so if it has the current and other specs you need then it will work. It's common (no pun intended) to turn a PC power supply into a bench power supply for all sorts of purposes. Sometimes they need to be modified though, to ensure that the don't shut down under minimum loads etc. Should be plenty of info out there on doing this.

Dave :)

Reply to
David L. Jones

Phil isn't bipolar he's just very negative.

Reply to
Friday

I would have to say that this depends on what type of amp the OP is intending to use. If one was trying to drive a 1kW audio amp, then a PC PSU is no good. If one was trying to drive an instumentation amp, the the PC PSU is no good. If one was trying to drive a small practice audio amp that requires +-12v then yes, a pc power amp would be fine.

Reply to
The Real Andy

  • & - like everyone else says
2) why are they used?

where the output is needed to go both sides of ground

3) can i use a PC power supply to power an amp that needs a

maybe, PC PSUs don't have much strength in their -12 and -5v outputs if you don't need more than 1A at -5V and 0.5A at -12V it could work.

Bye. Jasen

Reply to
jasen

**As other have stated, it is + 0 - operation. 2) why are
**Lots of reasons. In audio equipment, it allows for the elimination of output coupling devices (capacitors and transformers). 3) can i use a PC power supply to power an amp that needs a
**Sure, provided you don't want a great deal of power. The largest supply rails available from a (standard) PC power supply are +12 Volts and -12 Volts. That translates to around 20 Watts @ 8 Ohms. However, there is a far more serious 'gotcha'. The -12 Volt supply is usually a very low current one. Absolutely useless for any sane amount of audio power. Typically your power output will be limited to around 5 Watts, using the +/- 12 Volt supply rails.
--
Trevor Wilson
www.rageaudio.com.au
Reply to
Trevor Wilson

I'm running a 5523-based headphone amp of PC +/- 12V. Main problem is that there is so much PSU-bourne noise - needs good filtering.

geoff

Reply to
Geoff

This is a common thing that comes up alot with students. They need a bi-polar supply for an amp and haven't the faintest idea where to get one. Is this for a small project? What is your power rating? Assuming your doing some op-amp stuff usually the easiest way is to simply use two batteries in series. At one end is +ve at the other -ve and inbetween is 0v.

You can even start to get tricky, like have some chips powered from 0v to '-5v' and other 5v to 0v to do something like semi inversion etc.

Reply to
Dac

No, I must speak up for Phil (and Rod Speed)! I was warned when subscribing to this group to killfile both to preserve my sanity. Googling their 'work' confirmed this. But nearly all of their recent posts have been helpful and unabusive. So judge as you find, I say...

Reply to
<aalaan

I certainly have no problems with Phils helpfulness, and as an adult I can tolerate the abuse, but if I had a young kid interested in electronics I certainly wouldn't allow them on this newsgroup. Abuse is one issue but the language used is another.

Reply to
Friday

Agreed. Any on many. And some otherwise good posters seem incapable of expressing anything with the f*

Reply to
<aalaan

ElectronDepot website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.