value of Lab-Volt power supply

Sorry, my magic globe is out of order. And my guessometer is shorted. If you dont know what you have , ho could we know????

Sorry,that picture is (almost) unreadable(unfocused lowres). I would advice to check the meters/dials for their range, and to verify your guesses with attaching some heavy resistors to load the supply, and measure voltage stability at a number of load currents. That way, besides learning what these kind of supplies can deliver, you learn a lot of useful stuff. Watch out for fold back over current protection, some supplies switch to constant current output when overloaded, others decrease the maximum current to a low value when overloaded/ shorted, to keep the temperature of the supply within limits. If you can get a better picture, some people might recognize the make/brand.

A decent-sized picture rather than that thumbnail may help someone make a guess. Any maker's names, model numbers, etc?

If it is home-brew, or unidentifiable, it probably isn't worth much.

--
Peter Bennett, VE7CEI  
peterbb4 (at) interchange.ubc.ca  
GPS and NMEA info: http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter
Vancouver Power Squadron: http://vancouver.powersquadron.ca

"Peter Bennett" snipped-for-privacy@verizon.net

** Been posted long ago.

** The name is in the heading " Lab-Volt "

The OP's unit look like something they produced for electronics students 30+ years ago.

..... Phil

30+

This device's design is indeed very old, but it's still being produced and sold. It is intended for students and novices, not for professionals or serious hobbyists. I used to work at Lab-Volt and I've tested or fixed a few of these... If you could see how this thing is made inside it would feel like making a time travel some 25 years back..

There's a link for the datasheet on the page.

Patrick

I've never seen much value in a variable power supply. Yes, they can look all fancy and there's certainly more to them than fixed voltage supplies.

But for a lot of use, you never need more than a few fixed voltages.

+12, -12 and +5v. Indeed, you are more likely to need multiple voltages at the same time than variable voltage.

For the time one needs actual variable voltage, they can throw together something outboard with a 317 variable voltage regulator. If they like it enough, they can add it to the fixed voltage power supply (assuming there is room) and let it sit there for the next time it's needed. Meters look impressive, but again one can get by with an external meter.

There is a definite need for a variable power supply for some uses, just as some will need a power supply that can put out a lot of current. But those often fall out of the every day. The average hobbyist is better off with multiple low current supplies, because they may need to power more than one thing at the same time but want isolation, and toss some money down for a cheap second DMM that can do the work of the fancy meter on the variable power supply.

Michael

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com "Phil Allison"

This device's design is indeed very old, but it's still being produced and sold.

** Amazing something so obsolete is still available.

It is intended for students and novices, not for professionals or serious hobbyists.

** Like I commented.

I used to work at Lab-Volt and I've tested or fixed a few of these... If you could see how this thing is made inside it would feel like making a time travel some 25 years back.

** Only back to 1983 ?

There's a link for the datasheet on the page.

** Can you give the OP an idea of its value then ?

..... Phil