Pwr suppley Problem I made a power supply with 3 paralelled LM338 Regulators in paralell (24V 12A trans), with 2 paralelled 20A rectifirs, worked great for 1 week, then all of a sudden, output dropped to 2 amps max (from 15A), , all componed seem to check out ok, getting full current out of filter caaps past rectifiers, any ideas, tried substituting a good regulater, and same thing, any ideas.
Sorry.. I'm a very visual person.. Schematic please..
Perhaps see:
But what bugs me, why parallel regulators??? I'm inclined to get the same function by paralleling transistors, use feedback and a Vref.
D from BC myrealaddress(at)comic(dot)com British Columbia Canada
Simplify first. Get one regulator working by removing other parts - then reintroduce the second, etc.
Most obvious failure is in low value sharing resistors. Perhaps these were not good for 5A and they are now open/higherZ.
A schematic would be nice.
RL
I wonder if Scott used current equalizing resistors, as NSC recommended in the examples in the datasheet?
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.