Programmable Power Blog

It wouldn't be bragging to say that we have a lot of experience with power supplies here at AMETEK Programmable Power. Many of our design and sales engineers have been with us for a long time, and we feel that really gives us an edge when it comes to helping you get the best product for your needs. Their extensive knowledge of our products and applications enable them to recommend just the right products, and you can feel confident in their recommendations.

The most important thing that a power supply does is to maintain a constant voltage output or a constant current output. This is true whether the power supply is built into a product and provides fixed output voltages, such as a desktop computer power supply, or a power supply that is on the test bench or is part of an automated test system that must provide variable outputs. We call this ability to maintain a constant output voltage or current regulation.

One of the big challenges when designing and manufacturing auto parts is ensuring that they operate reliably in very hot environments, such as Dubai, where the high temperature can easily reach 40˚C. Of course, they must also operate reliably in very cold environments, such as Siberia, where the thermometer can drop to -40˚C or below. You certainly don't want parts to fail when you're zipping down the road at 200 km/hr. because they can't take the heat (or the cold).

Electronic loads are used in a variety of tests, including power supply tests and battery tests. You can program them to provide exactly the kind of load that you need for the device you are testing.

Low-level measurements are susceptible to noise from a number of different sources. 

AMETEK Programmable Power DC power supplies convert AC power to DC power. While our supplies are very good at doing this, they're not perfect. On the output, there will be some small amount of AC still present. This is called ripple.

When installing an AMETEK Programmable Power power source, you must properly size the wires you use to connect the AC input power to the power source and the AC or DC output to the load. Selecting the right size gauge wire will ensure that your power source will operate efficiently and reliably.

Test costs can add considerably to overall manufacturing costs, especially when extensive testing is required. That's why it's important to keep test costs to a minimum. Reduced test costs translate to lower manufacturing costs. Modern power supplies, such as California Instruments' Asterion AC Series, have several features that can help you reduce test costs:

To ensure that automotive electronics can withstand the voltage transients induced on the power bus, companies use expensive arbitrary waveform generation and coupling networks during the design phase. For production test, however, a simpler and less expensive means for simulating bus voltage variations and transients is required. For many transient tests, all you need is a switching power supply and an electronic load.

The Sorensen SG Series is one of the most popular high power programmable DC power supplies on the market. The SG Series is designed for exceptional load transient response and low noise output. With a full 15 kW available down to 20VDC output in a 3U package the SG Series leads the industry in power density. The power density is enhanced by a stylish front air intake allowing supplies to be stacked without clearance between units.

Modern electronic loads, such as the SL Series, are versatile test instruments that should be part of every test engineer's toolbox. Here are some tips on how to use them properly.

In many applications, a DC power supply has to drive a load with a large ripple component. Examples of this type of load are DC-AC inverters, DC-DC converters, and DC motor loads. Linear supplies can normally handle this kind of load easily, but when you use a switching power supply, such as the Sorensen SG Series or Sorensen ASD Series, to drive this type of load, you may encounter some unexpected (and undesirable) problems.

The nature of the load that will be connected to the AC power source is very important in determining the correct type of supply. Generally loads can be classified as linear or non-linear. Linear loads consist exclusively of reactive, inductive or resistive components and can thus be modeled as an LCR network.

Selecting a laboratory power supply for the lab is not as easy as you might think. If you thumb through a catalog and choose the first one that you think meets your needs, you could end up with a power supply that more often than not sits on the shelf. By filling out the checklist below, and comparing your needs to the product descriptions and specifications of AMETEK Programmable Power's DC bench supplies, you're more likely to get the power supply you need.

Transient response is a measure of how well a DC supply, such as the Sorensen SG Series, copes with changes in current demand or how well the supply follows load impedance changes. This is an important specification in many applications, such as mobile phone testing and testing automotive relays and fuses. A good understanding of this power supply characteristic will help you choose the right supply for your test application.

Electronic loads have many different applications, including testing power converters and modulating a current supply while performing other tests. They are easy-to-use and provide much higher throughput than resistors when varying loads are needed.

When a load draws a high current, the voltage drop across the power leads could be high enough to cause a device under test (DUT) to fail or cause a system to malfunction. The solution to this problem is to use remote sensing. By adding a second set of wires—the sense wires—you can ensure that the proper voltage level is at the DUT or system's power terminals.

You can use electronic loads to test many different devices, including

In order to perform an accurate test of solar array inverters, the output of a solar array simulator must faithfully follow the I-V curve of a solar array or solar panel. That is to say that it must respond just as a solar array would to the changing load conditions imposed by the inverter under test. In order to evaluate how well a simulator can do this, you need to consider three parameters: output noise current, phase error between output voltage and current, and the maximum power point (MPP) tracking accuracy.

One of the most important specifications for a DC power supply is load regulation. Load regulation is a measure of how well a supply maintains its output voltage when the output current changes. Good load regulation will help ensure that the power supply will deliver the voltage your circuit or system needs.

The slew rate of a DC power supply is the rate at which the output voltage and output current changes. This characteristic is important in many applications, especially automatic test applications, as the faster a supply reaches a programmed voltage or current, the faster a test will run.

The first choice you must make when purchasing a DC power supply for a test system is whether to select a linear supply or switching supply. Linear power supplies offer low ripple and noise specifications and have fast transient behavior. They are, however, inefficient and generate a lot of heat. They are also quite heavy. As a result, most engineers find them desirable only at lower output power levels (typically less then 500 Watts). Most linear DC power supplies are benchtop supplies.

Testing the electric motors and the electronic control modules found in today's electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) is in many ways more challenging than testing internal combustion engines and their control modules. For one thing, HEV electric motors spin faster than internal combustion engines. They also must change speed more rapidly than internal combustion engines, and because some are designed to also generate energy, the test system must also measure the electrical output as well as the mechanical output of the motor.

Say that we have a circuit with a power supply and an inductive load on it. From the instant that electrical power is supplied to the circuit, the inductive load will accumulate stored energy. If an attempt is made to open the path with a switch, this energy will generate a high reverse voltage and arc across the contacts of the switch. This could damage the switch, load and other circuit components.