making a ac-dc bench testing power supply

[straight6pwr]

hey electronics wizs, got a question. ive already got a standard 120V AC to 12v Dc (2 amp) power converter that i use to bench test small electronics stuff. my question is what do I need to test car electronics that require more power such as headlights/foglight, aux. fans, etc? doing on online search just revealed crap. do i need to find one that puts out more amps and thats all? 10 amps enough?

thanks for any help!

[guibo09]

search for a battery charger

[Jean]

Powerful bench power supplies will cost you $$$... To test headlights/bulbs you won't need much unless you plan on leaving the bulbs on for a long time. Now, aux fans require more current and will most likely blow the 2amp fuses. Why not use a car battery for the heavy duty stuff?

[kronus]

Aw, I've been meaning to make a nice writeup to do this for a while... you can use a computer power supply to get nice, stable power at +12, +5, 0, -5, -12 voltage levels, and as many amps as the supply is rated for (usually more than 20A).

Here is an in-depth overview, and here is my summary of it.

[straight6pwr]

oh hey thanks! thats easy enough for me to tackle, and i can find PSUs in the gutter around here.

[straight6pwr]

search for a battery charger

dont really want to have something that big sitting on my desk.

[AndrewBird]

Take a look here:

http://build.your.own.prototypes.googlepages.com/buildingahomebrewpowersupply.htm

[James Crivellone]

http://www.bkprecision.com/products/categories/sub_categories/?sub_cat_id=65

I have a 0 - 72V 0 - 1.5Amp Variable PSU, which handles most of my stuff, however if you want to test higher amperage electronics you will need to pay for it.. If you want the variable portion at least.

[AndrewBird]

Honestly, for anything over a few amps, I just use a car battery. Usually I'm only testing tings for just a second (like to see if a headlight works) so size isn't really an issue.

Other then that, you'll have to spend big money to get anything decent.

[straight6pwr]

Honestly, for anything over a few amps, I just use a car battery. Usually I'm only testing tings for just a second (like to see if a headlight works) so size isn't really an issue.

Other then that, you'll have to spend big money to get anything decent.

this is mainly what i want to use it for. i have a whole box of fog lights/headlights/9005,9006,h3 bulbs etc that i have to go through. buying a car battery seems a bit over the top for these things (and pricey) so i think ill just mod a PSU.

[AndrewBird]

Just use the one out of your car. Simple. OR buy a motorcycle battery. They are pretty cheap and small.