Computer power supplies

[flannman]

Hi

Has anyone ever used a computer power supply for powering stepper motors they have a 12v dc output. I was thinking to have three in series giving 36v dc and the recommended voltage for my motors is 36-42. Also could anyone tell me if these are switch mode power supplies and also tell me exactly what this means. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Lee

[Al_The_Man]

Originally Posted by flannman Hi I was thinking to have three in series giving 36v dc and the recommended voltage for my motors is 36-42. Also could anyone tell me if these are switch mode power supplies and also tell me exactly what this means. Any help is greatly appreciated. Lee

The problem you would have in series-ing them is that you would have to make sure the DC common was not connected to chassis ground, in other words you would have to isolate the commons, which could get tricky, also the current rating for the 12v supply is not very high.
They are switchmode power supplies which mean they use higher frequency switching than the incoming ac frequency of 60Hz or 50Hz, this allows the use of compact, light, switching transformers, without the need of large step-down transformers at mains frequency.
Al

[MrBean]

I'm currently using the +5V supply from a PC PSU to power my steppers and Al's right, they're pretty crap for this application.

Regards Terry.....
http://www.terry-is.f2s.com

[flannman]

Thanks for the help. I thought they would be perfect but was obviously wrong. I will have look into a better idea.

Lee