Protection of an electronic circuit with isolated power supplies increases the lifespan of DC things and electrical components in your circuit. For instance, if you have put a step down transformer with a rectifier filter for obtaining continuous DC out of AC supplies, it is a blessing. Most of the electronic devices with semiconductor technology have some or the other form of converter that helps inverter or rectifier action. Let’s explore the functioning of isolated power supplies and how to effortlessly connect and use it in power electronics.
What is an isolated power supply?
When you need to interconnect the low voltage side of your circuit to other equipment, an isolated power supply is used. As the name suggests, it isolates the AC and DC circuit providing a high resistance path for the current.
Galvanic isolation is achieved by using a transformer or an optocoupler. The use of op amps in power isolation is not so effective thereby needing them to upgrade to Flyback converters that use transformers.
Why use an isolated power supply?
Whereas noise propagation is one of the concerns in electronics where precise voltages are required, applications like sound or audio engineering require the signal without noise disturbances. No voltage spikes should be allowed. This makes isolated power supplies indispensable for sound engineering applications, medical devices and more.
- Safety against over-voltages:
Replacing an entire array of large capacity electrical equipment and switchgear becomes hectic and expensive. Having isolated power supplies with the help of transformers makes sure your voltage remains very very stable. An SMPS or switched mode power supply allows 30-40% voltage variation but it is not the same case with isolated power supplies with optocoupler allow 1% voltage variation. - Prevent multiple conductive paths between same circuit:
Having ground loops due to leakage current is a major drawback of using transformers. Due to stray magnetic fields conducting in the same circuit, the efficiency of an electrical circuit reduces drastically. An isolated power supply connected to the secondary side of the transformer is a way to go to stop the ground loops and improve the overall efficiency of the conversion. - Noise immunity:
The signal strength is affected by the noise levels. Noise in signals or flow of current are unwanted. Using an isolated power supply in the circuit makes it less prone to noise or changing magnitudes of the signals.
What makes isolated power supplies an expensive bet?
Creating pure signals and keeping them that way throughout is one of the most sought after features. For guitar foot pedals, a simple daisy chain cable is a much more economical solution to an isolated power supply sometimes, because there is hardly nowadays analog foot pedals in much use. The semiconductor based isloated power supplies are cheaper alternatives that do not even provide separate ground for all the outputs of the power supply. Only when you use isolated power supplies with transformers that you get individual grounding for all the outputs of the power supply. This makes them crazy good at their work thereby making them a lot more expensive.
Where do you get them in Bahrain?
Having premium power electronics supplies for your industrial applications is important. Therefore, it is worthwhile to invest into graded components from German maker’s Starkstrom products in Bahrain. Request a quote for Starkstrom products in Bahrain like isolated power supplies, UPS and more at UBM.
Conclusion:
Although expensive, isolated power supplies help a lot with the protection of an even more expensive switchgear and electronics circuitry. We recommend them for your application as they provide a sureshot way to protect against overvoltages, noise and multiple current loops. If you are looking for complete power electronics Starkstrom products in Bahrain, check out United Building Materials Bahrain. Drop your quote today!
