Win a Tenma Power Supply

Congratulations to our winners!

Wow! You guys came up with some really creative ideas! There were over 100 individual ideas submitted and they were a blast to read through.

The winner of the Tenma Supply is Andrew J!

His submission literally made James laugh out loud: turning the supply into a mouse to scare a cat.

Congrats on your new supply!

But that's not all! We're going to find some element14 Community swag for the following honorable mentions:

This giveaway is closed.

Now that you know the basics of how to use a power supply, wouldn't it be great to have one to use on your very own bench? Well, you are so lucky because James has one to give away!

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James is always looking for novel ideas for how to use the equipment on his work bench. . . so in this contest, he's asking for ideas on the most unique use for a power supply that maybe isn't just using it as a power supply. (I don't think he means gutting it and using it for a potted plant.)

Add your suggestion in the comments below (no later than Friday, November 1) and you're entered with a chance to win.

James will select the winner and announce her/him on this page no later than November 14, 2019.

Learn More about the Tenma Power SupplyLearn More about the Tenma Power Supply

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Top Comments

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cyborg73703 over 6 years ago

One of the most interesting ways I've used a benchtop PSU is to clean contacts on micro switches that measure out of spec.

Being able to control current is key.
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dougw over 6 years ago in reply to cyborg73703

cyborg73703 Sounds interesting - can you describe your method?
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cyborg73703 over 6 years ago in reply to dougw

It takes a few sacrifical switches to figure out at which point of your max current causes damage when the switch contacts arc.

But once you figure that out, set the voltage to the voltage the system runs at that the micro switch is in, and current you've come up with before it causes more harm than good.

Usually micro switches see very little current as they're running relays commonly, so with the current supplied by the power supply this usually cleans corrosion, causing high resistance, off the contacts.

Can be very valuable for expensive or obsolete switches.
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14rhb over 6 years ago in reply to cyborg73703

Have you ever noticed this technique to have a negative effect, whereby the contact dirt carbonises further causing additional arcing and burning ?
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jw0752 over 6 years ago in reply to cyborg73703

Hi Kyle,
Wouldn't any arc capable of blasting off corrosion also produce enough heat to melt the metal of the contact? Then you would have a corroded and arc pitted contact which may not be very dependable. Surprisingly most switches can be taken apart and the contacts cleaned with a typewriter eraser if replacing them with a new switch isn't an option.
John
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Andrew J over 6 years ago in reply to jw0752

John, that's certainly what we have found on The Bombe which uses plenty of relays. Any dirt or corrosion is cleaned with a diamond file. If any contact is arcing it tends to weld those contacts shut! I think Kyle is talking about sacrificing a few to find out the current where that doesn't happen but I'm amazed it actually cleans the contact. Interesting....
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Andrew J over 6 years ago in reply to jw0752

John, that's certainly what we have found on The Bombe which uses plenty of relays. Any dirt or corrosion is cleaned with a diamond file. If any contact is arcing it tends to weld those contacts shut! I think Kyle is talking about sacrificing a few to find out the current where that doesn't happen but I'm amazed it actually cleans the contact. Interesting....
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