[sdiy] Using switching power supplies in series to get bipolar outputs?

[Shawn Rakestraw]

I have 2 of the RS-75 12V supplies connected together with the center
grounded and it works fine. My only concern with these power supplies is
that they may be a little noisy. If you really crank the gain up (I mean a
lot!) you will hear the whiney switching sounds that they make. It's not a
complete deal breaker because I have not replaced them, but something to
consider. Also, so few modules use the 5V, it's easy to just plug a 5V
converter into a busboard if you have a module that needs that.

Shawn

On Sat, Nov 18, 2023 at 12:37 PM Oren Leavitt via Synth-diy <
synth-diy at synth-diy.org> wrote:

> That will work as long as the + and - outputs are floating, isolated from
> ground. The center tap can be grounded in your system.
> On 11/18/23 8:08 AM, Scott Bernardi via Synth-diy wrote:
>
> I've noticed that most switching power supplies that offer bipolar
> outputs(i.e., to get +/-12v) have less current capability on the negative
> supply than the positive.  For example, the Meanwell 65B which has +/-12v
> and +5v, great for Eurorack, has
> +5v max 8 amps
> +12v max 3.5 amps
> -12v max 1 amp
> What about buying two +12v supplies, or maybe one that has +12v and +5v
> with another with just +12v, and hooking them in series with a center tap
> to get +/- 12v?
>
> This article
> https://www.mouser.com/pdfDocs/blog_how-to-operate-parallel-and-series-connection.pdf looks
> like it's possible, although they only talk about hooking them up in series
> to increase the output voltage rather than bipolar.
> Has anybody done this?
>
>
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