Power Supply Identification/Manufacturer Number Translation

[nathaniel]

Can anyone tell me what the voltages, polarity, current, etc. are for these?

Spellman RHR20P20/FG/RC/TP I've been told this is 40kV, but I'm not sure the person knows what they're talking about and the code seems to suggest half that.

Glassman PS/ EX075PCP01A I'm guessing that this is 75kV and 10A, but I really don't know and I have no idea what the polarity is (though there are a lot of Ps). It looks identical to a current PK series Glassman.

Thanks.

[bwsparxz]

The P between the 20's means this is a positive supply. The FG means it has the floating ground option. As for the rest, would have to dig out my spellman manual. Maybe Jon R. might have easier access. The only way to make this supply usefull for fusion is to get a negative multiplier. Changing the diodes would be a big task as the multipliers are usually potted as me and Jon found out. Look at:

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=4572#p27410

[MarkS]

I'd have to agree with Brian, the Spellman looks like a 20kV, 20mA Positive supply. The Glassman appears to be 75kV, 1mA Positive. My Glassman is a 30kV, 10mA and the multiplier is air-insulated stack, stuck inside an insulating plastic box, and the whole thing comes apart if you pull the right screws out; nothing on the inside of the stack was glued down. Perhaps you could lower the multiplication of the Glassman a bit and raise the current.
-Mark Siegel

[Chris Bradley]

Does 'floating ground' not mean that it can float to its rated voltage, i.e. can be connected both ways around?

I asked spellman about options for floating lines and was told this was a rare option (by which I immediately understood 'expensive'!!) on their machines.

[DaveC]

The information already given about the Spellman HVPS is correct.

The Glassman supply is almost certainly a 75 kV 10 mA (.01A), not a 10 A supply. A 75 kV 10A output supply would be 3/4 of a MegaWatt (!!) output and come in some rather large cabinets and use 3 phase - 4kV or something as the input.

As to floating ground: It is a common option, that you need to specify when you order. This feature allows leakage currents from the device under test (DUT) to be monitored. When this is specified, a link is placed in the HV RTN on the rear panel of the supply. You can put a sensitive ammeter or other means to measure/monitor current, there. Most HV systems should check out at below 1 uA per 10 kVDC if the insulation is good. For a large KW sized HVPS, the current monitoring display will usually not have the resolution to read such low currents.

The polarity is fixed by your specification at the time of manufacture, and can't easily be changed, without replacing the potted multiplier stack, and making adjustments to circuit elements. (This has all been extensively discussed in past threads, too).

The Glassman air insulated supplies, (and, Kaiser, too, I think) can/could be "ambidextrous" so to speak, IF you order them that way... But you still need a multiplier stack with the proper polarity.
It's likely you could get a Spellman with switchable polarity, too, but it has to be ordered that way and you need positive and negative polarity multiplier assemblies.

On lower voltage higher current: Multipliers are the diode-capacitor equivilent of a transformer. Just as you cannot simply run a transformer at lower voltage and higher current than its original design values (for very long!), neither can you do this with a multiplier stack.

Dave Cooper

[nathaniel]

Well I guess neither are suitable and I'd rather not try modifying one. Oh well....

Thanks for the replies.

[nathaniel]

I'm sorry to keep asking similar questions.... but.....

How can you tell the polarity of a Hitek power supply? The product code for the one in question is 0L6000/803/14. I know that means that it is an OL series 6000W model 80kV 75mA model, but I'm not sure what the "14" means. If the product code doesn't say the polarity, how would you tell by actually looking at the supply?

My other question is: is this just the converter? The current OL series supplies have two parts. This only has the rack mount piece. Then again, it doesn't look like the current OL series rack mount unit.

The Hitek OL page can be found here: http://www.hitekpower.com/product216-5.aspx

[honickmonster]

The rackmount unit is the high frequency converter, which takes the line voltage and converts it to a few hundred volts at high frequency. In order to get 80kv you need the high voltage multiplier stack. These stacks are generally much rarer in the surplus market and much more expensive.