Maplin 13.8 Volt Regulated Power Supply

[Damo636]

I am about to order one of these for use when at home. http://mobile.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?moduleno=231 Just one question, well 2 really. As its 12 volts i need to power my dew straps, how will the extra 1.8 volts (13.8v) affect things? Also, if i wanted to run the motors on the mount (6 volt), is there an adapter that stops the power down for this unit?

[Helen]

Don't worry, the unit will do fine (I read that most things rated 12v eg car batteries etc actually deliver a bit more anyway)

Helen

[Tinker1947]

The 13.8 volts is a Amateur Radio thing, that what the radio run with, won't hurt you dew straps ect, you will probably need a separate PSU or unit to drop the 13.8v to 6v

[AstroTux]

You should be fine for the dew straps as they do not use any 'active' components ( microchips, etc. ) however I would be very careful with your motor drive. Most of these need a control board which uses active components and the higher voltage may well exceed their design limits.

As has already been said, it would probably be better to run the motor drive from a separate PSU.

[Damo636]

Thanks guys, appreciate the replys.

[Adrian]

I have the 7A maplin supply & I use one of these to change down to 6v for my dual axis motors Universal 3A DC Power Supply : InCar Power Adaptors : Maplin (unfortunately you missed them being £9.99 last week)

Only had the chance to test it once, but it was fine for that session. I cut off the cigarette lighter socket adaptor and added a couple of crimp ring terminals so I could attach it straight to the terminal posts on the box.