[TheSignalPath] wanted to repair a broken Instek PSW80-40.5 because it has a lot of output for a programmable power supply — 1,080 watts, to be exact. This isn’t a cheap supply — it looks like it costs about $2,200 new. The unit wasn’t working and when he took it apart, he found a nasty surprise. There is a base PCB and three identical power supply modules, and virtually no access without disconnecting the boards. He continued the teardown, and you can see the results in the video below.

Each of the power supply modules are two separate PCBs and the design has to account for the high currents required. The power supply is a switching design with some filtering on the motherboard. One of the boards of the power supply module rectifies the incoming line voltage to a high DC voltage (about 400 volts). The second board then does DC to DC conversion to the desired output.

Continue reading “1,000 Watt Power Supply Tear Down And Repair” →