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Project 023 - CSI Bench Power Supply CC Setting Upgrade

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DISCLAIMER: This design is experimental, so if you decide to build one yourself then you are on your own, I can't be held responsible for any problems/issues/damage/injury that may occur if you decide to follow this build and make one yourself.

INTRO

Owners of certain bench power supplies in the CSI range will have noticed that you can't actually set the CC (constant current) output of the power supply without a load connected, i.e. you have to run at load and use the UP/DOWN buttons on the power supply, which makes it impossible to preset a control current.

This project was originally to design & build a few boards and sell them via my online shop, of which I had sold quite a few. They are available here, or if you want to build your own the design files etc are further down this page.

Note: The orignal video blog is here - http://www.ianjohnston.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=95

DESIGN

The design is tested with my own CSI3003X5 & CSI3005XIII power supplies, but may possibly be used (subject to your testing) in other CSI and other similar branded power supplies of which there appears to be quite a few on Ebay etc.

Note: Dual channel CSI power supplies, such as the CSI3005XIII require two kits, one per channel.

The PCB is fitted simply by snapping it onto plastic standoffs (existing holes within the PSU) and plugging it in. All thats then required is just the soldering of three wires to specific points on the existing control board inside the PSU.
No drilling of any holes, no cutting of any wiring or Pcb traces etc is necessary. I've made this as easy as possible to install. See the video ( http://youtu.be/KCZl3jnqxAw ) & photos below which provide all the necessary info for installation.

The PCB does not require any calibration (on the above power supplies anyway), but does has the facility to tweak the display by way of an on-board potentiometer if required. The current setting range is between approx. 50mA and the full range current of the actual power supply (usually 3A or 5A depending on model).

Additional info:

    • TR1 potentiometer - Adjusts full scale of CC set display. Normally set to fully clockwise.
    • JP1 jumper - To manually set LCD to display CC Mode Set. This is for testing only.
    • Please refer to the YouTube video for full installation instructions.
    • This kit involves opening up your PSU and making some light modifications. It may invalidate your warranty.
    • As featured on Hackaday !

 

EAGLE PCB FILES & BOM

Current version = V1.11
Schematic in PDF format - here.
Eagle PCB files - here.
BOM file - here.

If you don't want to make your own then I am selling pre-assembled and fully tested kits in my online shop here.

 

VIDEO & PHOTO'S

Here's a video detailing the installation in full - http://youtu.be/KCZl3jnqxAw

And some additional photos (Pcb V1.1):

Topside of the board. All SMD components:

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Underside of the board. Relay, connector tails and plastic standoffs visible:

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Close-up of the PSU control board showing the positions of the 3 wires to be soldered up:

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