Cheap Power Supply From Available Components

While I'm not new to electronics (I've been playing with kits all my life), I've recently been building things out of electronic components more often. I've also noticed that a lot of people have power supplies at their "station", making it easy to build projects. I have a pair of AA batteries in holders that are perfect for powering an LED or two, but they don't do much with motors or arrays of LEDs, so I thought it was time to buy or build a power supply.

What I came up with is not perfect, but it will do for some basic tinkering. All of the critical components are cheap and available at RadioShack. However, before you even _start_ gathering materials, you should know that:

I am not an electrical engineer, and my knowledge comes only from _LIMITED_ practical experience. You will be working with things that could, if you misuse them, hurt you. If you decide to build this, TEST EVERYTHING before you start using it, and make sure that nothing is shorting before you plug it in. Also, USE A SURGE PROTECTOR! As far as I know surge protectors will shut off if they detect a short, so that might help you out.

I'm pretty sure that in the event of a short you're just going to fry your power supply and leave your house and wiring untouched, but one never knows. In any case, you've been warned.

OK, so materials:

-7805 voltage regulator
-LED (5v LED's are nice, 3v will work, but you'll need a resistor)
-Switch
-Two wire terminals
-Radio shack 1.5v-12v power supply
-Veroboard/perf board/prototyping board/ whatever kind of board they call it
-A bread board
-A case for the electronics

You'll also need:
-Pliers (wire cutters)
-Wire strippers (Optional, real men use the scissors on a Swiss army knife)
-Hot glue gun and hot glue (also optional, but they help secure things)
-Soldering iron and solder
-Glasses
-Desk fan

The glasses and desk fan are to keep you from inhaling solder fumes and to keep you from going blind. I've had a piece of solder shoot up and hit my glasses before. If I weren't wearing them I might be blind right now, and that wouldn't be much fun. It's a pain, but wear them.

Step 1 Step 1

Slip off the tip of the AD-DC converter, and leave yourself plenty of room still attached to the brick. You can throw the tip away if you like, we won't need it. Then strip and twist the wires.

I tested mine to see if it would work, and which wires were which. I also felt the wires and brick to make sure that they weren't heating up at an abnormal rate, indicating a short. I'm a little paranoid about shorts, it's one of my things.

Comments

[alex-sharetskiy]

Sorry abait your illnes... Great project case!

[afatflatcat]

nice instructable, and no offense but try typing slower mister alex, i think it might help your spelling. also there is a check spelling button....

[EarlyGrayce]

Looks like you are the self appointed Spelling Police here at instructables.com.
Are you American and misspel every fourth word afatflatcat?

[worldgnat]

Woah there. 1) You just implied that all Americans have poor spelling which I, an American citizen, find offensive. 2) You criticized a person's spelling ability using a grammatically incorrect sentence which included a spelling error (in the word "misspell" no less.) The sentence should read "Are you American and _do you_ misspell every fourth word..." After "and" their should either be another adjective that could be applied to the subject (you,) or an independent clause.

Spelling and grammar are important conventions that prevent misunderstandings and ambiguities in communication; there's nothing wrong with suggesting that someone pay more attention to their spelling or grammar as long as the suggestion is made in a manner that isn't belligerent or offensive.

[alex-sharetskiy]

well, i was in a rush, for some reason... can't rly remember

[rocketman221]

You will need to put a heatsink on that 7805 if you plan on running anything more than an led.

[stephenniall]

Gd ible