[AMPS] Power Supply Diodes

Vic Rosenthal rakefet@rakefet.com
Wed, 02 Feb 2000 19:43:10 -0800


Larry Molitor wrote:
> 
> So here's the question: why did the highly acclaimed 1N5408's fail? 

My theory is that a transient on the AC line is the cause.  It was spread
unevenly across the diode string because of junction-capacitance differences. 
Paralleling each diode with a low-tolerance .001 mf capacitor would have
prevented this.  I don't believe there is a need for equalizing resistors with
modern diodes.  

There has been a lot of discussion on this subject here and a lot of strong
opinions.  I am not an engineer and am not speaking from authority; however, I
haven't lost any diodes mysteriously since I started doing this (anecdotal
evidence, not science).

73,
Vic, K2VCO
Fresno CA

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