So a bench power supply can be quite expensive, and something I already have laying around is a car battery and a car battery charger. Is there any reason why a car battery + battery charger would not be a good bench power supply for stepper motors (given the need for straight 12V power, obviously the complexity increases when you must supply other voltages). I'm looking at the setup with a scope and while it's a little noisy it's nothing out of the ordinary either. I'm in the midst of testing out a RAMPS 1.4 unit with a megaduino and a single NEMA 17 motor. While I'll probably scavenge an ATX unit soon, I was wondering if it was crazy to try such a setup with a car battery. Furthermore, looking at the amps some of these car chargers put out, it seems worthy of looking into for vastly more powerful projects as well.
Electronic – arduino – Car Battery + Car battery Charger = 12 V Bench Power Supply
arduinopower supply
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Best Answer
There is an safety issue that should be mentioned. Car batteries can put out huge amounts of power. If you put together a project and you have a dead short somewhere you are going to start lighting things up. A fuse is a must.
That said, a battery can work if you can't get access to a regular DC power supply. It shouldn't be recommended though as no current limiting capabilities are provided. (this is why a fuse is a must)
Another note, batteries will vary in voltage. Don't be expecting a nice clean 12V supply