I want to build a HV DC power supply for a tube amp ( 1.2 kV at about 500 mA).
I intend to make it light using multiple voltage multiplier stages and no transformer…
Having no transformer I am facing the following problem.
If I use a schematic like this one:
And I consider the case of the power supply to be the ground it is very important how I connect the plug and which wire is the phase and witch one is the neutral because I could end up with the phase connected to the case.
Another method could be using a pair of Switching Relays that work at 220 V and automatically connect the phase and neutral to the desired position and create something similar with this schematic:
The problem with the second approach is that using modern household circuit breakers (like RCCB circuit breaker), the solution does not work.
Can you please advise me how to do this?
Best Answer
Get a proper transformer.
1.2KV at 500 mA is a substantial amount of energy and you will likely pay a substantial amount of the price of the transformer in the price of components trying to build a suitable voltage multiplier. Multipliers also work far more effectively when driven from a square wave than when used with a sine wave source and this will put substantial requirements on the multiplier components that raise their cost even more.
The transformer also adds the level of safety isolation that is needed to make things safe. The value of the safety has no comparison toward the cost of the suitable transformer.