PSU test load

On Jan 24, 2012, at 7:41 PM, ben wrote: Well, that's more than I've usually had to test. I'd have to think harder about that if I had to test motors. I've certainly done power sequencing for actual projects before (we had an AMC board which had 6 core voltage rails and a handful more I/O that had to be sequenced quite exactly, which was less than fun). I would imagine the same principles apply, just using pass FETs or relays to turn on the loads. Or, if you're looking to make sure the supplies come up in the right order, that's what a multi-channel scope is for. :-) Agreed! But a wirewound resistor doesn't react like a speaker does, and for general amp testing (at least for power measurement), it's best to have as non-reactive a load as possible. Fidelity testing, conversely, should be done with a live speaker load hooked up (and ideally not at max volume). Most of the dummy loads that size I have are actually for the power supplies to make sure they'll actually pump 150W, not the speaker circuitry. But yes, I wouldn't be testing my 150W guitar amp at full volume in my work area, or indeed anything less than at least a large warehouse. - Dave