H7140 PDP 11/24 Power Supply Advice

At 11:09 AM 11/13/01, Tony wrote: The argument goes like this: - You sell 5 million units. - Your average selling price is $3500 (some are more some less, depending on channel, sales aggression etc.) - You save $0.10 on a each of 10 capacitors for a costs saving of $1. That is $5 million dollars ($1/unit) that you add to your bottom line. If you've got 5 million shares of stock outstanding that add 1 cent/share to your earnings. If that makes your product fail more often and you have to repair them (warranty etc) then you subtract that cost, but the "argument" for "value engineering" as it is euphemistically referred to, is simply numbers. Well run businesses run exactly like your computers Tony with very similar schematics, however money replaces current and credit replaces voltage. The equivalent argument in electronics could be made with a resistor - You are pumping 5 amps of current - Your circuit has to drop 3.5 volts on average (some more some less depending on control settings) - You add three diodes rather than using a switching regulator. This causes you to dissipate 17.5 watts from the diodes. That's 17.5 watts that goes into heat rather than doing useful work. If the circuit can tolerate the heat then it is simpler than a switching regulator. But it may shorten the life of the circuit. Its a mechanical analytical thing, not a big profit conspiracy as some would have you believe. --Chuck