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Combining Two 12V 15A Power Supplies in Parallel—Current Limiter & Schottky Diode Method

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    Cart McCormick
    Anonymous  
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    Calinoaia Valentin
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    Steve Lawson
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    Steve Lawson
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    Steve Lawson
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    David Figueroa
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    Kevin Parmenter
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    sudheep Rc
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    Steve Lawson
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    Cart McCormick
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    Ian Brown
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Topic summary

Paralleling two 12V 15A power supplies to achieve a combined 30A output presents significant challenges primarily due to load sharing and control loop conflicts. Simple methods like adding low-value series resistors for current balancing are theoretically possible but impractical because of excessive heat dissipation at high currents. The Schottky diode method involves isolating each supply output with high-current Schottky diodes to prevent backfeeding and control system interference, but this also results in power loss and heat. Adjusting the supplies to closely matched voltages and using supplies with current limit (constant current, CC) and voltage adjust features can help; one supply can regulate voltage while the other operates in CC mode to share load. However, this requires supplies designed for parallel operation or CVCC (constant voltage, constant current) types. Without explicit parallel operation support, supplies may fight each other, causing instability and potential damage. Some manufacturers, like Excelsys, offer modular power supplies designed for safe parallel and series configurations. Additionally, paralleling multiple supplies can cause issues not only on the output side but also on the input side, such as power factor correction conflicts and voltage spikes. Overall, paralleling standard power supplies is complex and often not recommended unless the supplies are specifically designed for it.
Summary generated by the language model.
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