Troubleshooting And Repair Power Supply The Easy Way

Troubleshooting linear BM-N3 (25TH) was quite easy as compare to switch mode power supplies (SMPS). AC voltage enters to the primary side of linear transformer and then converted the AC into a lower or higher AC voltage depending on the secondary winding. The output AC voltage is then rectified and filtered by a diode and capacitors to produce a clean DC voltage.

If there is a problem in the linear transformer circuit, I can say that it is very easy to locate the fault. This is somehow different in the case of a switch mode power supply. The designs were complicated and some technicians found it quite hard to fully understand how the switch mode power supplies work.

The working principle of switch mode power supply is different from the linear type. First the AC voltage will flow to a full wave rectifier (bridge rectifier) which produces an uneven DC output and then filtered by a large capacitor (usually 220 micro farad and up to 450 volts). The clean DC voltage will then flows to start up resistors and to the input of switch mode power transformer.

Once the voltage passed through the high ohms resistor (start up resistors) the voltage would drop to a value where it then flows to the VCC supply pin of Pulse width modulation IC.Once the PWM IC received the voltage it will output a signal to drive the transistor (or FET) and produces a changing in magnetic field in the transformer primary winding.

The changing magnetic field induces voltage in the secondary windings. Each of these AC voltage produced by the secondary windings is then rectified, filtered, and regulated to produce a clean DC voltage. One of the main DC output voltage is the B+ that supply to flyback transformer (for TV and Monitor Circuit)

The output from the B+ voltage supply is then connected, through a “feedback” loop (which consist of optoisolator ic and an error amplifier TL431 IC), back to the PWM IC. When the voltage from the B+ supply rises or drop a bit, the PWM IC will act to correct the output.

If you still do not understand the above explanation, please do not be discourage because you can always buy technical books and schematic diagrams and read it till you get the whole idea of how a SMPS work. You can ask a repair friend or even surf the internet for a better and easy explanation.

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