Talk:Switched-mode power supply

Edit warring of material from advantages/disadvantages section
Sorry, am I being stupid or is the advantages/disadvantages section only for saying how *great* switch-mode power supplies are, or are we allowed to only state (unreferenced) that switch-mode power supplies can have very low standby losses and are not allowed to refer to the fact that transformers and can be less lossy?

Because sorry, last time I checked, switch mode power supplies are usually cheap, small, light, and give decent efficiency, but most high power conversion in the power industry uses transformers, for valid reasons, and technologies like HVDC often only make sense for relatively long distances where the high voltage and lack of capacitive and inductive and other losses you get from AC overwhelm the bigger conversion losses you get from switched power conversion.

Switch mode power supplies usually (but not always) work best for situations where you are only using the equipment some of the time, and where the standby losses of a transformer would be greater than the slightly higher conversion losses of a switch mode power supply when in use.GliderMaven (talk) 01:57, 13 September 2016 (UTC)


 * This article is about SMPS; it is not about HV power distribution or cycloconverters/HV switching. HVDC has its own article. This article is about converting mains power to levels suitable for objects such as a personal computer. The comparison is being drawn to linear supplies/regulators. Your last paragraph implies that people who use their computer all the time (never in standby) would use just transformers rather an SMPS. Personal computers use SMPS supplies. Linear regulators are impractical for high current and low voltage.
 * Two reverts is edit warring? You've inserted the material three times in the wrong paragraph and used strange sources. Under WP:BRD, you should have not reinserted the material a third time but just come here.
 * The first paragraph of the section ("The main advantage...") is about the efficiency of switched regulators. The task of SMPS is both conversion and regulation. And SMPS often use transformers to achieve part of that goal. Transformers alone are not used for precision regulation. Transformers alone do not convert DC. Most transformers do not regulate; those that regulate have higher losses. Your conversion efficiency claim was not inserted in this paragraph. Even if it were, it does not mention of the efficiency of the regulator. This is not an article on transformers; it is an article on power supplies.
 * The second paragraph is about size and weight and heat. An SMPS can use higher than line frequencies to significantly reduce the size of the magnetics (e.g., the transformers and inductors). The paragraph points out that SMPS standby power dissipation can be very low. Your insertion of "However..." immediately contrasts with the standby dissipation but ignores the standby assertion and instead attacks efficiency. The statement is not on topic. A line frequency transformer will have significant standby dissipation; current will be flowing in the magnetizing inductance and have an IR loss. That current (typically 10 percent of the max load current) is present even when no power is drawn. SMPS is not about high voltage power distribution (your first reference). Transmission line power distribution is also less about size, weight, or heat. The size and weight of the transmission lines and towers dwarfs the transformers. Efficiency/heat is more involved; a transmission system can throttle the source. Yes, transmission line frequencies are kept low to avoid some transmission losses, but that implies large, heavy, transformers at the customer's site unless he uses an SMPS to increase the frequency. Yes, some HV transmission lines are DC and therefore must include switchers to do the transformation, but that is not what this article is about. Invoking superconductors is unfair; a fair comparison would be superconducting SMPS to a superconducting transformers. Last I heard, superconductors are not common industrial or consumer products yet. And be sure to include the refrigeration costs in the efficiency calculation.
 * The third paragraph is about the disadvantages. The section is not claiming that SMPS are always great; it does allow criticism. See also the second paragraph of the lede. See also the table entry on efficiency.
 * Glrx (talk) 19:56, 14 September 2016 (UTC)

September 2017 merge
Another user put the "merge" template into Switched-mode power supply applications. I've changed that to the "mergeto" template and put the "mergefrom" into the "Applications" section here. --Wtshymanski (talk) 00:03, 15 September 2017 (UTC)
 * Support - entire contents at the "applications" article is redundant with the applications section here; adding it here, without all the padding, would negligably increase the length of this article. --Wtshymanski (talk) 00:03, 15 September 2017 (UTC)

Talk page archived
Topics that have not been active in some time have been archived. --Wtshymanski (talk) 00:13, 15 September 2017 (UTC)

Points ignition systems replaced by CDI in the 1960s???
In the paragraph on Kettering (points) ignition, within History, it says "Variations of this ignition system were used in all non-diesel internal combustion engines until the 1960s when it was displaced with capacitive discharge ignition systems."

I'd like to see some data for that, as far as I can tell this is incorrect. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignition_system there is reference to experimental CDI systems in the 1960s, but it then talks about the more widely used electronic inductive systems used in the 1970s. Inductive systems are still in use on current generation vehicles. CDI is perhaps more frequently seen on bikes. 79.78.60.213 (talk) 12:17, 16 November 2017 (UTC)
 * Yes, that could be better. I've qualified it a bit. The first transistor-switched Kettering systems (but still at 12V) did appear on European production cars in the late 1960s though. Andy Dingley (talk) 13:45, 16 November 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
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Power data unsourced
The power column in the table under the "Isolated topologies" section should be accompanied by sources that provide examples of converters that can attain the listed power ranges.

ICE77 (talk) 02:06, 23 July 2018 (UTC)

Output voltage of linear supply
This is not limited to 2x the input, as is erroneously stated. See Wikipedia article on Cockcroft-Walton_generator. The voltage doubler mentioned is usually implemented as a switched power supply. Denimskater (talk) 17:13, 24 June 2019 (UTC)
 * See the delon circuit. -- Hans Haase (有问题吗) 11:44, 28 June 2019 (UTC)

History of switching power supplies
My IEEE Spectrum article on the history of switching power supplies may be a useful reference for the history section, which is currently somewhat sparse. — Preceding unsigned comment added by KenShirriff (talk • contribs) 16:35, 3 August 2019 (UTC)