How to properly isolate multiple power supplies

Question

Say you have a single 110V AC supply and need to use it for a number of devices, each requiring very different characterists. For me personally these are: a direct use of the 110V AC supply for a computer, a very stable yet variable high-voltage supply (up to 2.5kV, low DC current) to power some photo-multiplier tubes, and a 5V DC supply for a DAQ board.

My question is therefore, how should one connect the respective transformers and rectifiers to ensure there was no feeback from one output to another and that the setup is as safe possible?

I guess, in other words, what I'm asking is: what are the necessary considerations and equipment one should employ to safely use a single AC supply for a diverse range of multiple devices?

By "safely" here I mean for the equipment to be placed in a commercial / industrial environment and therefore necessarily complying with 'standard' safety regulations.

Answer 1

The input side isn't a problem - just connect all the devices to the 110 line. AC devices are designed to cope with being arbitrarily arranged on the power bus, because in practice, you never can tell how people will hook them up.

Your problem is the output sides of those supplies. The DC outputs may or may not be isolated from the input side; sometimes one side (usually the negative) may be connected to the input's earth-ground, but sometimes the outputs 'float', not connected in any way to an external node. So, you need to establish a common point ground so that the various DC potentials don't 'float' with respect to one another.

Answer 2

As long as you run your AC supply within spec (don't overload it), there should be no problem. Just connect up the equipment. Normal wall power is noisy and can vary, so any equipment designed to work with it will already be able to tolerate some noise and voltage variation.