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I think it is a very simple test to perform, but I do not know the correct equipment for this.

I just have a basic LED circuit, resistor before LED, but I want to test a short in parallel with the whole circuit. I was able to test this with a normal Voltage power source but after sometime it burned. During this test the Voltage went down to almost 0 V, and current went as high as the source was able to supply.

Is there some sort of equipment to test short conditions? I am intending to test current(mA) against temperature.

Any help will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ You need a current limited power supply \$\endgroup\$ – crj11 Jul 25 '18 at 23:44
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What you noticed with your "normal voltage PS" is very logical. When you short circuit the output, in the absence of current limiter, the voltage drops as the current rises, since the PS cannot drive the necessary power to keep voltage high. That is until the main transistors or some other components burns out.

To avoid this disaster, nearly all decent power supplies have a current limiter circuit, as @crj11 suggested. If you don't have access to this equipment, you can buy a PS kit very cheap and assembly it yourself, or build a current limiter - the "how to" is just a google away.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Thanks for the answer. The power supply was very old, and it not very reliable, I was just wondering if is was utterly wrong to use a power supply instead of some other dedicated equipment. I will try your suggestion. \$\endgroup\$ – J. Bringas Jul 26 '18 at 18:22

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