27-03-2017, 09:52 AM
Hi Dave, it's fine up here in Lincolnshire - a bit different from Essex/NE London!
Your interpretation of my post is correct. You'd need a very beefy zener - probably on a heatsink - and the power dissipation would be constant, irrespective of the load, whereas with a series regulator the no load consumption is virtually nil.
I agree with Lawrence's suggestion for testing.
Further to Mike's comment, with no load the DC should equal the peak of the AC input, so around 15V in your case. An alternative to a faulty bridge would be a very leaky capacitor but I would have expected its contents to be spread all over your walls and ceiling by now if it passed that much current for long!
Your interpretation of my post is correct. You'd need a very beefy zener - probably on a heatsink - and the power dissipation would be constant, irrespective of the load, whereas with a series regulator the no load consumption is virtually nil.
I agree with Lawrence's suggestion for testing.
Further to Mike's comment, with no load the DC should equal the peak of the AC input, so around 15V in your case. An alternative to a faulty bridge would be a very leaky capacitor but I would have expected its contents to be spread all over your walls and ceiling by now if it passed that much current for long!
