Downsize Your Bench Power Supply With the R4K-36 Series

14 January, 2021

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In a time where we spend all our time at home, we start looking for ways to enhance our productivity. You may believe that nothing will ever beat your lab at work or college, and let me tell you, you are dead wrong! Today we will take a look at a very convenient palm-sized variable DC power supply, which has the potential to make your work at home more enjoyable!

The R4K-36 product, developed by Matsusada Precision, is a lab bench power supply series with the features you expect from one, but with a simple characteristic that makes a world of difference: it is incredibly compact. If you recall, these power supplies usually take up more space than almost any other appliance in the lab, and with this one, the space problem simply goes away, you can just tuck it anywhere and it will blend with the environment.

But of course, a power supply is not just made of its size, so what is there that may deserve my attention (and money)? We will see:

Multi setting function, to memorize 3 different voltage and current settings
Delay trigger function, to delay the output in a range of 0.0 to 99.9 seconds
Two different locking modes, to avoid mis-operation and those accidental knob-bumbs
Sink current + sink current prevention function
Connection of up to 16 PSU’s in series (if you have them, you probably just need 2, one for positive and the other for negative rails)
Dual tracking, with multiple outputs
Digital interfaces available
Remote on-off control and remote sensing
Pulse and ramp sequences + master follow function (optional)

Besides these “nice to have” features, there are some technical details we should get into:

Voltage range from 2 to 40 V (with 1 mV resolution)
Maximum output power from 0.2 to 36 W
Maximum current from 0.1 to 4 A (with 0.1 mA resolution)
Four-digit meter
Dimensions: small enough to fit on your hand, do you need more detail?

A very important caveat, these features do not relate to all products in the series. There are many products in this series and they may not fill all the voltages, currents and power specifications stated here.

So, from what we have seen, we are looking at a small product capable of doing big things. It has most of the features you would need in a power supply for your lab and would suit you well. Regarding the price, it is only available through quote, which is a bummer, considering it is a critical factor when choosing a product. Just as a reminder, there are a lot of different variants to choose from, so if you go forward and actually buy one, take some time to analyze and choose the one that will work best for you.