This page contains all of the theory, design, and assembly information having to do with the power supply for the Ruby laser. If you have any questions just contact me here.

The picture below is the step down and key switch portion of the circuit which brings the household 110 volt AC down to 24 volt DC and delivers it to the appropriate components via the keyswitch.

(Click the schematic to supersize, or for the best quality save and view from your computer)

Theory:

First 110 volts AC comes from your wall outlet and goes through circuit breaker CB1, this is a major safety feature which prevents you from being extensively fried or a fire from starting in the case of a short circuit. The 110 then goes through step down transformer T1 and is brought down to a safe 18 volts AC. The 18 volts then travels through the bridge rectifier which is composed of D1 through D4, the rectifier converts the AC to DC through a process called rectifying. A strange property the rectifier is that as it converts the AC to DC is also increases the voltage from 18 volts to 24 volts, exactly the voltage needed by the circuit. Finally a capacitor is put between the positive and negative side of the circuit to cleanup the power and remove stray garbage. We now have a very clean, useable, and safe 24 volts DC.

Copyright 2003 Michael Robinson unless otherwise noted