Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Power Supply and Capacitor Questions Help!!

Bleed Resistors -

Again, you only need one bleed resistor - the capacitors should be wired in
parallel. There is a nice discussion regarding the proper sizing of bleed
resistors by Roland Friestad in the May/June 2003 issue of the "Home Shop
Machinist" if you want to figure out how long your caps will take to
discharge. Personally, I've got a strong preference to include a bleed
resistor.

Running without a Capacitor -

I don't think that you want to do this too much: (1) you don't get the 1.4X
voltage right out of the bridge rectifier - the voltage doesn't get kicked
up until after its sent to the capacitors - at least in my practical
experience measuring output voltage from the bridge rectifier without the
capacitors; and more importantly (2) when [stepper motors at least]
decelerate, they send current back down the lines and you want this current
and voltage [I think] to go into the capacitor, not directly back into your
motor controllers.

If anybody else wants to weigh in on this, I'd welcome any
clarification/correction of what I'm trying to communicate. All this is
relatively new to me, and I'm not an engineer, but have learned the above
from practical experience ..... and accidently welding a screwdriver to the
top of a capacitor!

Bob