With a minimum amount of components you can easily make a variac into a high current power supply with a wide output voltage range

FeaturesEdit

• Output voltage: 0-160V

  maybe higher if your variac goes above 120V AC

• High current

  current is only limited by the components you use

WarningEdit

This power supply will not offer common features that most power supplies have. This is a list

• No voltage regulation
  • allthough it will keep a fairly constant voltage, there is no regulation if load or input voltage changes
• No current limiting
  • components will fail if you use too much current
• No short circuit protection
  • components will fail if you accidentally short your circuit
• No isolation
  • can be dangerous to you and your circuit
• Negative port is not ground
  • can be dangerous to you and your circuit
• Zero volts is not ground
  • can be dangerous to you and your circuit

As a result this can be dangerous to use if you not careful, and it can damage your project if there's a short or mistake.

DesignEdit

Components

• Variac
• Full bridge rectifier
• Heat sink
• Large capacitor
• Resistor (optional)