High-Voltage Rectifiers Flashing Over

Manufacturer's PIV (Peak Inverse Voltage) rating: 20,000V.

Did the manufacturer's data sheet mention potting, or encapsulation of any kind: NO.

Were the rectifiers physically large enough to withstand 20,000 volts across them: NO. They were less than 3/8" long. This *might* be good for a few kV in a commercial application.

The rectifiers were flashing over at around 6kVDC, measured with two completely different measurement systems.

It was fairly spectacular. Even though 12J worth of capacitor was dumped directly across the ceramic-bodied diodes, they were unharmed, and continued to rectify the AC current.

I won't release the name of the manufacturer, as I believe they have fixed their screw-up at this point.

Category:

Education

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• over
• high
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