CC and CV Mode of Mastech CC CV Power Supply

A Mastech or Volteq Power Supply is a CC CV Power Supply that can be operated in either of the two modes: CC (constant current) and CV (constant voltage) mode. You can tell which mode the power supply is in by looking at the front panel, where either the "CC" or "CV" indicator light is on. If the "CV" light is on, it means that the power supply is in constant voltage mode.

If you are a novice user, you may wonder what this means. With any Mastech CC CV power supply, you can set both the current and voltage using the knobs on the front panel. However, you are not setting the actual current or voltage; you are merely setting the limits for voltage and current.

According to Ohm's Law, at any given load, you can only control either the current or the voltage, as the other is determined by Ohm's Law and the load. When the "CV" light is on, it means that the voltage displayed on the power supply (which is always the actual voltage it is outputting) is the same as the voltage you set. However, the current you set is higher than the actual current allowed in the specific configuration. This occurs because with the connected load, you have reached the limit set by the voltage knob.

Alternatively, when the "CC" light is on, the current displayed on the power supply (which always shows the actual current flowing through the circuit) is the same as the current limit you set. In this case, the voltage limit you set is higher than the actual voltage displayed on the power supply.