120V Test Box

Project Completed: 1998

Introduction

This box was built to give a layer of protection between the wall outlet and an electrical circuit. It is my alternative to buying a variac.

It has a 5A breaker and 2 modes of testing: direct and current limited. The direct method has only fuse protection. The current limited method adds a 60W light bulb in series with the hot wire to prevent fireworks in the case of a short circuit. In the bottom right corner is a pushbutton that can be used to do very quick tests (power on only while the button is pressed). The button can be bi-passed for continuous power.

In the future I will replace the outlet with a GFI outlet, for one more layer of protection.

Documentation

This was such a simple design that I didn't bother

Pictures

Here is a picture of the inside:

Last Updated: December 16, 2001