How to Build a Quick and Easy 24V DC Power Supply

I recently needed a 24V power supply for testing a programmable logic controller(PLC). 24V is very common in industrial settings, but not readily available for hobbyists or consumers in the form of the common wall wart transformer. Exploiting the properties of series wiring in DC, it is pretty simple to create a low amperage 24V DC power supply for testing purposes.

I only needed 24V with low amperage for testing sensitive input output lines in my specific application. Maybe this methodology will work for your application too.

The basic premise is to wrire in series readily available DC batteries to make a 24V source. In my case, I utilized the following. X4 recharghable AAA at 1.2V, and X2 9V batteries. 1.2 x 4 = 4.8; 9 x 2 = 18v. 18 + 4.8 = 22.8. Lucky for me, these Duracel AAA's when fully charged register above 1.2v. You'll see form my pictures that this worked out initially above 24V. For low amperage sources this works great temporarily.

In my case, I had a lot of copper clad boards laying around, so using a jack knife to carve out some organized sections allowed for an organized wiring area. I suspect a few terminal blocks could accomodate a similar structure.