Talk:Diode bridge

I've done a substantial rewrite of Diode bridge; at least two remaining items on my agenda for it:

• Rectifier is a redirect to here, but it should be a disamb between the sense of Rectifier diode (as opposed to e.g. laser diodes and LEDs) and the sense of Rectifier circuit; the latter is what should be linked from here.
• The attractive diagrams are not ideal, and my text tries to compensate for that on one hand, and to anticipate the two kinds of changes that could be made to them:
  • If they are edited without being completely redone, the letters "AC" should be removed (twice) in each diagram except the last.
  • If they are redrafted, putting the diodes one to an arm of a diamond-shaped figure, the inputs at opposite sides, the positive output at the top, and the negative output at the bottom would be preferable. (Should color be made so crucial to understanding? How about making only what is colored now, in the diagrams that have color, leaving the others, where no current flows, dotted. Not a convention i recall ever seeing in electronics, but effective w/o color.) The text description of the flows would change for that, and the wording would be much clearer and less awkward.

I'd also like to see half-wave rectification described, tho maybe it is just as well in Rectifier circuit. I'm not sure about voltage doubler and tripler circuits, as to inclusion at all, or whether they belong with the bridges. --Jerzy 05:37, 2004 Jan 18 (UTC)

I would like to see an extension for a three phase AC rectifier (with 6 diodes) and a reference to usage in automobile alternators, and a reference to the inventor, mr. Graetz. MH 213.51.209.230 19:00, 24 May 2004 (UTC)

Changed the diagrams to the new design, please check the text to be sure it matches. I went with colours over the monochrome, because I couldn't get the dotted diodes to look right. Let me know if you need any tweaks to the diagrams. -- DrBob 22:05, 5 Mar 2004 (UTC)

I have another suggestion. There really ought to be an entry for the general concept of the "bridge" ciruit, and I do not think there is one yet, so that readers can understand the meaning that the name diode "bridge" conveys. The current "electronics" entry is really to a networking meaning, not the circuit meaning. Bridge circuits are an extremely important general concept, in both a practical and a historic sense, and are closely tied to the idea of differential measurements. This would help to separate the rectification function from this particular kind of rectifier that uses a bridge configuration. By the way, this circuit has other uses. For instance, if you can stand the extra diode drop, a diode bridge is a way to build a circuit that does not care which way the battery is connected, so it is sometimes used even when AC is not involved. Also, diode bridge configurations are used in switches and modulators. AJim 16:57, 12 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Great, AJim; Edit boldly. The 'graph following the second color diagram does mention the reverse-connection aspect, but ignores the forward drops. But i don't think i ever asked "why 'bridge'?" and you've already motivated that term significantly for me on this talk page.

Let me know if you haven't already noticed our Redirects and Disambiguation pages (Dabs); if you're interested in Rectifier or Rectifier circuit, they're relevant, & i'll point you to descriptions somewhere. --Jerzy(t) 18:26, 2004 Mar 12 (UTC)