Theory and performance of electrolytic rectifiers

The demand for small rectifiers has grown during the last few years because of the increasing use of small portable storage batteries requiring low charging currents and also because of the increasing practise of charging larger batteries at low rates, known as “trickle charging.” On account of this growing use and the general lack of information about the performance of such rectifiers the Bureau of Standards undertook a study of their comparative efficiencies under different conditions of service.