Guys....I'm a machinist not a "sparkey" I have done lots of wireing 3phase and single......but never a bridge rectifier. I can take it apart and put it back togeather but rectifier values.... ....I'm in part number land...I did do a e-bay search and found the "archer" one ....but what are the nessary values it has to have?...Radio Shack has em in stock...easy!
Peak reverse volt 50v
rectified current 25a
Forward volt drop 1.7v
reverse leakage at PRV 100ua
Of course a diode conducts electricity one way and (almost) not the other way.
Peak reverse volt = how much voltage you can apply in the reverse direction without it breaking down and conducting.
rectified current = current that it is designed to carry, over that and it probaly will overheat and burnout.
Forward volt drop = when conducting in the correct direction you will get this amount of volts drop due to resistance.
reverse leakage at PRV = that amount of current that will leak when you apply the reverse voltage. 100 microamps in this case.
You can get different ratings for all of these things. Mostly need to be sure that PRV and Rectified current are high enough for the application. In this case 50 volts is way more that the 24-48 you'll have, and 25 amps is more than you'll be running through it.
There are four connections on a full wave bridge. Two are the AC connections, doesn't make any difference which wire goes on which connection. The others, marked (+) and (-) are the DC ones and the appropriate polarity DC wires should be wired to them.