A bleeder resistor is a resistor placed in parallel with a high-voltage supply for the purposes of discharging the energy stored in the power source's filter capacitors or other components that store electrical energy when the equipment is turned off.
It is a use for a standard resistor rather than a separate type of component.
Usage
DC power supplies
Power supplies, especially switchmode power supplies, use a bridge rectifier and a large filter capacitor to convert mains AC power into DC for the chopper. When power is removed, any residual charge in the filter capacitor is dissipated through the bleeder resistor.
High voltage supply in television sets
The bleeder resistor commonly found inside a flyback transformer that supplies high voltage for a CRT is valued in the hundreds of megohms range, and can therefore not be measured with the common technician's multimeter.
Instead of a resistor inside the transformer, the focus and screen control array may be used for the same purpose, depending on the application and tolerances of the type of tube it is producing output for.
These bleeders discharge the focus supply, but not the high voltage final anode feed.
Failure
The failure of a bleeder resistor prevents the discharge of the capacitors, resulting in dangerous voltages being retained for many days. This is one of several reasons for the typical warning on most equipment: "Warning - No user-serviceable parts inside". An un-suspecting user may get an electrical shock from opened equipment due to failure of a bleeder resistor, or the common practice of not fitting them.
Technical considerations
There is always a trade-off between the speed with which the bleeder operates and the amount of power wasted in the bleeder; a faster bleed-down rate wastes more power during normal, power-on operation.
Dual bleeder
Because of the speed/power tradeoff, high-powered circuits may use two separate bleeder circuits. A fast bleed circuit is switched out during normal operation so that no power is wasted; when power is switched off, the fast bleeder is connected, rapidly bleeding down the voltage. The switch controlling the fast bleeder can fail, either by connecting when it shouldn't (and overheating) or by not connecting when it should (and thereby failing to bleed off the voltage quickly). To avoid the risk of not having an operational bleeder, a secondary, slower (and less lossy) bleeder is usually permanently connected so that there is always some bleed-down capability.
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