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The "MAINS"
is dangerous
because the
voltage is much
higher than
stated on any
appliance.
It is actually
180v or 345v
for the 240v
mains.
The ACTIVE
lead rises 340v
then falls 340v
below "ground"
50 times per
second and this
will produce a
CURRENT
FLOW through
your body that
will kill you
very quickly.
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DANGER
Obviously you don't want to touch the mains and that's why everything
connected to the MAINS is covered with plastic.
Plastic is an insulator and that's why you can handle hair-dryers and
electric drills etc.
Mains transformers are also safe because they have a layer of plastic
between the primary and secondary winding.
This layer of plastic is called INSULATION.
The primary winding is connected to the mains and the secondary winding
is connected to your project.
The insulation between the two windings means you can NEVER touch the
"MAINS."
Ask yourself this simple question: "Would you poke a knife or fork into a
toaster?" No. Because you may touch the heating element and you may get
a shock.
But you will pick up a hair-dryer because the case is made of plastic.
The plastic is an insulator and you trust plastic to isolate the "MAINS."
The same with a mains transformer. The plastic provides insulation (called
ISOLATION).
The energy from the mains is converted to magnetic flux and is passed to
the metal core of the transformer. This flux passes through the turns of the
secondary winding to produce energy and that is how the energy is passed
from the mains to your project. It is through magnetism.
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THE TRANSFORMER
We are not going into great detail about the transformer.
But we are going to cover some of the basic facts.
In the diagram above, the winding connected to the "mains" is called the
PRIMARY and the low-voltage winging is called the SECONDARY.
The symbols on each wire indicate an AC voltage is present on each wire
but the size and shape of the waveform does not correspond to the actual
waveform present on the wire.
The two lines in the middle of the symbol represent the metal core of the
transformer and the fact that the two windings are separate, indicates they
do not touch.
You can see from the photo, the primary winding is on the top of the
bobbin and secondary below. The plastic bobbin creates an insulation of up
to 5,000 volts insulation.
The number of loops on the diagram does not indicate any of the voltages
or currents as this will depend on the size of the transformer, the size of the
wire and the number of turns.
This type of transformer is called a MAINS TRANSFORMER and the
frequency of the mains (50 or 60 cycles per second) will produce an output
voltage that is 50Hz or 60Hz.
The "active" of the mains is also called LIVE and is either red or brown
and "neutral" is either black or blue.
We have also added a wave to show the voltage on the active wire will be
rising at the beginning of the cycle while the neutral will be falling. This is
not completely true and is just to show the wires are not rising at the same
time.
Here are two facts that are not widely understood:
If 110v is connected to the primary of a 240v transformer, the 12v
secondary will produce 6v.
The output voltage will be half, but the full original current will be
available.
You cannot connect 240v to a 110v transformer because as soon as the
voltage passes 110v, the flux density in the core reaches a maximum and it
cannot produce a back voltage and the current will increase. The
transformer will get very hot and "burn-out."
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A BASIC POWER SUPPLY
The circuit shows a Power Supply using a transformer.
The insulation is between the primary and secondary where the two lines
have been placed. The two lines indicate a magnetic circuit exists between
the two windings.
of positive and negative charges with an equal number of each. This results
in a neutral or zero volt condition.
But when the charge on the left plate increases, it pushes the opposite
charges off the plate you are touching and these charges go through your
body. These charges are called ELECTRICITY.
As the active line rises and falls 50 or 60 times per second, the charges pass
though your body at the same rate and even though the number of charges
is very small, you will feel a "tingle".
A capacitor contains two larger sheets of foil and the spacing is between
the sheets is much smaller.
That's why a capacitor will give you a bigger "tingle."
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THE CAPACITOR - X2
The type of capacitor used in a cap-fed power supply must be a SPECIAL
TYPE.
It must be rated at 400v AC and must be constructed with materials and
insulation that will NOT BLOW UP.
These special types of capacitors have the identification X2 (X2 does not
mean "times two" or "use two capacitors" !! It is a special identification
that the capacitor is rated for MAINS OPERATION).
Any capacitor will work, but some will short-circuit or blow-up for no
apparent reason.
Because the capacitor is charging and discharging 100 or 120 times per
second, there is a certain amount of stress on the foil and insulation and
that's why it must be strongly constructed.
Although there is theoretically no energy lost in the capacitor, it will heat
up a small amount due to losses.
The charging and discharging is classified as RIPPLE CURRENT and this
current ALWAYS causes a small amount of heating. In our case, this ripple
current is the MAXIMUM for the capacitor. Normally ripple current is
only a fraction of the maximum as the capacitor (such as an electrolytic
will be charged to a voltage and experience a slight increase and decrease
in voltage and this will cause a small current to flow. But in our case the
voltage is changing FULLY and also in the reverse direction and creating
maximum current-flow.
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RE-CAPPING
The capacitor-fed power supply is a CURRENT arrangement.
The output current depends on the value of the capacitor.
The output voltage will be 340v if NO LOAD is present.
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NOW WE START
The capacitor-fed power supply is a CONSTANT CURRENT supply and
they way you explain how the circuit works is entirely different to a normal
power supply.
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BUT FIRST WE ADD SAFETY RESISTORS
Here is a simple cap-fed power supply driving a red LED.
When the circuit is turned ON, we do not know if the mains voltage is
zero, a small positive value or full 340v.
If it is 340v and the capacitor is not charged, a VERY HIGH current will
flow to charge the capacitor and this will damage the LED.
To limit (reduce) this current we add a 470R resistor in series with the
active line (It can be in either line).
characteristic voltage will be 180v so that the peak voltage will be 330v 180v = 150v. Each LED will see less than 7mA peak during the half-cycle
they are illuminated. The 1k resistor will drop 7v - since the RMS current
is 7mA (7mA x 1,000 ohms = 7v). No rectifier diodes are needed. The
LEDs are the "rectifiers." Very clever. You must have LEDs in both
directions to charge and discharge the capacitor. The resistor is provided to
take a heavy surge current through one of the strings of LEDs if the circuit
is switched on when the mains is at a peak.
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TRANSFORMERLESS
POWER SUPPLY
This clever design uses 4
diodes in a bridge to produce
a fixed voltage power supply
capable of supplying 35mA.
All diodes (every type of
diode) are zener diodes. They
all break down at a particular
voltage. The fact is, a power
diode breaks down at 100v or 400v and its zener characteristic is not
useful.
But if we put 2 zener diodes in a bridge with two ordinary power diodes,
the bridge will break-down at the voltage of the zener. This is what we
have done. If we use 18v zeners, the output will be 17v4.
When the incoming voltage is positive at the top, the left zener provides
18v limit (and the other zener produces a drop of 0.6v) This allows the
right zener to pass current just like a normal diode. The output is 17v4.
The same with the other half-cycle.
The current is limited by the value of the X2 capacitors and this is 7mA for
each 100n when in full-wave (as per this circuit). We have 1u capacitance.
Theoretically the circuit will supply 70mA but we found it will only deliver
35mA before the output drops. The capacitors should comply with X1 or
X2 class. The 10R is a safety-fuse resistor.
The problem with this power supply is the "live" nature of the negative rail.
When the power supply is connected as shown, the negative rail is 0.7v
above neutral. If the mains is reversed, the negative rail is 340v (peak)
above neutral and this will kill you as the current will flow through the
diode and be lethal. You need to touch the negative rail (or the positive rail)
and any earthed device such as a toaster to get killed. The only solution is
the project being powered must be totally enclosed in a box with no
outputs.
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BEST CAP-FED SUPPLY
This circuit is the best cap-fed power supply. It uses 4 diodes to produce
the best current from the 220n capacitor and an electrolytic to smooth out
any flickering.
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It has 2 mistakes.
If the load is removed from the circuit above, the output voltage will rise to
39v.
Here's why:
The 474 capacitor will deliver 7mA for each 100n = 33mA. The voltage
across the 1k2 resistor will be:
V = I x R = 0.033 x 1,200 = 39 volts. The 25v electrolytic will BLOW
UP.
The wattage of the 100R resistor needs to be I x R = 0.033 x 0.033 x100 =
0.1 watt NOT 1 WATT !!!
HOW and WHY?
We start to analyse the circuit by finding out the current delivered by the
capacitor in a full-wave arrangement. (33mA)
The output voltage will rise until the load takes 33mA. This is 39v. The
output voltage cannot rise to 40v because the load will take 34mA and only
33mA is available.
This circuit is called a CONSTANT CURRENT circuit and is analysed in a
completely different way to a normal circuit. That's why you have to go by
our method of analysis.
But the major fault with the circuit is the output current.
At 15v, the output current will be 23mA because 10mA will be taken by
the 1k2 and LED.
At 20v, the output current will be 18mA because 15mA will be taken by
the 1k2 and LED.
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A FAULTY CIRCUIT:
What is the first transistor doing ??? It is simply putting a 270 ohm load across the
supply. It is assisting the 1k by providing a base current for the second transistor
and current to keep the zener in conduction, but simply connecting the 270R to the
base of the second transistor will do the same thing, or decreasing the 1k will
provide additional current.
This circuit WILL NOT WORK.
Where is the diode to discharge the 2u2 capacitor ????
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A FAULTY CIRCUIT:
CONCLUSION
Very few people know anything about designing a capacitor-fed power supply.
You can see all these mistakes on the web.
The circuits above have not been tested and most of them will not work or BLOW
UP !
CAPACITOR-FED POWER SUPPLIES are very dangerous.
All the components are "live." This means they are all at a potential (voltage) that
can be as high as 340v.Touching any of them is the same as touching the active wire
of the mains.
Almost every circuit will pass more than 15mA and this amount of current will
throw you across the room or give you a nasty shock if you touch a component with
one hand and touch something that is earthed with another part of your body.
ISOLATION TRANSFORMER
When designing and testing this type of power supply I always use an isolation
transformer.
You can make your own isolation transformer by connecting two identical
transformers "back-to-back."
You only have to make sure the secondary voltages are the same. Such as 12v and
12v.
The mains will enter at 240v, come out at 12v and enter the second transformer to
produce 240v out.
If you use a 30 watt transformer and a 10 watt transformer the output wattage will