VOLTAGE MAINS MANAGER

A Mini Project Abstract Report

By:
Meenakshy
A.S
Nandagopal
S
 Nandakumar G

INRODUCTION:
Very often we forget to switch off the peripherals like
monitor, scanner, and printer while switching off our PC.
The problem is that there are separate power switches to
turn the peripherals off. Normally, the peripherals are
connected to a single of those four-way trailing sockets that
are plugged into a single wall socket. If that socket is
accessible, all the devices could be switched off from there
and none of the equipment used will require any
modification. But a more practical scenario will be linking
all the peripherals with the most important peripheral (say
the CPU of a system) such that when that peripheral is
switched off in the ideal way, all the other peripherals will
be made off and the whole system will shut down. This is
realized using a voltage mains manager.
PURPOSE OF THE CIRCUIT:
A mains manager circuit allows you to turn all the
equipment on or off by just operating the switch on any one
of the devices; for example, when you switch off your PC,
the monitor as well as other equipment will get powered
down automatically. You may choose the main equipment
to control other gadgets. The main equipment is to be
directly plugged into the master socket, while all other
equipments are to be connected via the slave socket. The
mains supply from the wall socket is to be connected to the
input of the mains manager circuit.
Some of the important points to be noted while
constructing a mains manager circuit are:

1. The device connected to the master socket must have

its power switch on the primary side of the internal
transformer. Some electronic equipments have the
power switch on the secondary side and hence these
devices continue to draw a small current from the
mains even when switched off. Thus such devices, if
connected as the master, will not control the slave
units correctly.
 2. Though this unit removes the power from the
equipment being controlled, it doesnt provide isolation
from the mains. So, before working inside any
equipment connected to this unit, it must be unplugged
from the socket.

CIRCUIT DIAGRAM:
WORKING:
During the positive half cycle of the mains AC supply,
diodes D4, D5, and D6 have a voltage drop of about 1.8
volts when current is drawn from the master socket. Diode
D7 carries the current during negative half cycles.
Capacitor C3, in series with diode D3, is connected across
the diode combination of D4 through D6, in addition to
diode D7 as well as resistor R10. Thus current pulses
during positive half-cycles, charge up the capacitor to 1.8
volts via diode D3. This voltage is sufficient to hold
transistor T2 in forward biased condition for about 200 ms
even after the controlling load on the master socket is
switched off. When transistor T2 is ‘on’, transistor T1 gets
forward biased and is switched on. This, in turn, triggers
Triac 1, which then powers the slave loads. Capacitor C4
and resistor R9 form a snubber network to ensure that the
triac turns off cleanly with an inductive load.

LED1 indicates that the unit is operating. Capacitor C1 and

zener ZD1 are effectively in series across the mains. The
resulting 15V pulses across ZD1 are rectified by diode D2
and smoothened by capacitor C2 to provide the necessary
DC supply for the circuit around transistors T1 and T2.
Resistor R3 is used to limit the switching-on surge current,
while resistor R1 serves as a bleeder for rapidly discharging
capacitor C1 when the unit is unplugged. LED1 glows
whenever the unit is plugged into the mains. Diode D1, in
anti-parallel to LED1, carries the current during the
opposite half cycles.

CIRCUIT TESTING:
Don’t plug anything into the master or slave sockets
without testing the unit. If possible, plug the unit into the
mains via an earth leakage circuit breaker. The mains
LED1 should glow and the slave LED2 should remain off.
Now connect a table lamp to the master socket and switch
it ‘on’. The lamp should operate as usual. The slave LED
should turn ‘on’ whenever the lamp plugged into slave
socket is switched on. Both lamps should be at full
brightness without any flicker. If so, the unit is working
correctly and can be put into use.
AESTHETICS & ECONOMICS:
One of the major points to be noted during the fabrication
of the printed circuit board (PCB) of the mains manager
circuit is that the normal standard value for PCB thickness
cannot be used, i.e. the PCB thickness for mains manager
should be greater than the standard value of 1.57mm.

Also, the capacitors used in the circuit should be of greater

voltage rating than the usually used capacitance values. The
plug sockets are setup in the final designed product and are
connected to the PCB via 3-pin connectors. The fuses in the
circuit are replaced with 2-pin connectors that are
connected to glass cage fuses housed in fuse carriers in the
final product.

One of the resistors in the circuit is a 2.5W wire wound

resistor of value 100 Ω.

The total cost of all the components used can be roughly

summed upto Rs. 135.00, with a mains cord of Rs. 40.00 to
connect the circuit to the mains and 3 sockets (1 master & 2
slaves) costing upto Rs. 25.00 each.
COMPONENTS USED:
Triac BT138, NPN General Purpose Transistor BC548,
PNP Epitaxial Silicon Transistor BC558, Diodes (1N4001,
1N4148, 1N5401), 15V Zener Diode, LED (Red & Green),
Resistors, Capacitors, Voltage sockets, Glass fuse
FRONT PANEL VIEW:
CABINET VIEW: