Wiring Material

An increasing number of appliances draw a very small current from the power supply. If you need to design a mains-powered device, you could generally choose between a linear and a switch-mode power supply. However, what if the appliance’s total power consumption is very small? Transformer-based power supplies are bulky, while the switchers are generally made to provide greater current output, with a significant increase in complexity, problems involving PCB layout and, inherently, reduced reliability.

Is it possible to create a simple, minimum part-count mains (230 VAC primary) power supply, without transformers or coils, capable of delivering about 100mA at, say, 5 V? A general approach could be to employ a highly inefficient stabilizer that would rectify AC and, utilizing a zener diode to provide a 5.1 V output, dissipate all the excess from 5.1 V to (230×√2) volts in a resistor. Even if the load would require only about 10mA, the loss would be approximately 3 watts, so a significant heat dissipation would occur even for such a small power consumption.

Transformerless 5 Volt DC Power Supply

 At 100mA, the useless dissipation would go over 30 W, making this scheme completely unacceptable. Power conversion efficiency is not a major consideration here; instead, the basic problem is how to reduce heavy dissipation and protect the components from burning out. The schema shown here is one of the simplest ways to achieve the above goals in practice. A JVR varistor is used for over-voltage/surge protection. Voltage divider R1-R2 follows the rectified 230 V and, when it is high enough, T1 turns on and T3 cannot conduct.

When the rectified voltage drops, T1 turns off and T3 starts to conduct current into the reservoir capacitor C1. The interception point (the moment when T1 turns off) is set by P1 (usually set to about 3k3), which controls the total output current capacity of the power supply: reducing P1 makes T1 react later, stopping T3 later, so more current is supplied, but with increased heat dissipation. Components T2, R3 and C2 form a typical ‘soft start’ schema to reduce current spikes — this is necessary in order to limit C1’s charging current when the power supply is initially turned on. At a given setting of P1, the output current through R5 is constant.

Thus, load R4 takes as much current as it requires, while the rest goes through a zener diode, D5. Knowing the maximum current drawn by the load allows adjusting P1 to such a value as to provide a total current through R5 just 5 to 6mA over the maximum required by the load. In this way, unnecessary dissipation is much reduced, with zener stabilization function preserved. Zener diode D5 also protects C1 from over voltages, thus enabling te use of low-cost 16 V electrolytics. The current flow through R5 and D5, even when the load is disconnected, prevents T3’s gate-source voltage from rising too much and causing damage to device. In addition, T1 need not be a high-voltage transistor, but its current gain should exceed 120 (e.g. BC546B, or even BC547C can be used).

This is the 3.3V And 5V Outputs - Dc-Dc Converter Circuit Diagram. This Input, voltages can range from 8 V to 30 V. The load range on the 5 V is 0,05 A to 5 A while the 3.3-V load range is 0.1 A to 1 A. The schema is self-protected under no-load conditions. Over all load and line conditions, .including cross regulation, the 3.3-V output varies from 3.25 V to 3.27 V. The 5-V output varies from 4.81 V to 5.19 V under the same conditions. 

In a typical application to 0.5 A on the 3.3 V and 0.25 A on the 5 V, efficiency is typically 76%, With an input voltage of 30 V and a full-load condition, the efficiency drops to 66%. In normal operating regions, efficiency is always better than 70%.The 5-V ripple is less than 75 mV and the 3.3-V ripple less than 50 mV over all line and load conditions.

The schema operates over 6V-15V DC supply voltage. It uses positive feedback from transistor T2 to transistor T1 to keep this transistor pair in latched state (on/ off), while the state of the third transistor stage is the complement of transistor T2’s conduction state. 

Initially when switch S3 is closed, both transistors T1 and T2 are off, as no forward bias is available to these, while the base of transistor T3 is effectively grounded via resistors R8 and R6 (shunted by the load of the first gadget). As a result, transistor T3 is forward biased and gadget 2 gets the supply. This is indicated by glowing of LED2. 

When switch S1 is momentarily depressed, T1 gets the base drive and it grounds the base of transistor T2 via resistor R4. Hence transistor T2 (pnp) also conducts. The positive voltage available at the collector of transistor T2 is fed back to the base of transistor T1 via resistor R3. Hence a latch is formed and transistor T2 (as also transistor T1) continues to conduct, which activates gadget 1 and LED1 glows. 

Conduction of transistor T2 causes its collector to be pulled towards positive rail. Since the collector of T2 is connected to the base of pnp transistor T3, it causes transistor T3 to cut off, switching off the supply to gadget 2) as well as extinguishing LED2. This status is maintained until switch S2 is momentarily pressed. Depression of switch S2 effectively grounds the base of transistor T1, which cuts off and thus virtually opens the base-emitter schema of transistor T2 and thus cutting it off. This is the same condition as was obtained initially. This condition can be reversed by momentarily pressing switch S1 as explained earlier. 

EFY lab note. During testing, it was noticed that for proper operation of the schema, gadget 1 must draw a current of more than 100 mA (i.e. the resistance of gadget 1 must be less than 220 ohms) to sustain the latched ‘on’ state. But this stipulation is not applicable for gadget 2. A maximum current of 275 mA could be drawn by any gadget.

Author : Praveen Shanker - Copyright : EFY

This is Best Electronic Crowbar Circuit Diagram for AC or DC lines. For positive protection of electrical or electronic equipment, use this against excessive supply voltage. Due to improper switching, wiring, short diagram, or failure of regulators, an electronic crowbar schema can quickly place a short schema across the power lines, thereby dropping the voltage across the protected device to near zero and blowing a fuse. 

The triac and SBS are both bilateral devices, the schema is equally useful on ac or dc supply lines. With the values shown for Rl, R2, and R3, the crowbar operating point can be adjusted over the range of 60 to 120 volts dc or 42 to 84 volts ac. The resistor values can be changed to cover a different range of supply voltages. The voltage rating of the triac must be greater than the highest operating point as set by R2, II is a low power incandescent lamp with a voltage rating equal to the supply voltage. 

It may be used to check the set point and operation of the unit by opening the test switch and adjusting the input or set point to fire the SBS. An alarm unit such as the Mallory Sonalert may be connected across the fuse to provide an audible indication of crowbar action. (This schema may not act on short, infrequent power line transients).