Power Supplies
Power Supplies
Power Supplies
Class I
green/yellow ground
Class I symbol
These appliances must have their chassis connected to electrical earth (US: ground) by a separate earth conductor (coloured green/yellow in
most countries, green in the US, Canada and Japan). The earth connection is achieved with a 3-conductor mains cable, typically ending with 3-
prong AC connector which plugs into a corresponding AC outlet. The basic requirement is that no single failure can result in dangerous voltage
becoming exposed so that it might cause an electric shock and that if a fault occurs the supply will be removed automatically (this is sometimes
referred to as ADS = Automatic Disconnection of Supply).
Class 0I
Electrical installations where the chassis is connected to earth with a separate terminal, instead of via the mains cable. In effect this
provides the same automatic disconnection as Class I, for equipment that otherwise would be Class 0
Class II
Class II symbol
A Class II or double insulated electrical appliance is one which has been designed in such a way that it does not require a safety connection
to electrical earth (ground).
The basic requirement is that no single failure can result in dangerous voltage becoming exposed so that it might cause an electric shock
and that this is achieved without relying on an earthed metal casing. This is usually achieved at least in part by having at least two layers of
insulating material between live parts and the user, or by using reinforced insulation.
Insulated AC/DC power supplies (such as cell-phone chargers) are typically designated as Class II, meaning that the DC output wires are
isolated from the AC input. Class III
Breaking this system down , we will first look at the ac voltage change and ac to dc
conversion.
A lot of consumer electronic units (TV, DVD players and the like) utilise double
insulation techniques, so their mains input power lead only contains Live and
Neutral wires, rather than also including an earth wire as well.
Only use one fuse and locate this in LIVE line (a blown fuse in the NEUTRAL line
would leave most of the circuit, including the transformer, at LIVE potential. Make
sure this fuse is correctly rated (and also the one in the mains plug!)
Filtered mains input sockets are very useful when dealing with transmitters and
receivers, but more RF filtering might also be needed.
Beware that some transceivers use large capacitors for RF filtering from input Live and
Neutral wires to chassis. A higher current flows in the Live to chassis capacitor than the
Neutral to chassis capacitor. This could cause tripping of the mains supply RCD,
especially if several transceivers are connected to the mains, even though switched OFF
MAINS transformers
PRIMARY SIDE
Usually single 240V winding or two 120V windings
SECONDARY SIDE
Can be many different arrangements, or just simple.
Recommend using full wave rectification – less ripple (1/2 wave rectification is
inefficient and also causes dc magnetisation of transformer.
Full wave bridge rectifier shown only needs one transformer winding, but there
are 2 diode ‘drops’ in the dc path.
Ensure that the bridge is rated to at least 2 x the load current and to at least 4 x
the secondary rms voltage.
Capacitors (~1nF each) across the bridge diodes reduce high frequency noise.
ac RECTIFICATION
This full wave rectification arrangement only has one diode drop in the dc path, but
requires a centre tapped (or dual windings) secondary on the transformer.
More efficient on low voltage supplies because the diode drop represents a
significant loss at low voltage (despite additional transformer losses).
2V drop (2 diodes) at 10V is 20% loss, whilst 1V drop (1 diode) at 10V is 10% loss
Diodes could be positioned on the –Ve path, so allowing direct mount to chassis.
THE SMOOTHING CAPACITOR
The output from the transformer and rectifiers follows the sin waveform.
The smoothing capacitor ‘fills in’ the low voltage portions, so reducing the
ripple voltage amplitude.
The larger the capacitor (for a given load), the smaller the ripple voltage, but
the higher the peak current through the rectifiers.
THE SMOOTHING CAPACITOR
Close approximation calculations;
So if you are building a 13.8V, 2A output power supply (full wave bridge rectifier),
With a 20Vrms output from the transformer the maximum voltage will be about
(20V x 1.414) less 2 diode drops, = 28.28V – 1.4V = 26.88V.
The minimum output (at full load) will be (28.28V x 0.9) – 2V = 23.4V
i.e. at full load the minimum voltage will be 23.4V – 3.83V = 19.5V
THE SMOOTHING CAPACITOR
Taking our example,
The maximum voltage on the capacitor will be the no load value of 26.88V, so the
capacitor needs to be rated for >>27V, say at least 35V or (better) 40V.
With a PSU output voltage of 13.8V and a full load minimum voltage of 19.5V, the PSU
regulator has to be able to work with a minimum ‘headroom’ (difference between input
and output) of 19.5V – 13.8V = 5.7V.
You can now work out the maximum power dissipation in the PSU output stage.
At full load, maximum dc level is 23.4V and the PSU output is 13.8V at 2A
3.83V peak to peak ripple on a 23.4V supply represents just over 16%.
Rule of thumb, with about 20V transformer output, full wave rectified 50Hz, using a
capacitance of 2000uF per Amp loading will give you about 20% ripple.
DC POWER SUPPLY CIRCUITS
We will start with basic, low power, circuitry and then increase the
power, whilst trying to keep the technicalities to a minimum.
Taking the circuit to the left, if the Zener diode is a 6.2V device and the
resistor R is 1k, then with V supply at 12V, the Zener diode will ‘conduct’
5.8mA, so V out is 6.2V.
Here, the Zener diode dissipates (6.2V x 5.8mA) = 36mW and the
resistor dissipates (5.8mA x 5.8mA x 1k) = 34mW
If V supply increases to 18V, then the Zener diode increases its current conduction to
11.8mA, so V out remains at 6.2V.
Now, , the Zener diode dissipates (6.2V x 11.8mA) = 73mW and the resistor dissipates
(11.8mA x 11.8mA x 1k) = 140mW
A BIT MORE ABOUT ZENER DIODES
For small Zener diodes (the ones most commonly used for reference
purposes) don’t cause too much current to flow through them. They drift
with temperature (see next slide). Usually about 5mA is the optimum.
DC power regulators are readily available, both fixed voltage and variable
voltage types, and for either positive or negative power supplies.
Note that a negative power supply can be made with a positive regulator
chip, so long as decoupling is carefully considered
THREE TERMINAL REGULATORS
The output voltage from a three terminal regulator can be increased by the
circuit shown above. Supposing you want an 8V supply, but only have 5V
regulators to use.
In this case, make the Zener diode 3.3V (nearest preferred value) and run it
at a current of around 5mA via R (the regulator chip requires around 0.5mA)
so R = 5V/5.5mA = 909 Ohm. Here a 1k resistor will work just as well (the
Zener current will then be around 4.5mA). Don’t forget Cin and Cout
THREE TERMINAL REGULATORS
If there is any chance that when the input supply is switched OFF the
output supply remains active after the removal of the input supply (for
example if there is a very large capacitance on the output or the load is a
motor which is still spinning), the connect a diode across the input to
output as shown above (applies to a simple regulator as well as the
increased output voltage version shown above).
This diode then prevents the regulator device from being reverse biased,
which it does not like! If in any doubt, then fit the diode.
THREE TERMINAL REGULATORS
The TO220 size devices can deliver a maximum current of around 1A if well
cooled. Sometimes you want a bit more current, where the circuit above can be
used.
TR1 is a small signal PNP transistor like a BCY 70. TR2 is a PNP power
transistor. R1 needs to be about 5.6W. R2 determines the maximum current
through TR2 and needs to ‘drop’ about 0.6V at the desired current. So if you
want 2A, R2 needs to be about 0.6V/2A = 0.3W.
As current is drawn from the output the voltage across R1 rises, until TR2 starts
to turn ON, so adding to the output current. If excess current is demanded, then
TR1 shunts away the drive to TR1, so limiting this current .
ADJUSTABLE THREE TERMINAL REGULATORS
These regulators function by maintaining a fixed level of 1.25V between the OUT and
ADJ terminals and by ensuring that the current drawn by the ADJ terminal is very
small. Provided the current through the potential divider from the output to the ground
rail is large compared to the ADJ terminal, then the regulated output voltage is set by
the resistors used for the potential divider. The recommended maximum resistor value
between the ADJ terminal and the OUT terminal is 240W for the positive version (220W
is OK) and 120W for the negative version.
In this case you would fit 6.8W for R5 and 22W for
R2, which would mean that the current through the
LED would be a little bit higher. R1 and R3 remain
the same as before, 1kW each.
Relay back EMF suppression
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Problems with an Inadequate Power
Supply
• Power supply may not meet needs of new devices
• Testing for an adequate power supply
• Make all devices in the system work at the same time
• Example: copy files from new drive to old drive
• Simple solution: upgrade to a higher power supply
• Calculate total wattage needed by system
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Problems with a Faulty Power Supply
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Problems with Overheating
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Power Problems with the
Motherboard
• Bad contact between board component and chassis
• Short can seriously damage motherboard
• Check for missing or extra standoffs (spacers)
• Shorts in the circuit on motherboard
• Look for damage to the bottom of the motherboard
• Look for burned-out capacitors
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Replacing the Power Supply
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Summary
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Summary (cont’d.)
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