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Hero999

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Posts posted by Hero999

  1. It's the energy stored, rather than the capacitance which is important.

    E = 0.5CV2

    Doubling the voltage quadruples the energy storage, given the same capacitance. A 5mF capacitor charged to 100V will be storing twice the energy as a 10mF capacitor charged to 50V and it's likely it will be physically twice the size.

    Using higher voltages also means when the voltage drops too low for the buck converter, more energy will be extracted from the capacitor so you're able to use the storage more effectively.

    It's worth keeping the capacitor shown on the datasheet, even if you're connecting a large capacitor across it because smaller capacitors have superior high frequency characteristics.

  2. How long does it need to last for?

    I hope you're aware that you will not be able to charge the capacitor and draw 5V at 20mA at the same time.

    Before you said the transformer charges the capacitor to 90V when nothing is connected to it, then it drops to around 50V when a 22k resistor is connected to it. Using  Thévenin's theorem the internal resistance of the transformer plus the stepper motor can be calculated as 17.6k. Maximum power transfer occurs when the load resistance equals the source which is when the output voltage is half the open circuit voltage so it can be calculated to be 452/17.6k = 115mW.

    The datasheet for the says the LTC3639 says it's 85% efficient so the power required to give 5*0.02 = 100mW out is 0.1*0.85 = 117.6mW.

    This means you can charge the capacitor as long as the buck regulator is very lightly loaded.

  3. You didn't say anything about a buck converter before.

    How much current do you need to draw?

    What's the point of increasing the voltage to 50V then reducing it to 5V?

    According to the datasheet, the LTC3639 can work up to 150V so as long as the capacitor is suitably rating you don't need to limit it to 50V.

    The data sheet shows you how to calculate component vales for a given output voltage,
    http://cds.linear.com/docs/en/datasheet/3639fd.pdf

  4. Not all UV lamps are equal.

    Ideally you need a black light, like the type used in insect killers but the short used in discos will do.

    Ambient light, including the shorter visible wavelengths (blue and violet) can expose the board. Once exposed, the PCB shouldn't be exposed to any light at all and ideally it needs to be developed in total darkness.

    The yellow and red part of the won't expose the board so you can use a photography safe light or make your own with a load of red and yellow LEDs.

  5. The zener diode only wastes power when the capacitor has charged to 50V.

    You may be able to make a precise 50V zener diode from the TL431. The problem is it's only rated to 36V but a common base amplifier can be added to boost it to 50V. The extra gain may cause oscillation though. I haven't tested it.

    The efficiency of this circuit will be poor anyway.

  6. Your circuit is working, at least in simulation. Increasing the values of the capacitors in the voltage multiplier circuit will speed things up. Try replacing the 10uF capacitors with 100uF capacitors.

    The maximum voltage on the capacitor will always be lower than expected, due to the diode losses. Using Schottky diodes may help this but the reverse leakage current is normally a bit higher.

    In reality there's also a limit on how fast the capacitor will charge as the stepper motor will have an internal impedance which will slow it down.

  7. It's a trick question.

    An SCR might not even switch on and stay on at 20mA and it will certainly drop less than 2V, at that low current.

    SCRs don't work like BJTs. The gate current doesn't need to be on continuously. You need a small gate current, for a short length of time to trigger the SCR and it will remain on until the current falls below the minimum holding current.

    A schematic would help.

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