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Latching comparator help


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Hi guys,

I have built the following circuit.

comp1.gif

The Vref is 0.01v. The Vin ranges from 0 to maybe 5v at most. What I was intending was a comparator that latched on once the Vin was less than Vref (and in which case the LED would illuminate).

The trouble I have is that when it turns on, the voltage on the + input of the 741 only increases to 0.3v (from 0.01v initial reference). If Vin goes above this, it turns off again.

If I reduce the 380 ohm resistor in value, the LED dims. If I increase the value, the latched + input voltage drops even more.

If I remove the diode on the feedback loop, I cannot set the Vref properly.

One point to note, is that the switch is in there as a reset.

My question is how could this layout be changed to give a greater latched on voltage (so it wont turn off) and also why is the feedback resistor affecting the LED brightness?

Thanks in advance.

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Well, I have changed the circuit as per audioguru's diagram.

Now it holds a nice +7.5v or so once turned on.

Some more background. Vin is a feed from a sense resistor from one of the legs of a motor H-bridge, which goes through an absolute value amplifier before getting to the negative input of the 741 comparator.

I find that with this new configuration, the comparator works fine when the motor is stalled, but as soon as it turns freely the comparator turns on, despite the fact that Vin is well above Vref.

I presume that it is due to some voltage spiking somewhere, but how can I stop it?

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1. Is there an upper limit on values for the resistor and/or the capacitor in the RC filter?

A high resistor value will cause an input offset voltage error due to the opamp's input bias current.
A high amount of filtering will cause a delay.

2. Will NOT having the clamp diode result in the -ve output of the comparator damaging the base of the transistor?

The base of the transistor would be damaged by too much reverse voltage if its emitter had a capacitor or something to hold a high voltage.
The 741 opamp is pretty slow. It would take time for its output to slew from -ve up to its operating voltage.
Use the diode.
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Righto, clamp diode stays in.

I am now having issues with the use of the transmission gate.

inhibit1.png

The PWM signal for the motor is fed into pin 8 and then from pin 9 to the half bridge driver. Pin 6 is the control pin.

When the comparator is on, pin 6 has a bit over 8v and everything is cool. The PWM pulse goes into the bilateral switch and comes out, and the motor works fine.

However, when the comparator is off, pin 6 is low (-0.7v). The PWM pulse goes into pin 8, and then comes out from pin 9 slightly reduced. The motor will still operate, but at a slightly reduced rate.

I was thinking that the bilateral switch should have stopped the PWM pulse completely when the control pin was low.

Why is it still allowing the signal though?

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Your transmission gate doesn't turn off.
Maybe its pin 6 is blown if you tried the opamp without the clamp diode.
Maybe it is blown by having an input or output voltage that exceeds its supply voltages.
What is the voltage swing of its input signal?
What is the DC voltage of its load?
How much current is it switching through it?

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