Jump to content
Electronics-Lab.com Community

0-30 Vdc Stabilized Power Supply


Sallala

Recommended Posts



Thx man. Sorry to bother you

You are not bothering me.
I wish that there is a place on this site to post the important modifications and I hope you understand that the original project will not make regulated 30VDC at 3A (it fails to meet its spec's) and that many of its parts were overloaded (then it has poor reliability).
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Hi Audioguru
Seems like you have been on this project for some time, and getting a bit frustrated that you have to repeat the same information endlessly - I understand, but I am now new to this project and looking forward to constructing the psu according to the latest version.
I have your bill of materials and latest circuit diagram, what is the status with an appropriate pcb?  Does someone have the masks or can I use the originals and simply change components?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The PCB consruction for both high frequency and low frequency circuits is more complicated than that of the average use for this power supply. I would say to use a simple solder and wire circuit. Most often the problems will be the rest of the circuit. If you can fabricate a PCB, use larger conductors that will handle the current.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have built this power supply some time ago and used the PCB in the PDF attached for it. From the PCB's posted it is by far the best I found with proper trace sizes and probably the best layout you can do for a single sided board with this circuit. The PDF includes a redrawn schematic and parts list but the part names DO NOT MATCH the ones posted by audioguru and others, so pay close attention when assembling.

The attached PDF is not mine, I forget the username of the person who created it but all credit goes to them.

EL_power_supply.pdf

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Hi, it's my first post here :)

I've just finished soldering of this http://www.electronics-lab.com/projects/power/001/index.html  power supply and I've encountered following issue:

In max position of potentiometer responsible for maximum current and in short circuit with amp meter my max output current is only about 40mA and current limiter is working.
What should I check in the first place?

I've checked op amps and voltage regulation and they're ok.

I'm counting on Your help.

And sorry for possible gramatic errors, i'm rather bad at writing in english [i'm from Poland] ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The original project has many errors and does not work properly and is not reliable. That is why this thread and another thread recommends modifications.

R7 senses the output current. It is 0.47 ohms and with 3A it produces 1.41V across it which is fed to the inverting input pin 2 of opamp U3. The positive non-inverting input pin 3 of U3 has the voltage from the current-setting pot P2. U3 in the original circuit needs the negative supply of -5.6V on its pin 4. when the sensed voltage exceeds the set voltage then the output of U3 goes low enough for D9 to reduce the output voltage until the output current is reduced to the set current.

U2 drives the driver transistor Q2. Q2 drives the high current output transistor Q4. There should be much more than 3A of output current when the output is shorted.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey guys,
as my power supply is finished and actually working, i was testing very heavy loads (2x12volt halogen lamps) with it.
But something is gone wrong, my voltage regulation doesnt work anymore and i get fully 40 volts on my output. Also U2 is getting very hot, so i replaced it, still same problem.
The current limiting is still working, i can turn current to zero and led is also showing that.
Any idea where to start and which parts to check?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

U2 gets very hot if the pins on the driver transistor are connected backwards because then the transistor operates like a simple series diode.

Maybe you built the defective original version that used the old 2N2219 driver transistor that fails when it gets too hot and it is difficult to keep cool.

Maybe the output transistors had a heatsink too small so they melted and are now shorted.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

You were right, it was a output transistor  has died (2n3055). But they are on a huge cooler. I replaced them now, hooked up my multimeter for amper-measurement and ... one died again.
So it seems only one of them route the power, and dies. They were from the same charge, so resistance and hfe shouldnt be that different. Ideas why they dont share the power not symmetrical.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Transistors with the same part number are not the same. Their hFE and base-emitter voltage are different so one transistor hogs the current and gets hotter which makes it hog more current and get hotter which... (Thermal Runaway).

The emitter resistor added in series with each output transistor's emitter makes them properly share the current.

Calculate how much heating a low output voltage and a high output current makes and you will see that a huge heatsink is needed maybe with a fan.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is nothing wrong this stabilized 30Vdc power supply. Having not tested the orginal circuit, it must be a good design, or it would not be posted. Since it's a good design, but doesn't meet your requirements, a totally new design is needed. The engineering principle behind this design is found in many different power supplies. Can't you just buy this power supply from the website?

Link to comment
Share on other sites


There is nothing wrong this stabilized 30Vdc power supply. Having not tested the orginal circuit, it must be a good design, or it would not be posted. Since it's a good design, but doesn't meet your requirements, a totally new design is needed. The engineering principle behind this design is found in many different power supplies. Can't you just buy this power supply from the website?

Kevin,
This power supply project is defective which is why I fixed it:
1) It is not reliable since many parts (the transformer, the rectifiers, the transistors and many resistors) are overloaded and burn out.
2) The opamps operate with a total supply voltage that is more than their maximum allowed supply voltage.
3) It does not provide 30V at 3A because the transformer voltage is too low.

This project is a kit sold by a company in Greece. I don't know what they do about people complaining about its problems.

Many defective projects have been posted here. I fixed a few of them. 
Link to comment
Share on other sites


i don´t know how i have to put the "legs" of the trimpot in wich number the mc4071 (U2)...

U2 is an MC34071. Its RV1 input offset voltage trimpot is 10k and is wired as shown on the schematic. Its voltage calibration trimpot RV2 is 20k and is wired as shown on the schematic.

The middle leg on a trimpot is its slider which is the middle pin with the arrow of the trimpot on the schematic.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Somewhere with this topic, somebody said, that some capacitor should be changed through electrolytic in order to tantal as well as something. Attempt to browse somewhat.

We talked about the 10uF electrolytic output capacitor having dielectric absorption which might cause the output voltage to rise when it is turned down and there is no load. We recommended using a poly type of capacitor to eliminate this problem.

I do not remember anybody talking about using a tantalum capacitor in this project.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I have made this supply but I am suffering with the problem of loading effect as am using it with very low ohms coil the output voltages get decrease with connection of load. My load resistance is not more than 12 ohms.

Please tell me what should I do to remove loading effect and get steady, constant output.

The improved circuit is designed to supply a maximum output current of 3.0A. It can be modified to supply 5.0A.
Ohm's Law calculates that 3A will flow in a resistance of only 12 ohms when the DC voltage is 36V. When the DC voltage is 30V then only 2.5A will flow so your project does not work properly.

The original project cannot supply 3A at 30V.
Link to comment
Share on other sites


Can you tell me from where I can get improved circuit with 5A?

We talked about modifying this circuit for an output up to 30VDC at up to 5A DC a few years ago. It is the same circuit as the latest 3A circuit except the transformer produces more current (7.1A AC), there are three 2N3055 output transistors and R7 is 0.27 ohms at 10W.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This project uses AN OPAMP for its voltage regulation. Its typical DC voltage gain is 100,000 so if the output voltage drops only a tiny amount then it corrects it.
Its output voltage should not drop more than 0.03V when its load is increased from zero to 3A.

Maybe your project has wrong values in the current regulation section. The LED should not light when the voltage is being regulated but it should light to warn you that the current regulation is reducing the output voltage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
  • Create New...