TPS - Support Material psvemeurrs SUGGESTIONS Circuit Description “Tho aim ofthe dosign was to provide a cheap compact power supply for small Cmos circuits. The cicults conttoled mains equipment (fans, lights, heators otc) through an optically isolated triac ~ such as the MOC 3020. A current of about 10mA was required to power the diode in the optical isolator. And the Cmos Ccontral circuits themselves required far less than that. So a 20mA PSU was more than adequata, Typical Output Well begin by looking at the current flawing through the AC saction of the cirult. That is - the current flowing through [FR - Rt - C1 = 2D1 & ZD2]. The ‘maximum current fowing through these components is controlled - almost exclusively - by the value of C1. Or - to be slightly more accurate - by the Capacitive Reactance of C1 Formula for Current in an AC Circuit Capacitance In Farads ‘The resistors in the AC partion of the circuit amount to 1100 ohms in total. Ths is mad up of Ft plus the 100-ohm fusible resistor 1 Imits the peak current through the capacitor, But has very litle effect on the RMS current flowing through the circuit. Ths is because the contribution R’ makes tothe vaiuo of tho denominater-is relatively insignificant. ‘There's no inductance in the circuit, So - 271FL = Zero, Consequenty- it makes absolutely no contribution tothe value of the denominator. And that only leaves the capacitive reactance of C1 Capacitive reactance - XC - is measured in ohms. ts value deponds on both the size of the capacitor - and the frequency of the current. At 50 Hz «the Capacitive reactance of a 0.47uF capacitor is equivalent toa 6K8 resistor. The accompanying Calculator wil et you explore the effects of altering the value of the capacitor - andlor the frequency. ‘So Why Not Simply Use A 6k8 Resistor? ‘The power dissipated by the 0.47UF capacitor lower than the power dissipated by a 6X8 resistor. This is because the current thvough the capacitor -is aways out of phase with the voliage across i. Watts = Current x Volts Inthe case of a resistor -as the voltage across it rises - so also does the current flowing through it. \When botn the voltage and the current are at maximum - the power reaches its peak But the oppose happens with a capacitor. When the voltage across the capacitor Is zera = the current though is atts maximum. At ths pola the power clssipated by the eapactor is Watts = Current x Zero = Zero ‘Similarly, when the voltage across the eapacttor Isat its maximum - the capacitor is fully charged. ‘So he cuttent flowing through iis zera. At this point the power dissipate by the capacitors Watts sro x Voltage = Zero Its only somewhere between these two extremes - when beth the votage ang the current are below ‘their maximum - thatthe power reaches its peak. Consequently - ths peak has to be lower than. ‘that ofthe resistor. Calculations ‘The current flowing through the AC portion of the Transformerless Power Supply is approximately 33mA. Its flowing through ZD1 & ZD2 - and its avaitable for rectification. You can think ofthe Zeners as the secondary windings of a mains transformer. However - unike a transformer - under “no-load” conditions the Zanes will be Faquired to dissipate the whole cf the energy availabe. In othar words f your circuit fs to be powered up without R2 & ZDS or without the output load attached - 201 & ZD2 will need to be at least 1-watt. “The calaulator below wil allow you to explore the effects of changing the various input values. Far example - increasing the frequency causes the current to risa = because the reactance of C1 falls asthe frequency rises. Another example - if you reduce the value of the resistor fo zero ohms - youl find that i has very litle effect on the output current. The resistor simply limits the peak current. And youl have to increase it substantially = before ifl cause a serious fal in the ‘output current. The 12vdc Output ‘There's approximately 33m lowing through ZD1 & ZD2. And the output from BR1 is about 15vd. We cannot try to take more than 33mA from BR1 - because It would simply cause a drap in voltage. So we settle for a maximum current of say 30mA. We also want to reduce the 16vde to 12v - using R2 and ZD3. Since tho voltage across ZD3 is fixed at 12 volts - the remaining 3 volts must be across R2. And because wo know both the voltage across R2 - and the current flowing through t- we can calculate the value ofthe resistor using Ohms Law. “The 30 mA flows through ZD3 - and isin theory available fo power your circuit. If your circuit only needs about 20mA then the remaining 10 mA continues to flow through 203 - so thatthe voltage drop across R2 remains constant - and the output stays at 12-vols, Ifyou ty to take more than 3OmA from the circuit - the voltage drop across R2 will increase beyond 3-volts- and the output wil fall below 12volts. In practice ~ ‘upto 20mAat 12-olts is available ‘Tho Cmos control circuits did not need a particularly smooth supply - and the choice of 47uF for C2 gave a good compromise betwoan physical size and th {degree of smoothing. if you have room - and you want more smoothing - then you can use a larger value capactor, And another electrolytic capacitor - across the output - would give addtional emothing if required. Circuit Simulator Bolow is a drawing ofthe circuit diagram - taken from the SimMetrix Circuit Simulator. The graphical images were produced soparately - by SimMotrix. But - for simplicity =I put them all together in a single drawing. The simulator program is free. And there are versions for both Linux and Windows, If you vant to ‘explore this crcuit further - youl find my simulation in this Small Zip Fle. le Eat View Slot Bice Frte FoteACNote Hemchy MoCo iS TED We KOMK/AAA| 70+ “+ OORSKKEELT L Is: maz i i icc} (C1/MUST be a “suppressor” type capacior. These are made to be connected directly across the incoming mains supply. They are manufactured to a very high Standard - from high spec materials. You can generally recognize suppressor capacitors - because they covered with the logos of many diferent Safely Standards Authoritis. “The larger the value of C1 - the lower wil be its capacitive reactance - and the higher will be the current flowing through it. You can use a single capacttor with a higher value - or you can connect two or more smaller capacitors in parallel. For example - two 0.47UF capacitors connected in parallel will give the equivalent fof a 1UF capacitor - and almost double the available curent. However - increasing the value of the capacitor also increases the significance ofthe contribution R makes to the denominator - RY has to work harder. And the extra currant lowing in the circuit- means thatthe resistors and Zener diodes will have fo dissipate more energy (Waits). If 1 equals 4uF then Rt needs to bo 7 watts, andthe 16-volt Zoners neod to be 2 watt. This brings us to the circuits main limitation. i's really atts best when it's used to provide up to about 20mA DC. If you try to produce any more current - the ‘components start io get very big -and they generate more heat, There comes @ point when it makes more sense fo use a small mains transformer.