Power Supplies and Voltage Regulators

Linear Power Supplies

The DC power supplies used for electronics and computers are of two main types, switching and linear, both supplied from the 120V AC mains. witching supplies include a regulator, and are a special study, so they will not be mentioned further here. The linear supply is relati!ely simple and ine"pensi!e, and in many cases is completely ade#uate. $or some applications, a regulator is not re#uired, either because the load is constant or because small !ariations in the output !oltage do not matter. The basic ideas of linear power supply design will be presented here, and you should ma%e a small supply &ust for the e"perience, if you ha!e ne!er done so before. A linear supply consists of transformer, rectifier, surge'limiting resistor, filter capacitor, and bleeder. The transformer should ha!e separate primary and secondary windings so that the output is isolated from the power'line ground. (t is !ery dangerous otherwise, so isolation is important. A transformer cannot usually ta%e a DC current through a winding, but if a winding is center'tapped, e#ual DC currents can flow from the center tap to the ends of the windings without incon!enience. mall currents can, of course, be tolerated. The rectifier is usually a full'wa!e bridge of silicon diodes, though two diodes at the ends of a center'tapped winding can also be used. The capacitor is a large aluminum electrolytic, up to 10 000 )$, and a !oltage rating of *+0 V. $or higher !oltages, capacitors may be used in series ,hal!ing the e#ui!alent capacitance but doubling the !oltage rating-. the lea%age in the capacitors will e#uali/e the !oltages. A resistor is used in series with the capacitor to limit the surge of current in the first half'cycle of operation, when the capacitor is uncharged. To handle the sharp power pulse, a wire'wound power resistor is re#uired, though after the turn'on surge, it hardly dissipates any power at all. The bleeder resistance is connected across the capacitor to discharge it when the supply is turned off. (t should carry up to 100 of the rated output current, and helps to stabili/e the operation of the supply, eliminating any rises in !oltage at !ery low currents that may occur. $or high'!oltage ,1 +0V- supplies, a bleeder resistor is essential to remo!e the ha/ard of an une"pected !oltage in the filter capacitor when the supply is turned off. The bleeder resistor should be rated to dissipate the necessary power in steady operation.

The AC input should be fused, using a slow'blow fuse of about two or three times the normal input current. The purpose of this fuse is to sa!e the power transformer if a filter capacitor fails, usually by becoming a short circuit, or if the rectifier fails, also usually by presenting a short circuit. This can happen e!en if the output is protected against a short by a !oltage regulator. 2sually, insufficient current flows in this case to open the protecti!e de!ice of the line, which may be 1+ A or more, and is designed to pre!ent fire. The current may be more than sufficient to burn out the transformer primary, if it is rated for an ampere or less. The transformer is usually the most e"pensi!e part of the power supply, and is worth sa!ing. The fuse may be in a fuse bloc% inside the chassis. it is not worth much to ha!e front'panel access to the fuse. (t is also nice to ha!e a pilot light to show when power is applied to the transformer primary, across which the pilot light should be connected. A neon lamp with dropping resistor is !ery satisfactory for this purpose. (t is not necessary to ha!e a polari/ed plug unless the chassis is grounded to one side of the line''in that case, a polari/ed plug is mandatory. A metal chassis or bo" should be grounded to the green wire of a 3'conductor power cord for protection against shoc%. Any fault to the hot wire should trip the protecti!e de!ice of the AC supply circuit in this case. (t is general practice to put a switch only in the hot wire, but with an unpolari/ed plug, both wires should be switched using a D4 T switch to ma%e sure the hot wire is switched. The white wire should ne!er be directly connected to the chassis, e!en if it is ground. (f the chassis is grounded, then it is safest to connect one side of a high'!oltage DC output to the chassis, so that no fault placing the chassis at high !oltage can occur. $or !oltages o!er +00 V, special care must be ta%en with protection, since such !oltages can be lethal. $or !oltages less than +0 V, practically anything goes, since the shoc% ha/ard is minimal. 5ow'!oltage ,below +0V- transformers, and the other components, are easily a!ailable. 6igh'!oltage transformers are difficult to locate, especially in smaller ratings, and can be #uite e"pensi!e. The secondary !oltage is specified as the rms !alue. the pea% !alue will be 1.*1* times greater. The no'load output !oltage will be this pea% !alue, and the output !oltage will drop as the current supplied increases. (f a regulator is used, the difference in !oltages will cause a power dissipation that is greater, the greater the !oltage difference. At ma"imum load, the output !oltage need only be enough greater than the output !oltage to operate the regulator. The series of 1A diodes, 17*001 to 17*008, ha!e pea% in!erse !oltage ratings from +0 V to 1200 V, and easily handle most modest rectifying tas%s. Their pea% surge current is 2+ A, and you should analy/e the circuit and choose the surge'limiting resistor accordingly. The capacitor is si/ed on the basis of the permissible ripple in the output. To estimate the ripple, consider that the capacitor supplies the ma"imum output current ( continuously, and is 9topped up9 to the output !oltage e!ery 1:120 s for a full'wa!e rectifier, and e!ery 1:;0 s for a half'wa!e. The charge drawn by the load is then (:120 C ,full'wa!e- and this e#uals C<V, where <V is the amplitude of the ripple. Therefore, C = (:120<V. The large !alues of C that usually result from this e#uation are easily supplied by modern electrolytic capacitors. This is called the 9brute force9 approach to reducing ripple. >lder

designs for high'!oltage ,300 V- supplies often used a pi'section filter of two shunt capacitors separated by an iron'core inductor of a few henries. This ga!e good filtering with much smaller capacitors. 6owe!er, big capacitors are cheaper than filter cho%es these days. An important parameter in estimating the surge current is the #uantity ?@C = 388@C for ;0 6/, where @ is the resistance of the transformer secondary plus the surge resistor. (f this #uantity is less than 1, the filter capacitor charges up rapidly during the first half' cycle, and is almost fully charged by the end, A ms later. The ma"imum surge current is considerably less than the !alue B:@ in this case, where B is the pea% AC !oltage, and occurs early in the cycle. >n the other hand, if this #uantity is large, se!eral cycles are re#uired to charge the filter capacitor, and the pea% current approaches the !alue B:@ more closely. As a !ery rough guide, if the #uantity is about unity, then the pea% current is about B:2@. The differential e#uation go!erning the charging is i@ C #:C = B sin ?t, with the initial conditions that i = # = 0 at t = 0. The solution of the e#ui!alent e#uation iD C i:@C = ,B:@- cos ?t is easily found by using the integrating factor e"p,t:@C-. The solution can be put into the form i = AEcos F ' e"p,'D F-G C H sin F, where F is the phase angle in degrees, A = ,B:@-E%:,1 C %2G, H = %A, D = ,I:1A0-,1:%-, where % = ?@C. This formula can be e!aluated numerically by a program on an 64'32 calculator ,for e"ample- in any particular case to estimate what the surge current will be. uch a program is shown in the bo" on the right, the program with the label A. At the top, the storage of the parameters is shown. To e"ecute the program, enter the !alue of F and press JBK A. $or e"ample, if B = A+0 V, @ = 10L and C = +0 )$, we find % = 0.1AA+, and the ma"imum current to be about 1* A ,much less than B:@ = A+ AM-. Noreo!er, the capacitor is charged to A3* V when conduction ceases. (f B = 180 V, @ = 10L and C = 1000 )$, % = 3.88, the ma"imum current is about 13.+ A. >nce the filter capacitor is charged to the output !oltage, the rectifier supplies a pulse of charge each time the transformer secondary !oltage B goes abo!e the output !oltage Bo. The current is i = ,B ' Bo-:@, and the charge is the integral of this from the phase angle F1 = sin'1 ,Bo:B1 to 1A0O minus this angle, or twice the integral from F1 to I:2. The charge is e#ual to the a!erage output current ( times T:2, where T is the period ,1:;0 s-, for full' wa!e rectification. Therefore, the a!erage output current ( = ,2:I@-E,B2 ' Bo2- ' Bo,I:2 ' F1-G. 4rogram H at the right e!aluates this e"pression for any Bo. $or B = 180 V and @ = 10L, the output !oltage is 1;0 V for 1*; mA, 1++ V for 2;P mA, and 1+0 V for *1* mA. 7ote that the surge'limiting resistor has an important effect on the power supply regulation, which is the change in output !oltage caused by a change in output current.

A typical low'!oltage power supply is shown below. The power'line switch is shown as a D4 T, which isolates the supply when >$$. (f the plug is polari/ed, an 4 T switch in the 9hot9 or blac% lead can be used. Do not put a switch in the white wire only, which may lea!e the supply 9hot9 when the switch is off, if the plug is re!ersed. A pilot light is shown across the AC supply to indicate when the supply is turned on. this is an 7B'2 lamp in series with a 1+0% resistor, a !ery satisfactory pilot light. A fuse could be added if desired, which should be slow'blow to handle the turn'on surge. $or small supplies, the fuse is incon!eniently small, and is often omitted. Nost !oltage regulators handle output shorts #uite well.

A supply may be constructed on perfboard, using terminal strips or press'in terminals as necessary. A T>'220 regulator should be mounted flat on the board with its heat sin%, and not allowed to wiggle on its leads. Co!er the AC wires. a cord switch can be used for economy. (t is not necessary to enclose low'!oltage power supplies, but high'!oltage supplies should always be enclosed, either in a nonconducting bo", or in a grounded metal bo". (f a metal bo" is used, a three'conductor power cord is appropriate, with the grounding wire ,green- connected to the bo". (f there is nothing to ground, a three' conductor cord is redundant. (f you do not already own a +V, 1A power supply for digital logic, it is a good e"ercise to ma%e one. A ;.3 V transformer will do, with a 8A0+ regulator. B!erything else is the same as in the figure. A high'!oltage linear supply is shown below. upplies li%e this were used for the HC, or plate, supplies for !acuum tubes. (t is a full'wa!e rectifier using a center'tapped secondary, since bridge rectifiers were incon!enient with !acuum diodes. (n this circuit, silicon diodes ha!e replaced the !acuum diodes that were typically used. 7ote that the in!erse !oltage rating must be larger than the total secondary !oltage, not &ust half of it. The transformer is rated ;00 V CT at 100 mA, and also supplies low'!oltage AC, at ;.3 and +.0 V, for !acuum tube cathode heaters. The +.0 V was used for the rectifier diode, the ;.3 V for the other !acuum tubes. The secondary resistance is about 200 L, enough to limit surge currents without an e"tra resistor. The filter is a passi!e 5C filter''a pi' section, capacitor input filter''that wor%s !ery well, gi!ing scarcely detectible ripple in the output. The cho%e must be designed to handle the DC current without saturating ,100 mA in this case-. ( use the supply as a !ariable high'!oltage supply, feeding it from a Variac, to obtain !oltages between about 1+0 V and *+0V. The ratings of the diodes, capacitors, and the cho%e insulation are all closely approached. Qhen plugged into full 120V without a reasonable load, a dummy load of 10% or so ,2+QM- should be used to a!oid e"cessi!e !oltage, which can rise to about +00 V. 7othing fails at this !oltage, but

it is best to stay below it. All the components are currently a!ailable, and the total cost is about R100.

>ther DC supplies are mentioned in the page on Vacuum Tubes, and the use of isolation transformers is discussed.

Voltage Doublers
Qe will see in the page on switched capacitors that we can create a negati!e supply from a positi!e one, or produce multiples of a gi!en !oltage, by charging capacitors in one configuration and discharging them in another, using CN> switches. Qe can let an alternating current do its own switching, with the aid of diodes, to produce a similar effect. The most useful is the voltage doubler that produces a DC !oltage twice what a straightforward rectifier would produce. These circuits were used with !acuum'tube radios to a!oid the e"pense of a power transformer, which often cost as much as all the rest of the radio together. These AC:DC radios represented a shoc% ha/ard because of the grounding of the household supply. (f the plug went in the right way, then the radioDs ground was also the supply ground, which was actually ground, and all was well. (f the plug was re!ersed, then the chassis became 120 V 9hot9 with respect to things li%e radiators and pipes. The chassis was usually still 9hot9 e!en when the set was switched off. TodayDs polari/ed plugs reduce the ha/ard considerably, pro!ided e!erything is wired correctly. Another use of a !oltage doubler is to get higher !oltages than a transformer may con!eniently gi!e, for things li%e cathode'ray tubes. Voltage'doubler circuits are shown below. There are two !arieties, called 9full'wa!e9 and 9half'wa!e9 although in each case the ripple fre#uency is e#ual to the line fre#uency ,not double it, as in a true full'wa!e rectifier-. The diodes must withstand the doubled !oltage, but the !oltage rating of the capacitors depends on the circuit. The half'wa!e circuit has the great ad!antage that there is a common conductor, which can be ta%en as ground. An interesting safety modification is to use only one conductor in the line cord, to be connected to the hot wire. The other conductor is tied to a pipe or other ground, guaranteeing that the chassis will be ground. (f the plug is re!ersed, there will be no current.

The ripple is calculated the usual way, by considering the constant current drain on the capacitor charge. The circuits shown yield a bit more than 300 V. The ripple of either circuit will be around 0.1+ V ,in the full'wa!e circuit, the ripple of the two capacitors is in antiphase-. An @C ripple filter as shown will reduce the ripple by P+0, at a load current of 10 mA. $or larger currents, simply increase the si/e of the capacitors. Also, it is a good idea to add a surge resistor to limit the inrush current to less than 1+ A when the circuit is turned on. This re#uires about a 10L, 3Q resistor in series with the AC supply, as shown. Do not use a 1:* Q resistor because the a!erage dissipation is small. (f you do, it will disappear in a flash of glory when you turn the switch onM These circuits can be in!estigated at lower !oltages by using the function generator as a source. The full'wa!e doubler is also a bipolar supply, where ground is ta%en at the &unction of the capacitors. $or an input !oltage of ;.;* V ,rms-, the full'wa!e circuit ga!e 1*.11 V, the half'wa!e 13.A+ V, with a load of 10% ,about 1.* mA-. The capacitors were *80 )$. The doubler principle can be e"tended to arbitrary multiplication, as shown in the circuit at the left. The half'wa!e doubler will be recogni/ed at the left'hand end, near the transformer. The transformer is shown grounded so that !oltages of 2V, *V, and so forth, can be pic%ed off. (f it is grounded on the other side, we ha!e a!ailable V, 3V, +V, and so forth. As the number of sections increases, insulation is an increasing problem, and the current that can be supplied becomes smaller. Kuite large !oltages can be obtained. this principle was used in the Coc%roft'Qalton accelerator for charged particles. A !oltage multiplier is an attracti!e high'!oltage, low'current supply, as re#uired for cathode'ray tubes and photomultipliers. An e"ample of a !oltage se"tupler is described in 4hotomultipliers, as well as a cheap high'!oltage supply based on an electromagnetic bu//er. The e"istence of silicon diodes ma%es the multiplier much easier to reali/e than when thermionic diodes had to be used. The multiplier is easy on the !oltage ratings of components, which must resist only the stage !oltage, not the total !oltage.

Transformers with Multiple Windings

>ne fre#uently sees transformers with dual primaries, so they can be connected for 11+ or 230 V, and with dual secondaries, to offer fle"ibility in output !oltage and current. These transformers offer further possibilities, in which the secondaries may not actually be used. They can be connected step'up or step'down autotransformers, or as an isolation transformer, and are specially applicable when the power re#uired is small.

as

Transformers are designed on the basis of !olts per turn, which ensures that the magnetic flu" does not reach saturation. Therefore, a transformer should not be used at a higher !oltage than its rating. (f it enters flu" saturation, the magneti/ing current will increase and the transformer will o!erheat. The same thing happens if the transformer is used at too low a fre#uency, but there is seldom an opportunity for this. o far as transformers are concerned, +0 6/ and ;0 6/ are about the same thing. A transformer can always be used at a lower !oltage or a higher fre#uency than intended by the designer. (f a transformer runs hot, say A+OC or so, it is being abused, and its life will be short. mall transformers typically run warm, so do not be put off by this. The heat comes from core losses as well as from copper losses, so it appears e!en if the transformer is not loaded. (f you ha!e a transformer but no specifications, the power rating can be estimated from the weight of the transformer, comparing it with others of %nown rating. The DC resistance of the windings gi!es some clue as to their current ratings, and shows what is connected to what. Center taps can be identified. An AC !oltmeter or an oscilloscope can be used to estimate the turns ratio and phasing of the transformer. 2se a function generator instead of the power line, for safety and con!enience. (f the intended primary !oltage is %nown, then the transformer can usually be satisfactorily specified and safely used. An interesting and useful small transformer is represented by the 2+ V'A Talema ;20;2' 42 02, whose connections are shown at the right. (t is #uite reasonably priced ,R13-. The polarity dots for each winding were determined with the oscilloscope. A positi!e !oltage applied to one gi!es a positi!e !oltage at the others. This transformer has well'identified colored leads, which is e"cellent practice. The permissible rms primary current is 2+ : 230 = 0.10P A, in each primary winding. (t is suggested that the primary be fused for 1;0 mA. The secondaries are each rated at 1.0*1 A. This is a toroidal transformer, in which the core is an iron toroid, surrounded by the windings. (n the more familiar small transformer, the iron surrounds the copper ,for con!enience, not completely-, while here it is the other way round. Classically, transformers were called shell or core types, depending on whether the windings were on the same or separate legs of the core. A toroidal transformer seems to be an ideal type of core transformer. The efficiency of the transformer is gi!en as A*0, which is good for such a small machine. (t can be mounted with a 1:*9 bolt through the center.

The different ways the primaries can be connected and used are shown at the left. Qe can ha!e a step'up to 230 V, or step'down to +; V. (n either case, the output circuit is not isolated from the input, as is typical with autotransformers. 7ote that this connection is made possible because the two windings lin% the same magnetic flu". Two separate transformers cannot be used in this way. An isolation transformer is also possible, and is useful because such transformers are not common in small ratings. (n all of these circuits, the secondaries are not used, and are left open. Two separate transformers can pro!ide isolation if their secondaries are connected together. This should wor% fairly well if the demands are modest, but the combination will not ha!e high efficiency. 6owe!er, it may be an ine"pensi!e solution to the problem.

Voltage Regulators
uppose you ha!e a load ta%ing +0 mA at + V, but a 12 V supply. A resistance ,12 ' +-:0.0+ = 1*0L in series will drop the !oltage appropriately. (f the load is absolutely constant, such as an 5BD, then a series dropping resistor is #uite satisfactory. There is some power loss in the resistor, 3+0 mQ, so weDd better use a 1:2Q resistor in place of the usual 1:*Q one, but this is not serious. Qe can thin% of this as a +V source with an internal resistance of 1*0L ,presuming the 12V supply ideal-, which is really not a !ery good !oltage source, which should ha!e a low internal resistance so the output !oltage does not change much if the current changes. (f our load is constant on the a!erage, but has sharp current spi%es ,li%e digital logic circuits-, the matter can be handled by a capacitor in parallel with the supply. This has to ha!e a pretty large capacitance in most cases, since its reactance should be much less than the internal resistance of the source it is de'spi%ing. (n this case, if we e"pect spi%es that are shorter than about a millisecond, a capacitance greater than about 1:,2I-,1*0-,1000- = 1.1 )$ would do. $or larger capacitances, electrolytic capacitors are normally used. The best are tantalums, but aluminum electrolytics will do if they are made somewhat larger ,they are worse at high fre#uencies than tantalum-. ome say that 1 )$ in tantalum is e#ui!alent to 2+ )$ in aluminium. Ta%e care with the polarity, since electrolytics cannot stand re!erse polarity. The supply internal resistance and the capacitor form a low'pass filter. (f the supply has a small internal resistance, a series resistor is usually added so the capacitor does not ha!e to be impracticably large. >f course, for an ideal ,low' impedance- supply, no spi%e filter is necessary anyway.

(f 1*0L is not small enough for you ,it would not do if you were supplying digital logic, which has a narrow supply range- there are alternati!es. A good one is the Sener diode. This is a 47 &unction used with re!erse bias. At some re!erse !oltage, the &unction brea%s down and thereafter the current increases !ery rapidly with applied !oltage. Therefore, the !oltage across the diode is roughly constant whate!er the current through it, and we ha!e something that can %eep the !oltage constant. $or narrow &unctions with their low brea%down !oltages, brea%down is by #uantum'mechanical tunneling across the narrow barrier, called the Sener effect. $or wider &unctions and higher !oltages, the brea%down is by electron a!alanche, which occurs when the !oltage is high enough to gi!e the electrons enough energy to %noc% other electrons into the conduction band. The diodes are called Sener diodes, howe!er, whate!er the mechanism. They are commonly a!ailable with !oltages from 3 to +0 V. A Sener regulator is shown in the diagram. The dropping resistor @ is an essential component, its !alue gi!en by ,V ' Vo-:(, where ( is the desired output current plus 100. The current in this resistor is constant as long as the supply !oltage V is constant, and is shared between the Sener and the load. Qhen the load is remo!ed, all the current passes through the Sener, and with the ma"imum load, the Sener current only consists of the 100 e"tra. (f the Sener current drops to /ero, then it ceases to regulate and we ha!e an ordinary !oltage di!ider. Therefore, we allow about 100 e"tra to ma%e sure this does not happen. The power dissipated in both the dropping resistor and the Sener diode must be considered, and suitable power ratings applied. mall Seners are a!ailable in 1:2Q and 1Q si/es. The 17*833 is a 1Q Sener, while the 17+231 is 1:2Q. both ha!e a Sener !oltage of +.1V. (f you set up a +.1V regulator with @ = 100L ,1:2 QM- and a 17*833, you can measure the output !oltages for a range of load resistances from infinity down to 100L, which correspond to currents of 0 to +1 mA. The current in @ is about ;P mA in this case. (f you connect a +1L ,1:2Q- resistor as a load, you will see that the !oltage is no longer held at about + V. The !oltage drops somewhat at the higher load currents, because the Sener !oltage changes slightly with current ,as the load current increases, the Sener current decreases, and so does the Sener !oltage-. The slope is e"pressed as the Sener resistance, which is the change in !oltage di!ided by the change in current. (n this case, ( measured about +L ,which is really the Sener resistance in parallel with @-. This is a pretty good !oltage source. (t is drawn with a despi%ing capacitor, which is not necessary for the e"periment here. The input !oltage to the Sener regulator can also !ary, without affecting the output !oltage. >nly the total current is changed in this case.

$or more output current, or to sa!e Sener dissipation, the Sener can be helped out by a pass transistor that actually does the &ob, the Sener establishing its base !oltage. The output !oltage is the Sener !oltage less the drop in the emitter of the transistor. A +.; V Sener is about right for a + V digital supply ,they donDt seem to ma%e a +.8 V Sener-. A test circuit is shown at the left, that is supplying about 1+ mA to its load, while the Sener dissipation is only about 3; mQ. The circuit could supply more current, say A+ mA, without difficulty, e"cept that the power dissipation in the pass transistor would be ;00 mQ, near its limit. $or more current, a power transistor with heat sin% would do. A *80L dropping resistor instead of 1% would gi!e up to 10 mA base current, enough for an output of *00 mA or so, with a Sener dissipation of only 8; mQ. A power Darlington could also be used as a pass transistor, with a greater forward drop, but re#uiring !ery small base current. A large electrolytic capacitor from the base to ground can sol!e noise problems, if there are any. The drawbac% to this circuit is that there is no current limiting in case of an output short, and the addition of a current sensing resistor on the output side would hurt the !oltage regulation. A fuse is probably the best answer to this problem. The idea of using a pass transistor is applicable to most power supplies, as we shall see below. hould you re#uire a smaller !oltage, less than 3 V, one possibility is a string of diodes, as in the figure. These diodes are biased in the forward direction. ince the current increases rapidly with !oltage, they can be used as a !oltage regulator. The incremental resistance of each diode is about +0L:(, where ( is the diode current in mA. (n a transistor, 2+L appears instead of +0L''diodes are made somewhat differently, and the actual figure is somewhere between 2+ and +0, depending on the diode. (n this case, we choose a diode current of 20 mA, so the internal resistance of this regulator is * " 2.+ = 10L, in parallel with the dropping resistor. Bither signal or rectifier diodes can be used. The 17*001 will handle diode currents up to 1 A. The re!erse brea%down !oltage, usually an important parameter, is of no conse#uence here.Qe can do !ery much better with feedbac%, and achie!e a nearly perfect !oltage source. The principle is shown in the circuit at the left. The output !oltage is compared with an accurate !oltage source, such as the 2.+V 5N33;, using a !oltage di!ider either on the output or the !oltage reference to get the desired !oltage,

10

and the difference dri!es an operational amplifier that acts to reduce it to /ero, by controlling a pass transistor. This circuit has the added feature of current limiting, which protects against a shorted output. Qhen the !oltage across the current'sensing 33L resistor rises sufficiently to turn on K2 ,about 0.8 V-, K2 draws e"tra current from the op' amp output. The op'amp tries to maintain the output !oltage, but e!entually saturates, and then the output !oltage can drop. The 1% resistor is there to help the amplifier to saturate when this happens ,it would saturate anyway, since the output can only source about 20 mA, but the resistor does it more gently-. 4ractically all ad!anced !oltage regulators include current limiting, as well as other protection against unfortunate e!ents. >ne e"ample is the output 9crowbar9 which shorts the output ,bringing current limiting into action- if the !oltage rises too high, for e"ample if the pass transistor should fail. This can be done with an C@. Construct this !oltage regulator e"ample, and test it for !arious loads, noting the current' limiting action, which is set here for about 20 mA. 2p to a load of 220L ,23 mA- the output !oltage was steady at *.P* V all the way from no'load. Qith 1+0L the output !oltage dropped to 3.8; V, and to 2.;P V for a 100L load. Chec% to see that the op'amp is saturated when the !oltage begins to drop. A similar !acuum'tube !oltage regulator is described in the page on Vacuum Tubes, under 4ower Triodes, which gi!es a regulated 1**V from a 18+'28+V input. The 823 !oltage'regulator integrated circuit contains all the items necessary to ma%e such a regulator, e"cept for the e"ternal resistors and a fre#uency compensation capacitor. The !oltage standard is 8.1+ V, and the output can range from 2 to 38 V. There is a high' !oltage !ersion for somewhat higher output !oltages. The ma"imum current of the internal pass transistor is 1+0 mA, but an e"ternal pass transistor is easily connected as a Darlington to pro!ide any current desired. This (C is well co!ered in The Art of Blectronics. B!en easier to use are the three'terminal regulators, which loo% li%e transistors and ha!e, not surprisingly, three terminals. >ne is the input, one the output, and the remaining one is an ad&usting input. The 5N318 comes in a T>'220 power transistor pac%age, with the tab connected to the output terminal. (t can be used up to a difference of *0 V between input and output, and supplies up to 1.+ A. The circuit for a !ariable output !oltage regulator is shown at the right. (nternal circuitry holds the !oltage between the ad&ustment terminal A and the output terminal > at 1.2+ V ,actually, somewhere between 1.2 and 1.3 V-. Qhate!er current passes through @1 also passes through @2 ,e"cept for the +0 to 100 )A that the ad&ustment terminal re#uires- and sets the output !oltage. This is gi!en by 1.2+,1 C @2:@1 V, and the current through the resistors should swamp the ad&ustment current. There is a minimum output current of about 3.+ mA re#uired for the internal circuitry to wor% properly, and this can be supplied by the !oltage ad&ustment resistors. A potentiometer is not generally used, and these troublesome components are not recommended. The 318 is the choice when you need an arbitrary, nonstandard !oltage. Capacitors are recommended at input and output, as shown in the figure, to enhance stability. The 1 )$ is a tantalum. use 2+ )$ if it is aluminum. Abo!e 2+ V output, a diode

11

should be connected between output ,A- and input ,T-to allow the capacitor to discharge safely if the input is shorted, instead of going through the 318. (f a large capacitor is used to bypass the ad&ustment terminal to suppress ripple, a diode is also needed in this case between the ad&ustment terminal and the output. The diodes ha!e nothing to do with the operation of the regulator. $or !oltages of +, 12 and 1+ special three' terminal regulators are a!ailable that re#uire no e"ternal resistors at all. The ad&ustment terminal is simply a ground terminal. The connections of these regulators are shown in the figure. The 5 !ersions ,T>'P2- supply up to 100 mA, the N !ersions ,T>'202- +00 mA, and the regular !ersions ,T>'220- up to 1 A. All are protected against e"cessi!e dissipation as well as against a short circuit. They will gi!e more current if properly heat' sin%ed, and all e"cept the 5 !ersions should generally be arranged with good heat sin%s. The 8AJJ series are positi!e regulators, while the 8PJJ are negati!e regulators, so that regulated bipolar supplies can easily be constructed. Curiously, the pinouts are different in the two series, as can be seen from the figure, and should be carefully obser!ed. 4ositi!e and negati!e regulators are connected as shown in the figure. 7ote that the connections are #uite different, and that one of the terminals is 9ground.9. A negati!e !oltage, one below ground, is applied to the negati!e regulator. A positi!e regulator cannot the turned around and used as a negati!e regulator, in any case. The output capacitor is optional, but impro!es transient response. The input capacitor is needed only if the regulator is far from the unregulated supply. Hipolar supplies are often re#uired, for op'amps and other circuits with signals that swing abo!e and below ground. They are usually symmetrical, such as U+ V, U12 V or U1+ V. uch supplies can be made from independent supplies connected in series, with the common terminal ser!ing as ground. (n this case, negati!e regulators are not needed. Vou may wish to use a center'tapped secondary on the power transformer for this purpose. The correct way to do this is shown at the right. A U supply is first made using a single bridge rectifier, which is then connected to the

12

regulators. The diodes protect the regulators in case of a short between the outputs, which otherwise would ha!e a nasty outcome. A way 7>T to do this, suggested by the use of independent supplies, is shown at the left. Bach half of the transformer secondary has been used to ma%e an independent supply, using a negati!e regulator to reference the negati!e output to ground. This supply does indeed produce U12 V as e"pected. 2nfortunately, there is also a short circuit for the secondary through the diodes. (f you test the circuit, the diodes can probably stand the short, but the transformer cannot, and there is soon heat and smo%e. Trace the short circuit from one end of the secondary to the other. The problem is that we ha!e connected the plus and minus supplies at two points, which are incompatible. uch educational surprises crop out in electronics from time to time. Fuse Protection This is a reasonable place to discuss !arious forms of protection of electronic apparatus. >ne !ery common type of protection is from failures in the apparatus itself, that cause it to draw e"cessi!e current. The purpose of this protection is to sa!e e"pensi!e components that otherwise might be ruined, such as power transformers. The AC power line includes its own protection against o!ercurrent, so we do not ha!e to worry on this score. >!ercurrent protection is pro!ided by fuses, which are heated by the current and melt, brea%ing the circuit. The fuse is heated by (2@ loss, and loses heat by conduction to the supports and by conduction and radiation into the air surrounding it. $uses generally operate rather slowly, but, it is hoped, more rapidly than the protected apparatus heats up. A fuse has not only a current rating, but also a !oltage rating. The !oltage rating should not be e"ceeded, or the fuse might not brea% the circuit properly. Alternating currents are easy to brea%, and most fuses are used with alternating current supplies, with a rating, say, of 2+0 V. The same fuse might ha!e a DC rating of only +0 V, showing the greater difficulty of brea%ing a DC circuit. 2nless there is better information, this factor of + will gi!e a guide. The commonest fuse si/es for electronic apparatus are 3AW, 1:*9 " 1'1:*9, or the somewhat smaller 9metric9 si/e of + " 20 mm. These will usually brea% up to 2+0 VAC, and come in current ratings of up to 10 A or so. The smaller 2AW si/e, 0.1889 " 0.+89, is also a!ailable. These fuses will remain intact at their rated current for an indefinite time. At 1100 of the rating, they will not open in less than * hours. At 13+0 of the rating, howe!er, they will open within 1 hour. At 2000, they will open in roughly + seconds. A 9fast'blow9 fuse will open in less than + s, while a 9slo'blow9 fuse will open in more than + s, at this o!erload. At * times the current rating, a fast'blow fuse may open in 10 to 300 ms, while a slow'blow fuse will ta%e 0.1+ s to 3 s. At higher o!ercurrents, any %ind of fuse will open sooner, and there is not much difference between slow'blow and fast'

13

blow. A fuse will re#uire at least 10 ms to open in any case, so sensiti!e components li%e chips and transistors will not be protected well by fuses. At least the connecting wires will not melt. A slow'blow fuse has some e"tra thermal mass that is effecti!e at moderate o!erloads, so the fuse will not blow during a turn'on transient. (t seems that e!en a normal'blow fuse will sur!i!e the turn'on surge of tungsten lamps ,( ha!e not !erified this, but plan to-. Notors start somewhat more slowly, and generally re#uire slow'blow fuses. 4ower supplies with large filter capacitors may also ha!e a turn'on surge while the capacitors charge, that occupies 100 ms or so, and also re#uire slow'blow fuses. Surge Protection The other protection challenge comes down the wires into the apparatus, and fuses are of little help here. Wenerally, there is a !oltage surge for a short period. The AC power line can e"perience surges of 1 %V or so from switching transients. Although these protection de!ices are often called 9lightning arresters,9 there is little that can be done against actual lightning. Nuch more common, though are surges resulting from earth currents, nearby lightning stri%es, and so forth. Any wires that run outside the building are sub&ect to these surges, as was soon found out when telegraph lines were constructed. The first protection de!ice was a sharp point connected to the line near a grounded conducting plane. Qhen the air gap bro%e down with a spar%, a low'resistance path was created for a short time between the line and ground, bypassing the surge. ome inductance was usually pro!ided between the protector and the apparatus to encourage the surge to lea!e the e#uipment alone. These protectors wor%ed #uite well, and ,in some form- are still necessary on the telephone lines entering a building. par% gaps will not protect against the smaller, but still damaging, surges on power lines. Another de!ice was a carbon lightning arrester. Apparently, this %ind of de!ice had a path that was normally of high resistance, but became a low'resistance shunt when e"cessi!e !oltage was applied. ( cannot find any such de!ices in current catalogs, so ha!e no details to mention. 6owe!er, they wor% much li%e the modern surge absorbers mentioned below. A gas discharge tube, consisting of two electrodes in a bulb filled with some gas at low pressure, would act &ust li%e a spar% gap, but brea%s down at a lower !oltage. Qhen the discharge is established ,which re#uires some milliseconds-, a low'resistance path is created to bypass the surge. uch de!ices were used in a military field telephone system, since they responded to the ringing !oltage, gi!ing a !isual indication, as well as pro!iding surge protection to the telephone. B!en an 7B'2, which brea%s down at ;0'80 V, can pro!ide some protection when connected between a line wire and ground. There should be no series resistor, of course, since this would defeat the protection. Hac%'to'bac% Sener diodes pro!ide !ery good protection. They operate rapidly, but cannot absorb a great deal of power. 4747 de!ices, %nown under the trade name of idactors, are more rugged and can be obtained with brea%down !oltages of ;0';;0 V.

1*

7ote that such triggering de!ices will be automatically restored at the /ero crossings of an AC signal.

A !ery useful protecti!e de!ice is made from ceramic metal o"ides. The general term for such de!ices is varistor, which describes resistors whose resistance depends on the !oltage across them. They are also called N>VDs ,Netal >"ide Varistors- or S7@Ds ,Sinc 7onlinear @esistor-, by different manufacturers. Sinc o"ide and trontium Titanate are typical materials used. They may resemble ceramic capacitors ,e"cept that the coating is shiny, not matte- and test open by DNN, so they may be confused with capacitors. 2sually, they are bilateral, and are not polari/ed. ymbols found for these de!ices are shown at the right. >ne really should use the symbol for a nonlinear resistor, but ( ha!e not seen this used yet. Test a low'!oltage N>V, such as a VASA2 ,from 6osfelt-, by connecting it in series with a 1% resistor. Neasure the !oltage across the N>V as the !oltage to the series combination is !aried, and ma%e a V'( plot for the N>V. 2p to about + V, the N>V was simply an open circuit. Then, the current cur!e bent rapidly upwards between 8 and A V, as the resistance dropped #uic%ly. This is an almost ideal protector characteristic. N>VDs operate in +0 ns, according to 4anasonic, which is certainly fast. The N>V is simply connected directly across the power lines. A V1305A20H turns on at about 18+ V, so it is &ust right for 120 VAC power lines. (t can stand surge currents of 100 A and 80 X energy. 6ere is e"cellent protection for less than a dollar. Connect it on the line side of any @$( filter that you may be using ,series inductance and shunt capacitance to filter out high fre#uencies on the power line-.

1+