Forum - Recent Threads

RE: A 2 parter: does anyone know of a pwm controller that can work with 1.5v? and! Does this section of the element14 community remain active for like general flyback discussion?

javagoza — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 14:45:22 GMT

Maybe you can experiment with Blocking oscillators .

Source: wikipedia

A 2 parter: does anyone know of a pwm controller that can work with 1.5v? and! Does this section of the element14 community remain active for like general flyback discussion?

Anthocyanina — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 11:01:02 GMT

Now that the time constraints have been removed, I want to keep working on my portable chaos toy. I started by taking apart the tiny transformer (the hot air station made this super easy) to rewind it with two symmetrical secondaries.

Now my goal is to power the converter with a rechargeable AAA battery, or if getting a low enough voltage pwm controller is not possible, a single 18650. So, does anyone know of a controller that can do that?

And well, my second question is if this section remains active in the community, or if this should be used only for the challenge and I should take my questions elsewhere?

Thank you!

RE: A 2 parter: does anyone know of a pwm controller that can work with 1.5v? and! Does this section of the element14 community remain active for like general flyback discussion?

Anthocyanina — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 12:42:59 GMT

Thanks! I looked into this when i saw your response, it seems most controllers won't start with low vin, so now i'm looking into either designing a controller myself, or adding in a charge pump boost converter that kickstarts the whole thing

RE: A 2 parter: does anyone know of a pwm controller that can work with 1.5v? and! Does this section of the element14 community remain active for like general flyback discussion?

javagoza — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 17:24:28 GMT

If you are doing the winding yourself, you can still add an auxiliary winding to have a higher voltage, enough to power a common pwm regulator you can even use that auxiliary winding for regulator feedback and not have to complicate measuring in the secondary.

RE: A 2 parter: does anyone know of a pwm controller that can work with 1.5v? and! Does this section of the element14 community remain active for like general flyback discussion?

Anthocyanina — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 23:12:04 GMT

i want this toy to be fully analog. the pwm controller is to drive the flyback converter, this time with feedback from the output to keep the output voltage from drifting as the battery discharges. Thank you!

RE: A 2 parter: does anyone know of a pwm controller that can work with 1.5v? and! Does this section of the element14 community remain active for like general flyback discussion?

dougw — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 22:59:53 GMT

The MCU can do PWM. What functionality do you need with the PWM? - What controls it?

RE: A 2 parter: does anyone know of a pwm controller that can work with 1.5v? and! Does this section of the element14 community remain active for like general flyback discussion?

Anthocyanina — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 19:44:41 GMT

No, that's an H bridge, not a pwm controller, but thank you! 🙂

RE: A 2 parter: does anyone know of a pwm controller that can work with 1.5v? and! Does this section of the element14 community remain active for like general flyback discussion?

Anthocyanina — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 19:44:06 GMT

Thank you!

RE: A 2 parter: does anyone know of a pwm controller that can work with 1.5v? and! Does this section of the element14 community remain active for like general flyback discussion?

dougw — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 15:23:05 GMT

DRV8837CDSGR

Is this what you are looking for? It can output any voltage although you would need to boost the input logic to 1.8V.

There are small MCUs that will run down to 0.7V by using an internal voltage booster. Such as ATtiny43U, which could drive the H-bridge above with PWM.

RE: A 2 parter: does anyone know of a pwm controller that can work with 1.5v? and! Does this section of the element14 community remain active for like general flyback discussion?

Jan Cumps — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 14:28:15 GMT

[quote userid="438987" url="~/challenges-projects/design-challenges/experimenting-with-flyback-transformers/f/forum/54385/a-2-parter-does-anyone-know-of-a-pwm-controller-that-can-work-with-1-5v-and-does-this-section-of-the-element14-community-remain-active-for-like-general-flyback-discussion"]And well, my second question is if this section remains active in the community, or if this should be used only for the challenge and I should take my questions elsewhere? [/quote]

Suggestion for flyback and other PSU discussions, outside the contest area: Blog

RE: A 2 parter: does anyone know of a pwm controller that can work with 1.5v? and! Does this section of the element14 community remain active for like general flyback discussion?

jc2048 — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 13:44:52 GMT

https://www.analog.com/en/products/lt1073.html

RE: A 2 parter: does anyone know of a pwm controller that can work with 1.5v? and! Does this section of the element14 community remain active for like general flyback discussion?

cstanton — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 12:43:46 GMT

We typically don't lock down areas of the Community, but you may find that other groups are better suited for the attention of other members. Such as the Ask an Expert Forum

RE: A 2 parter: does anyone know of a pwm controller that can work with 1.5v? and! Does this section of the element14 community remain active for like general flyback discussion?

Anthocyanina — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 11:46:59 GMT

Thank you, yeah, the wire is fine, but i used new wire anyway 🙂

I'll wait and see if anyone replies here with any IC recommendations, but will ask there if not. Thanks!

RE: A 2 parter: does anyone know of a pwm controller that can work with 1.5v? and! Does this section of the element14 community remain active for like general flyback discussion?

javagoza — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 11:41:02 GMT

I'm glad you keep tinkering and posting about flyback transformers.

I hope that the hot air station has not melted or carbonized the enamel on the cable and now you have a short, I would check it first. I don't know what temperature that enamel can withstand.

For the second question. This can be a good place to comment on transformer flybacks but I think you still have a larger audience if you post it in the passive components area.

(+) Passive Components - element14 Community

RE: how did you protect your lab setup?

shabaz — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 12:05:35 GMT

As probably you too, I find reading stuff from subject-related books and not just Internet resources alone, benefits me greatly. Doing a course is another level. That looks like a good book!

how did you protect your lab setup?

Jan Cumps — Fri, 26 Jan 2024 18:29:18 GMT

Participants, now that the experiment is reaching its end: What safety measures did you take when dealing with mains voltages?

I'm starting a road test for a mains powered Flyback design. I'm looking for advice from the players that used their "real mains" to power the experiments.

Things I have at the moment

formal education to deal with mains powers
a handheld oscilloscope that's isolated and has safe connections
a high-voltage differential probe
a bench meter that can measure 10 A AC current, and is CAT III

Did you take other/additional safety measures?

RE: how did you protect your lab setup?

Jan Cumps — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 11:49:21 GMT

[quote userid="17018" url="~/challenges-projects/design-challenges/experimenting-with-flyback-transformers/f/forum/54287/how-did-you-protect-your-lab-setup/219079"]I ordered a SMPS textbook a good week ago. It should arrive today.[/quote]

It did:

RE: how did you protect your lab setup?

Jan Cumps — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 09:26:36 GMT

Still works!

I haven't turned on the load input yet, but all is wired up and ready. I thought I'd better take a photo before any mayhem happens:

RE: how did you protect your lab setup?

Jan Cumps — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 08:22:16 GMT

Last preparation step: I ordered a SMPS textbook a good week ago. It should arrive today.

RE: how did you protect your lab setup?

Jan Cumps — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 18:52:24 GMT

It is tiny - very compact.

The secondary side test points are very close to each other. I'll have to use a different probing technique as what I used in the photo. Maybe I'll solder short wires in the eyelets.

RE: how did you protect your lab setup?

Jan Cumps — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 18:27:08 GMT

I brought out the old faithful: Programmable Electronic Load . It's lived a long live of neglect and abuse. It needs some restauration first.

RE: Poll - Did You Increase Your Knowledge of Flyback Transformers?

Anthocyanina — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:32:29 GMT

I understood this as adding the BOM only in the application. I didn't yet have a BOm when I applied so I didn't request components after that. They might not have gotten lost in customs as what I ended up buying x.x

Poll - Did You Increase Your Knowledge of Flyback Transformers?

rscasny — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 20:08:14 GMT

As I stated last week, I sent the final blogs to my judges. One judge has scored the final blogs. I'm just waiting on the other judge. The announcement should be made later this week.

I want to thank the participants of Experimenting with Flyback Transformers. It turned into a challenging program and an intense learning experience. I want to thank you for your time and some incredible blogs.

While I am waiting for the last judge to score the final blogs, I'd like to post a poll regarding how this program helped you increase your knowledge or even awareness of flyback transformers.

Both participants and community members can vote in the poll.

Thanks.

Randall

--element14 Community Team

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RE: Poll - Did You Increase Your Knowledge of Flyback Transformers?

BigG — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 11:20:30 GMT

Hi Randall, I was suggesting something slightly different where reference components are provided as default (i.e. part of the pack) rather than where the user has an option to select, which you have often used in the past.

What I am trying to get around is basically the poor choice scenario at the beginning and also to allow all competitors to validate (as in all competitors have the same baseline so if one of them cannot get it to work, it is easier to work out why).

RE: Poll - Did You Increase Your Knowledge of Flyback Transformers?

javagoza — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 10:03:35 GMT

I remember you made a generous offer to complete the kits with additional components. I think none of us take advantage of it, perhaps due to lack of confidence in our applications:

How Can You Experiment with Flyback Transformers - Some Thoughts and Ideas