Voltage regulator?

[Soeren]

Hi Tam,

If I see less than 120, it is a brownout.
Usually runs 123 -126.

If you are physically near to the distribution, your voltage will be
higher than nominal, but on the far end of the net, the voltage will be
somewhat lower. The higher voltage they send out, is to compensate for
losses and the specs are nominal +/- some percentage to accomodate this.


--
Regards,
Soeren

* If it puzzles you dear... Reverse engineer *
New forum: <URL:http://www.ElektronikTeknolog.dk/cgi-bin/SPEED/>

 

[Spehro Pefhany]

On Fri, 04 Jun 2004 08:53:35 -0700, Tim Wescott

[snip]

I generally design for a minimum of 105V to 110V, to avoid those brown
out problems.

Back when I did off-line designs I designed for a range of 88-132VAC.

...Jim Thompson

I'll adjust my thinking -- but isn't the 88V to account for brown-out
conditions when your equipment is being used in Japan (60Hz, with
nominal 100V line)?

Part of Japan is 50Hz and part is 60Hz. I don't remember which part is
which. They, like Taiwan, generally use a two-pin North American-style
plug for residential.

Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

 

[Tam/WB2TT]

I generally design for a minimum of 105V to 110V, to avoid those brown
out problems.

--

I have had to do 95 to 135. I see the Astrodyne supplies are 85 to 265. I
saw a power company statement somewhere that they try to keep it just above
120 at the meter. Yes, I have (gulp) First Energy, but we didn't go down
when the rest of the NE did. Argument here seems to be what do you call the
nominal voltage.

Tam

 

[Jan Panteltje]

On a sunny day (Fri, 4 Jun 2004 17:57:42 +0000 (UTC)) it happened

Luxury! We had to make our own voltages



Some designs are now covering the 90 to 250V range without switches.
Finding the power MOSFETs for those voltages has got to be the biggest
problem. High voltage MOSFETs are still not common. The STP20NM60 looks
to be the best in surface mount.

I dunno, Siemens had the BUZ series already 20 years ago 400V!

http://www.semi-tech-inc.com/view.php?Prod_Type=BUZ41A
google buz355 800V 6A

http://www.semelab.co.uk/power/powermos.shtml
1000 V 25A something for you?
But I have not tried this one!
Used hundreds of the buz type though.
JP

 

[Ken Smith]

problem. High voltage MOSFETs are still not common. The STP20NM60 looks
to be the best in surface mount.

I dunno, Siemens had the BUZ series already 20 years ago 400V!

http://www.semi-tech-inc.com/view.php?Prod_Type=BUZ41A
google buz355 800V 6A[/QUOTE]

RDS(on) = 1.5 ohms for the BUZ355.

The STP20NM60 can be had in surface mount and only has an RDS(on) of about
0.3 Ohms. The folks at ST still get the design in even if their left hand
doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

http://www.semelab.co.uk/power/powermos.shtml
1000 V 25A something for you?

The BFC15 has nice specs but that package sure isn't surface mount. The
PCB of this product is only about 1.5" wide.

Thanks for the try on this one.

 

[Michael A. Covington]

One more point about line voltage... The AC line is no longer the pristine
sine wave that it was in the 1960s. It's typical to have about 3% harmonic
distortion. This may cause slight errors in voltmeters that read in RMS but
actually respond to something else (peak or average).

 

[Jan Panteltje]

On a sunny day (Fri, 4 Jun 2004 21:52:58 +0000 (UTC)) it happened

I dunno, Siemens had the BUZ series already 20 years ago 400V!

http://www.semi-tech-inc.com/view.php?Prod_Type=BUZ41A
google buz355 800V 6A

RDS(on) = 1.5 ohms for the BUZ355.

The STP20NM60 can be had in surface mount and only has an RDS(on) of about
0.3 Ohms. The folks at ST still get the design in even if their left hand
doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

http://www.semelab.co.uk/power/powermos.shtml
1000 V 25A something for you?

The BFC15 has nice specs but that package sure isn't surface mount. The
PCB of this product is only about 1.5" wide.

Thanks for the try on this one.[/QUOTE]
Sorry did not know you wanted surface mount!
JP

 

[Rich Grise]

I have had to do 95 to 135. I see the Astrodyne supplies are 85 to 265. I
saw a power company statement somewhere that they try to keep it just above
120 at the meter. Yes, I have (gulp) First Energy, but we didn't go down
when the rest of the NE did. Argument here seems to be what do you call the
nominal voltage.

I've heard nominal 110, nominal 115, nominal 117, and nominal 120. As well
as nominal 220, 230, & 240. Which of those does 208 actually correspond to?
that's the only one I've heard of in between, and I think it's some kind
of ratio of sqrt(3) or something like that. Oh, yeah, 277. I guess I should
pop up ol' XL...

V V/sqrt(3) V*sqrt(3)
110 63.5 190.5
115 66.4 199.2
117 67.5 202.6
120 69.3 207.8
208 120.1 360.3
220 127.0 381.1
230 132.8 398.4
240 138.6 415.7
277 159.9 479.8
440 254.0 762.1
460 265.6 796.7
480 277.1 831.4

Hmm... there they are, more closely related to 120 and 480, FWIW.

THey're related to the relationship between 3-phase delta and wye,
I'm pretty sure. I think 277 is what you get when you have 120 phase
A to neutral, B to neutral, and C to neutral, at 120 deg. from
each other, and 208 from A to B, B to C, etc. Or maybe it's
208 phase-to-neutral in a 240 delta. I'd have to look it up, or
do the math. Too lazy, thanks.

Cheers!
Rich

 

[Tim Wescott]

On Fri, 04 Jun 2004 08:53:35 -0700, Tim Wescott

[snip]


I generally design for a minimum of 105V to 110V, to avoid those brown
out problems.


Back when I did off-line designs I designed for a range of 88-132VAC.

...Jim Thompson

I'll adjust my thinking -- but isn't the 88V to account for brown-out
conditions when your equipment is being used in Japan (60Hz, with
nominal 100V line)?

Part of Japan is 50Hz and part is 60Hz. I don't remember which part is
which. They, like Taiwan, generally use a two-pin North American-style
plug for residential.

Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

I did not know that -- I thought they were 60Hz throughout. Must be a
pain keeping your el-cheapo clock on time (I suppose they all have
little switches...).

 

[Tim Wescott]

I've heard nominal 110, nominal 115, nominal 117, and nominal 120. As well
as nominal 220, 230, & 240. Which of those does 208 actually correspond to?
that's the only one I've heard of in between, and I think it's some kind
of ratio of sqrt(3) or something like that. Oh, yeah, 277. I guess I should
pop up ol' XL...

V V/sqrt(3) V*sqrt(3)
110 63.5 190.5
115 66.4 199.2
117 67.5 202.6
120 69.3 207.8
208 120.1 360.3
220 127.0 381.1
230 132.8 398.4
240 138.6 415.7
277 159.9 479.8
440 254.0 762.1
460 265.6 796.7
480 277.1 831.4

Hmm... there they are, more closely related to 120 and 480, FWIW.

THey're related to the relationship between 3-phase delta and wye,
I'm pretty sure. I think 277 is what you get when you have 120 phase
A to neutral, B to neutral, and C to neutral, at 120 deg. from
each other, and 208 from A to B, B to C, etc. Or maybe it's
208 phase-to-neutral in a 240 delta. I'd have to look it up, or
do the math. Too lazy, thanks.

Cheers!
Rich

Look at your own chart! 208V is what you get from leg to leg on a
delta-connected circuit with each leg being 120V from ground.

 

[Ken Smith]

One more point about line voltage... The AC line is no longer the pristine
sine wave that it was in the 1960s. It's typical to have about 3% harmonic
distortion. This may cause slight errors in voltmeters that read in RMS but
actually respond to something else (peak or average).

It also means that if you have 3 phase power and connect 3 1:1
transformers on it such that the secondaries are in series the voltage
doesn't add up to zero. The 3rd harmonic of the 3 legs adds. In theory,
you can draw power from this.

 

[Hal Murray]

I've heard nominal 110, nominal 115, nominal 117, and nominal 120. ...

So what is the "official" line voltage in the US? I assume there is
some group that cooridinates that. Who? Or does each power company
set their own rules.

Is there an official brown-out voltage? When should I call my
power company if it's too low or high over an extended period?

 

[Dave Platt]

So what is the "official" line voltage in the US? I assume there is

some group that cooridinates that. Who? Or does each power company
set their own rules.

Is there an official brown-out voltage?

You'll probably need to check the rules and regulations created by
your state Public Utility Commission or equivalent. I believe that
they are the ones who set the standards as to what constitutes
acceptable electrical service.

When should I call my
power company if it's too low or high over an extended period?

That's up to you. If you find that equipment is actually being
damaged (e.g. motors overheating due to low voltage, light bulbs
burning out due to overvoltage), I'd say that this is reason to call.
If you find that the voltage delivered to your service entrance is
regularly outside of the range mandated by your state regulatory body,
that's also probably reason to call.

You _may_ get a satisfactory response from your electric company, to
such reports. Or, you may need to file a formal complaint with your
state regulatory body.

 

[Rich Grise]

Look at your own chart! 208V is what you get from leg to leg on a
delta-connected circuit with each leg being 120V from ground.

Well, I wasn't sure if it was that way or the other way around.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[Chester]

For your information, the voltage in North America oscillates between 110V
and 120V. If you measure voltage in my house you can have 111V and if you
go by the other side of the street you will get 115V and so on. This is the
reality, I don't think it can be a "Security" issue since once redressed,
the voltage can be properly regulated. You're a little quick to end in
conclusions, you don't know at all how this guy works and you're sending him
to jail only based on an information that you didn't verify... for me this
is a nonsense.

Mortel­.

The security risk is not only about good and safe voltage
reduction/regulation but also dealing with line isolation. If the project
board is electrically isolated with other outside connections then no
danger. If the board ground is shared with main ground which could be
miswired or not connected, well... (

Chester

 

[Scott Wiper]

I am working on a project that requires a supply 12 volts DC @ 500 ma. I
have been using a wall wart to power it but now would like to find a
minature soulotion that I can integrate onto the board for my next board
run. Is there an minature, low cost component that will rectify and drop the
voltage from 110 v AC to 12 v DC? I already know that I can just use a small
wall wart and get a bigger case but I need something small, low cost &
perferably TH mounted.

Maybe there is a better solution you can share with me. Any would be
appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Try this curcuit using transistors and a huge stepdown coil. All Component
values are on the schmatic. I hope this works for you. This will give two
voltages 13.8 and 5 volts with a battery backup

http://www.travel-net.com/~swiper/switch.gif

 

[Jan Panteltje]

Try this curcuit using transistors and a huge stepdown coil. All Component
values are on the schmatic. I hope this works for you. This will give two
voltages 13.8 and 5 volts with a battery backup

http://www.travel-net.com/~swiper/switch.gif

Not a good idea, not a good idea at all!
JP