Low Cost 12V to 220V Inverter

Even though today’s electrical appliances are increasingly often self-powered, especially the portable ones you carry around when camping or holidaying in summer, you do still sometimes need a source of 230 V AC - and while we’re about it, why not at a frequency close to that of the mains? As long as the power required from such a source remains relatively low - here we’ve chosen 30 VA - it’s very easy to build an inverter with simple, cheap components that many electronics hobbyists may even already have.

Though it is possible to build a more powerful circuit, the complexity caused by the very heavy currents to be handled on the low-voltage side leads to circuits that would be out of place in this summer issue. Let’s not forget, for example, that just to get a meager 1 amp at 230 VAC, the battery primary side would have to handle more than 20 ADC!. The circuit diagram of our project is easy to follow. A classic 555 timer chip, identified as IC1, is configured as an astable multivibrator at a frequency close to 100 Hz, which can be adjusted accurately by means of potentiometer P1.

Circuit diagram:

Cheap 12V to 220V Inverter Circuit Diagram

Inverter Circuit For Soldering Iron

Here is a simple but inexpensive inverter for a small soldering iron (25W, 35W, etc) In the absence of mains supply. It uses eight transistors and a few resistors and capacitors. Transistors Q1 and Q2 (each BC547) form an astable multivibrator that produces 50Hz signal. The complementary outputs from the collectors of transistors Q1 and Q2 are fed to pnp Darlington driver stages formed by transistor pairs Q3-Q5 and Q4-Q6 (utilising BC558 and BD140).

The outputs from the drivers are fed to transistors Q7 and Q8 (each 2N3055) connected for push-pull operation. Use suitable heat-sinks for transistors Q5 through Q8. A 230V AC primary to 12V-0-12V, 4.5A secondary transformer (T1) is used. The centre-tapped terminal of the secondary of the transformer is connected to the battery (12V, 7Ah), while the other two terminals of the secondary are connected to the collectors of power transistors T7 and T8, respectively.

When you power the circuit using switch S1, transformer X1 produces 230V AC at its primary terminal. This voltage can be used to heat your soldering iron. Assemble the circuit on a generalpurpose PCB and house in a suitable cabinet. Connect the battery and transformer with suitable current-carrying wires. On the front panel of the box, fit power switch S1 and a 3-pin socket for connecting the soldering iron. Note that the ratings of the battery, transistors T7 and T8, and transformer may vary as these all depend on the load (soldering iron).

Circuit diagram:

Inverter Circuit Diagram For Soldering Iron

100W Inverter

Here is a 100 Watt inverter circuit using minimum number of components. I think it is quite difficult to make a decent one like this with further less components.Here we use CD 4047 IC from Texas Instruments for generating the 100 Hz pulses and four 2N3055 transistors for driving the load. The IC1 Cd4047 wired as an astable multivibrator produces two 180 degree out of phase 100 Hz pulse trains.

These pulse trains are preamplified by the two TIP122 transistors.The out puts of the TIP 122 transistors are amplified by four 2N3055 transistors (two transistors for each half cycle) to drive the inverter transformer.The 220V AC will be available at the secondary of the transformer. Nothing complex just the elementary inverter principle and the circuit works great for small loads like a few bulbs or fans.If you need just a low cost inverter in the region of 100 W, then this is the best.

Circuit diagram:

100 Watt Inverter Circuit Diagram