230V White LED Lamp

Did it ever occur to you that an array of white LEDs can be used as a small lamp for the living room? If not, read on. LED lamps are available ready-made, look exactly the same as standard halogen lamps and can be fitted in a standard 230-V light fitting. We opened one, and as expected, a capacitor has been used to drop the voltage from 230 V to the voltage suitable for the LEDs. This method is cheaper and smaller compared to using a transformer. The lamp uses only 1 watt and therefore also gives off less light than, say, a 20 W halogen lamp. The light is also somewhat bluer. The circuit operates in the following manner: C1 behaves as a voltage dropping ‘resistor’ and ensures that the current is not too high (about 12 mA).

The bridge rectifier turns the AC voltage into a DC voltage. LEDs can only operate from a DC voltage. They will even fail when the negative voltage is greater then 5 V. The electrolytic capacitor has a double function: it ensures that there is sufficient voltage to light the LEDs when the mains voltage is less than the forward voltage of the LEDs and it takes care of the inrush current peak that occurs when the mains is switched on. This current pulse could otherwise damage the LEDs. Then there is the 560-ohm resistor, it ensures that the current through the LED is more constant and therefore the light output is more uniform.


There is a voltage drop of 6.7 V across the 560-Ω resistor, that is, 12 mA flows through the LEDs. This is a safe value. The total voltage drop across the LEDs is therefore 15 LEDs times 3 V or about 45 V. The voltage across the electrolytic capacitor is a little more than 52V. To understand how C1 functions, we can calculate the impedance (that is, resistance to AC voltage) as follows: 1/(2π·f·C), or: 1/ (2·3.14·50·220·10-9)= 14k4. When we multiply this with 12 mA, we get a voltage drop across the capacitor of 173 V. This works quite well, since the 173-V capacitor voltage plus the 52-V LED voltage equals 225 V. Close enough to the mains voltage, which is officially 230 V.

Power MOSFET Active Bridge Rectifier

The losses in a bridge rectifier can easily become significant when low voltages are being rectified. The voltage drop across the bridge is a good 1.5 V, which is a hefty 25% with an input voltage of 6V. The loss can be reduced by around 50% by using Schottky diodes, but it would naturally be even nicer to reduce it to practically zero. That’s possible with a synchronous rectifier. What that means is using an active switching system instead of a ‘passive’ bridge rectifier.

The principle is simple: whenever the instantaneous value of the input AC voltage is greater than the rectified output voltage, a MOSFET is switched on to allow current to flow from the input to the output. As we want to have a full-wave rectifier, we need four FETs instead of four diodes, just as in a bridge rectifier. R1–R4 form a voltage divider for the rectified voltage, and R5–R8 do the same for the AC input voltage. As soon as the input voltage is a bit higher than the rectified voltage, IC1d switches on MOSFET T3.

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

3-30V 3A Adjustable DC Power Supply

A regulated power supply for all general circuits, Based on a stablized DC voltage of 30 volt
This power supply is meant as an auxiliary or as a permanent power supply for all common circuits based on a stabilized DC voltage between 3 and 30V provided that the consumption does not exceed 3A. Of course this power supply unit can also be used for other purposes. Be replacing the trimmer by a potentiometer, it may even be used as an adjustable power supply unit. A good quality heatsink must be used.

Picture of project:

3 TO 30 Volt 3 Ampere DC Power Supply

NiCd Battery Charger With Reverse Polarity Protection

Small and portable unit, Can charge multiple batteries at once
This NiCd battery Charger can charge up to 7 NiCd batteries connected in series. This number can be increased if the power supply is increased with 1.65V for each supplementary battery. If Q2 is mounted on a proper heatsink, the input voltage can be increased at a maximum of 25V. Unlike most of comercial NiCd chargers available on the market, this charger has a reverse polarity protection. Another great quality is that it does not discharge the battery if the charger is disconnected from the power supply.

Usually , NiCd batteries must be charged in 14 hours at a charging current equal with a tenth percent from battery capacity. For example, a 500 mAh is charged at 50 mA for 14 hours. If the charging current is too high this will damage the battery. The level of charging current is controlled with P1 between 0 mA – 1000 mA. Q1 is opened when the NiCd battery is connected with the right polarity or if the output terminals are empty. Q2 must be mounted on a heatsink. If you cannot obtain a BD679, then replace it with any NPN medium power Darlington transistor having the output parameters at 30V and 2A. By lowering R3 value the maximum output current can be increased up to 1A.

Circuit diagram:

NiCd Battery Charger With Reverse Polarity Protection

45 Watt Class-B Audio Power Amplifier

45W into 8 Ohm - 69W into 4 Ohm, Easy to build - No setup required
These goals were achieved by using a discrete-components op-amp driving a BJT complementary common-emitter output stage into Class B operation. In this way, for small output currents, the output transistors are turned off, and the op-amp provides all of the output current. At higher output currents, the power transistors conduct, and the contribution of the op-amp is limited to approximately 0.7/R11. The quiescent current of the op-amp biases the external transistors, and hence greatly reduces the range of crossover.

The idea sprang up from a letter published on Wireless World, December 1982, page 65 written by N. M. Allinson, then at the University of Keele, Staffordshire. In this letter, op-amp ICs were intended as drivers but, as supply voltages up to +/- 35V are required for an amplifier of about 50W, the use of an op-amp made of discrete-components was then considered and the choice proved rewarding.

The discrete-components op-amp is based on a Douglas Self design. Nevertheless, his circuit featured quite obviously a Class A output stage. As for proper operation of this amplifier a Class B output stage op-amp is required, the original circuit was modified accordingly. Using a mains transformer with a secondary winding rated at the common value of 25 + 25V (or 24 + 24V) and 100/120VA power, two amplifiers can be driven at 45W and 69W output power into 8 and 4 Ohms respectively, with very low distortion (less than 0.01% @ 1kHz and 20W into 8 Ohms).

This simple, straightforward but rugged circuit, though intended for any high quality audio application and, above all, to complete the recently started series of articles forming the Modular Preamplifier Control Center, is also well suited to make a very good Guitar or Bass amplifier. Enjoy!

Circuit diagram:

45W Class-B Amplifier Circuit Diagram

NiMh and NiCd Battery Charger

This automatic NiCd charger for 9V NiCd batteries is using 555 timer properties and is very easy to build. Why is an automatic 9 volts NiCd battery charger? Because you can leave the battery for charging as much as you like: it will be always completely charged and ready for use when is needed. It wont be overcharged and it will not discharge. With the values presented in the circuit diagram, the battery charger NiCd circuit is suitable for 6V and 9V batteries.