I've been looking a while on internet how to drop some voltage from a power supply and I found that
people say that you can drop some voltage using a single or more diodes in series. I have a 20~22V
4.7A power supply do you know what kind of diodes is better to use to drop down to/in between
12~15v ?
I used as a test 1N4007 3x of them in series and the voltage dropped to 19v is there any other kind
of diode that i can drop it more but with a single diode not more, does the diode gonna get hot? and does that gonna affect the Amps?
The voltage drop between different diodes is always around 0,7V-0.9V (depending on the load). For Schottky diodes it's a bit lower. So diodes with a bigger voltage drop are rare (because most of the time you don't want a voltage drop...).
And yes, diodes can get hot. If you'll draw the full 4,7A you dissipate around 0,8V x 4,7A = 3,76W and that can make a diode hot.
Diode as a voltage drop is kind of fine if the drop is small and doesn't need to be accurate. But to go from 22V to 12-15V it's not the way to go. Depending on your load (what do you want to power?) you can use a simple 7812 of buy a cheap step down converter (around 2 dollar in China).
If you were to explain what you really need to do, we would know what the specifications are and could suggest an optimum solution. It clearly is not for an Arduino anyway.
I need to power up a imax B6 80W (11v~18v), I got a 20~22V 4.7A power supply.
Asking something about power supply and drop down the voltage doesn't mean that i "fail" really/necessary need to say what I need to power up but nvm some people are curious.
Were did you buy it.
How long ago.
How much did it cost.
Do you really think we are interested in that.
Sometimes the answer depends on the type of load.
If you want to use that supply, the only way is a buck converter. Try ebay.
Anything lineair (diodes, regulators) would get too hot (voltage difference x current = watt).
Leo..
Why people on this forum are so curious? no offence but his topic name is called "Diode voltage drop"
and what i described in the 1st commend is an example how i found people dropping down the voltage
i said ofc the range of the voltage i need to get so people wouldn't ask me after that how far you wanna drop, after that I don't think it's really necessary to tell what i need to power up, I can power up anything i like in the range of 12~15v example the toilet paper auto roll motor so I really don't see a point.
But in this case I think the easiest way (and good and cheap) is to buy a new (laptop) PSU (eBay.
What you linked it's a really good idea and can be used in any kind of other projects, I already got a laptop power supply so it's 19v 4.7A (90W) but when i plug my voltmeter it says 22v that's why i wanted to drop the voltage.
Domino60:
Why people on this forum are so curiousstubborn**?** [/quote] As Wawa pointed out we don't give a rats ass about what you want to do. But you ask us a question and we say it really depends on the type of load / the current it will draw. And, no offense, because you ask the question we assume your electrical knowledge isn't super great (otherwise you're not asking questions about it) so it's wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy easier to just freaking tell us what you want to power then to rely on your know how about electronics. It's like only telling us you want to make you're car go slower but only tell us it's red.... The voltage of the PSU you have will probably drop to 19V under load. But yeay, even that's to high if it can only handle up to 18V.
The voltage of the PSU you have will probably drop to 19V under load. But yeay, even that's to high if it can only handle up to 18V.
Even if the PSU gonna drop I can't work with the iMax B6 because has a protection, when i plug the input PSU the imax start bipping and write "input voltage error" I can't do anything, pressing the buttons have only few sec effect then again start bipping. I need lower voltage
10 silicon rectifier diodes in series, each rated at least 5A, will do this. [NB - At Least.]
(If you aren't going to need that "4.8A", diodes rated for less current will suffice.)
Are you going to do this or is this just so much MM?
10 silicon rectifier diodes in series, each rated at least 5A, will do this. [NB - At Least.]
(If you aren't going to need that "4.8A", diodes rated for less current will suffice.)
Are you going to do this or is this just so much MM?
I think it's kinda long.
There is a standard circuit for dropping some non-trivial number of volts using a zener and a power transistor:
Are you sure this is working? I can try it.
Paul__B
I know about 12v 5A power supply but i already got a lot of them but no one 12v I got under 12v and above 19v about 8~10 power supplies.
@Mark, that's cool but dropping 8-isch volt or so with that @ 5A will generate 40W! That is A LOT!
If you really want to try you can open one up and look for the feedback loop inside. Sometimes it obvious but sometimes it's not. But if you can find it (most of the time some sort of resistor diver) you can change it to lower the voltage.
If you don't want to do so I think the best/easiest option remains a new PSU. Dropping that kind of voltage with that kind of currents in a linear fashion is just making a heater (and asking for trouble).
Yes, that will work (it's a switch mode step down converter as I suggested in my first post) but be aware the 3A out is the absolute max current (and probably isn't to happy to run @ 2A+ for long). So if you set the charger to charge to fast it will fry the converter. (Charger is speced @ 5A)
Yes, that will work (it's a switch mode step down converter as I suggested in my first post) but be aware the 3A out is the absolute max current (and probably isn't to happy to run @ 2A+ for long). So if you set the charger to charge to fast it will fry the converter.
It's working really well, i start charging at 2A after 35min the module reached +85C` and start shuting down itself so i added a kinda big heatsink above and a 12v fun to cool down and works another thing is that the power supply start getting hot too so in the future if i will keep this setup i need to make a box to put them all inside. Power supply, drop down module, heatshik and fun. At least it's working.
ps (after 25min "without fun" i start smelling burning plastic i was like wtf put my finger on the module and it was hot as hell).
Yep, that's what I suspected What kind of battery were you charging? Because the charge current isn't important but the charge power ( I x U = P).
If you charge a single NiMH cell @ 2A you have +- 3,2W (2A x 1,6V). At the 12V input of the charger (and so the output of your step down converter) this only gives a current of 267mA (3,2W / 12V).
But if you charge a pack of 6 LiPo's with 2A you put 50W!!! (6 x 4,2V x 2A) into the pack. At the input of the charger/output of the step down this is 4,2A (50W / 12V). That's to much for the step down converter, even with a fun (I guess you mean fan but it looks funny :p). And I don't even take in account the losses in the charger etc. So be aware of your settings when charging with this setup. Setting it just to 2A for charging isn't a guarantee you don't overload the step down module.
And to be able to charge as fast as you can, set the output of the step down module to 18V. This way you have 54W (3A x 18V) (assuming it can handle 3A constant wich I doubt and without losses) instead of 36W (3A x 12V)
What kind of battery were you charging? Because the charge current isn't important but the charge power ( I x U = P).
(I guess you mean fan but it looks funny :p). And I don't even take in account the losses in the charger etc. So be aware of your settings when charging with this setup. Setting it just to 2A for charging isn't a guarantee you don't overload the step down module.