Electronic Designs, High Voltage, Vacuum Tubes, Teardowns, Reviews, Repairs and Travel Videos :-)
I started the channel initially as a way to show Status updates of my Prototyping Work, but after some Time I thought that eventually some of my content could be interesting for others too.
To prevent the Channel getting Dry Technical, there will be Fun Technical Videos & Videos form my Country GREECE, my Hometown Thessaloniki, as well other Travel Videos.
All my Videos are unscripted & unedited, what means that there will be some misspelling and eventually some brain-farts :-)
I am into Electronics since I was 13 Years Old, way back then I was building Power AM & FM so called "Amateur” Tube Transmitters in Greece.
I always loved and love Tubes & RF Stuff, High Voltage, Analog and Power Electronics.
1982 I started Studying Computer Science in the Technical University in Vienna/Austria.
Since 1985 I am into developing RF, Analog, SMPS and Power Electronics.
Пікірлер
I'm sure you probably already seen this, but at 25:45 the second number 10016472.05 was on the sticker attached to the board IC chip.
Hello, to be honest, no I didn't saw that :-) bcs I didn't checked again. Thankyou
This is top notch electronics. Beautiful construction. The logic control board seems to be a multilayer PCB. Must be difficult to service due to the conformal coating.
Hello, the Design is very good (except of the casing), honestly , I don't think that they repair it if they fail, judging on how the case has to be opened, like a Sardine can. I am sure its Multilayer one bcs with all those QFP's and other Parts on it its not feasible 2 Layer only. I designed many 2-6 Layer ones and the Density compared to the site of the Control board is High ! And the use quite large Passive parts too (R, C)
That case is quite embarrassing. Reminds me china engineering, not the German one.
Yes, the case is bad, donno why, cost was sure not the reason judging on the quality components used.
I have some 3kW 48V Huawei telecoms PSUs - amusingly, they have the construction you would expect from German stuff.
@@TrimeshSZ That is to be expected, it's Prof Telecom Sector not Ali PSU for 50 Euro. I am Dissapomted of the Casing of the otherwise High Quality 2000SE Telecom PSU, Probably these are never meant to be Serviced
@@KonstantinGrigoriadis Quite possibly - looking at the labels I think this PSU is an Ericsson part, and I've seen a bunch of their modules that don't seem to be designed for service - even in some cases being rivetted shut. Again, good quality parts inside, but giving the impression that if they do fail you are expected to just throw them away.
DS3231 ?
Hi, Yes its a DS3231, Cheers
@@KonstantinGrigoriadis It's trully a nice RTC but size is huge. It gives quite accurate time and I have used in quite a few DIY projects. I am not sure if they are genuine as I bought them from aliexpress. In digikey/mouser its too pricy. However, performace wise I am quite happy. Much better than DS1302/07
Yes they are Huge in Size but accurate, I never buy such Parts on Ali or Ebay, if i get it from Asia it will be from LCSC, otherwise for EU/US. From ali I buy only Parts that are made for the Asian Market and there the possibility to be a fake is low :-)
Interleaved PFC. Very nice construction and topology.
yes with SiC Schottky Diodes, the PSU date is 2013
@@KonstantinGrigoriadis That's truly brilliant to see SiC back in that year.
I am surprised. The main transformer looks quite small for a 2 kW power supply.
You're right about this I am also surprised about how small is the transformer but I start googling and I found another power supply using the same ferrite core for 3kw but the trick is the frequency go to 200khz in normal smps like full bridge most time it is between 20khz and 60khz and you need EE 55 core to get 2kw the LLC are more complex they're using a microcontroller to control the frequency and it varies with input voltage.but efficiency is more then 96%
I have seen transformers for EV even in the >=3000W range in that Size, I have 2 of those, these are real High Frequency High Efficiency Transformers
@@KonstantinGrigoriadis Thanks! Do you have technical details on those?
Hi, Yes I have (of the 2 3kW one I have)
@@KonstantinGrigoriadis Can you please share the data?
I have a love hate relationship with flybuck because of it's limit at high/low PWM %' limiting it somewhat. And yeah, high K (tight coupling needed), like the wires you showed, ESPECIALLY if using a micrometal cores, which make crap transformers, and not a ferrite. I love TOROID CORES! Maybe you do too! :)
Forgot to mention that it is crap if not using the NON-ISO output, it really need some load to regulate properly! ...and of the V reg on the ISO output, despite the magnetic flux saying it should match the non-iso output are not well regulated.
...should have waited five minutes watching you video, as you just mentioned this issue! :)
Forgot to also mention the diodes on the ISO outputs, for me, I added extra winding to compensate for the V drop, which also varies by load. Like you, I also used LDO's in some cases to fix all that! :)
Toroids are ok, I use then in project in progress
All iso outputs habe a minimum load resistor
FR9888 is easier (internal compensation), and pin-pin compatible with MP2307/MP2303, BUT unlike the 2303, and like the 2307 it is limited to 23V Max input, which I assume is no good for you.
If there will be a new version, i will use a much more capable controller , thats a design where i used what i had
Hi Konstantin, that's a beast of a power supply :-) At 10:18 in the left top corner, is that a Rifa cap ? The inside is made very sturdy, but like you mentioned, the case is not made for proper maintenance. One option is the cut the metal plate in the corner and use a piano hinge connected with rivets to the metal plate. This gives a the option to open it as many times as needed, but gives also a good shielding. Another idea is to swap the circuit into a aluminium project box, but then you need to cut / modify the sidewalls for the fan and the big terminalblock. A few years ago, i had a Sony 4Kw 42V DC server powersupply (Cisco) in my watchlist on Ebay, it was not priced that much (think arround 25€), but i didn't had the time at that moment for the project that i had in mind. Short time later when i want it to buy it was sold and i regret i didn't bought it sooner. It was a square box with a big handle mounted diagonally to carry it, build like a bulldozer. Grtz
Hi Bjorn, no its a fuze cap :-) I not plan to change the casing. Cheers
@@KonstantinGrigoriadis thank God, what a relieve it is only a fuse cap 😂 Grtz
:-)
Just buy a piano hinge and you can open the smps anytime you like
This PCB is really very beautiful. What is most striking is how compact it is. The design is impressive.
Compact and powerfull, no big heatsinks means highly efficient
Yeah! The guys who did this are beasts!
Thanks brother for work, but can you send me the 200watt inverter details which you mention in the video
Thankyou, but what 200w inverter you mean ? I didn't said anything about a 200W Inverter.....At what time in the video ?
Assuming your schematic is complete, the MCU (Novatron) is in the feedback path to control voltage/current, or am I missing something. If true then a much faster, even DSP like MCU should have been used.
btw PIC and TI have several AP's on this.
I am BLIND again, it is done all analog! Open your eyes Steven! :)
No, the Regulation is Analog, the MCU is not in the Regulation Path
You could MOD the D/A using an board with 3 x 74HC165's (for 24 bit to serial convert, a MCU (8-pin Sop-8 ) like ATTiny13A/85, PIC12F629/675, or if feeling adventurous a PMS150C (the 3c micro), plus whatever 12-bit DAC(s) to taste and then do a lot of wiring (only a few track will need to be cut on the PSU). WHAM BAM, THANK YOU MAMA and you have no more magnetic influence issues!
I have a KORAD copy brand PSU, so I might try this in the future (far future - health issues), just for fun! :)
I just noticed that they are using 3 x 74HC595's, so a smarter idea would be to use a MCU serial in port ad do away with ALL THOSE WIRES! Feel dumb for not noticing! :(
This would of course require VERY careful MCU selection to make the serial in work properly.
I also use those modules for parts to make HV power supply for home made vacuum tube amplifiers.
Hi Joseph, did you finished it ? what are the Specs of your PSU ?
@@KonstantinGrigoriadis I just made it to the breadboard stage before finding one of the 150 watt inverters like you had in the video. Mine was TL494 based, But I was having trouble finding fast rectifiers for the voltage I was making. 1N4005 diodes worked, but would heat up. The 150 watt inverters had the rectifiers, so a little good filtering and I was set. My amplifiers are low powered so I barely loaded the PSU.
Hi Joseph, the 1N4xxx are to slow(trr Recovery time) that's why they heat up, you need Ultrafast ones like the UF4007 (NOT 1N4007) are for 1kV 1A 75nS rectifiers. I use UF5408 same Ultrafast 75nS but for 3A for Currents less that 1A and Through-hole. The onboard one are ok but not for 100-150W. Cheers, Konstantin
@@KonstantinGrigoriadis I finally bought some from amazon, but by then was using the 150 watt inverters. I make these audio amplifiers from strange parts.. I have used horizontal output tubes as finals. I was driving thermostat transformers as output transformers. They are 480vac to 24 vac. and I used neon lamps as voltage regulator for the screen voltage. Oddly enough, it sounded wonderful. It makes approximately 3.5 watts per channel.
Sounds like a interesting project! How are the inverters performing noise-wise ?
Why have 2 different current sensing, the chip ISence, and the slowish LM393 output???
The sense on the cs pin is to limit the current cycle by cycle as a part of the Regulation, the sensing via the 393 is used to Shut it complete down in a ocp situation like a crowbar, donno why they did it so, its redundant .
@@KonstantinGrigoriadis Oh really! :) Of course they, and I and once again spoke too soon and failed to engage my brain!.
I have always been disappointed/baffled that the UC384x series does not have built in slope compensation, ....VERY ANNOYING!
Donno Why they left it out
@@KonstantinGrigoriadis CHEAP BASTARDS, that is why :) I have no idea, and although trivial, I still would love to know, as even back then slope compensation was very well known.
I LOVE the TL494, but I UTTERLY HATE that it does not have push pull outputs. Some of the GREAT things about it is that it is stable & predictable resulting in easy use.
Hi Steven, you can use the TL598 instead that has PushPull outputs and some more feautures, but unfortunately it's not 1:1 pin Cpmpatible. Cheers, Konstantin
@@KonstantinGrigoriadis Yeah, but I cannot get it for pennies like I can but fake TL494's on AliExpress! :) Seriously, it is expensive, way more that other BETTER chips sadly, otherwise I would have hundreds in stock like I have the TL494. ...not fakes! :)
U da man 👍 Very nice videos. Do you do custom power electronics for clients and if so what would be the best way to contact you about that?
Hello, Thankyou, I do custom projects, but not at the moment bcs to many in the queue . Cheers, Konstantin
Btw. you can always contact me via my Email, that is in the Description Tab of my Channel.
@@KonstantinGrigoriadis I don't see an email there that's why I am asking. And I am not really in a hurry, just thought you are perhaps a good match for what I might need, so I am willing to wait...
Thanks for the content. Great. Question: what modern IC would you use in place of the old totem pole driver ?
Hi Alessandro, Thankyou! The Tl494 is not TotemPole it has Diccrete Transistor Outputs. The TL598 is a 1:1 replacement with a TotemPole Output that is a lot Better but still ancient. For new Designs for PushPull and Half/Full Bridge I would use the UCC3808 series From TI, even though more restricted in means of Error Amplifiers , but with a Cycle by Cycle Current Limmiting. Cheers, Konstantin
6:52 i have the same inverter module but with the double output. Not yet tested, but you mentioned in your previous video to replace the capacitors with some more reliable ones. So that will be the first thing that i'm gonna do before i start experimenting with it. I don't want Cape Canaveral on my bench :-) Your own design is a very nice design and will be much more reliable. Thanks again for this great video. Grtz
Hi Bjorn, Thankyou ! Yes replace the 2 caps with 450 or 550 V ones for peace of mind. Cheers, Konstantin
Konstantin, You are a great engineer! Thank you!
Thankyou!
HY1906 is not from Hynix. It's made by Hooyi Semiconductor in China. It produces incredibly cheap power Mosfets.
Hi Yes I realised the misnaming at the moment I said it :-) but I couldn’t remember the Brand even that I use it a lot, I get them from lcsc. Cheers, Konstantin
Do you have an ebay/aliexpress link to these products?
Hi, search on ali for „500w inverter board“ cheers, Konstantin
This man really hates winding transformers lol
:-) Yes because always Unikates are created so, I want to make designs repeatable and as easy as possible.
Thanks for the video and I look forward to the next one. Cheers Dave.
Thankyou Dave !
Hi Konstantin! Another great video! I have a question: When the SG3525 works at 50% duty does the flux balancing of the core happen naturally?
Hello Thankyou, this depends on how good the Transformer is Designed and Build, how good the Mosfets are matched (RDS ON) and the DeatTime . Otherwise it could lead to transformer saturation.
Thats the thing - nobody bothers with flux balancing, you'll need proper peak or average current control for that.
Yasou Ntino! Nice video with lots of details as always. Before you use these transformers for your project, I would highly recommend you to dismantle one and check if they use copper wire and most importantly if they fulfill the basic isolation standards for your own safety. I have seen Chinese transformers without margin tape at the ends and with primary and secondary windings overlapping each other at the end of the bobbin and because they want to make them even cheaper, they use copper coated aluminum wire which will increase the losses quite a lot.
Giasou Thoma, Thankyou! 1) I have done that already (I dismantle everything 🙂) and the Isolation was ok 2 layers of Tape Between between Pri/Sec in more layers, no overlapping Pri/sec without tape. Please condider, that in this Design we do NOT Deal with Mains Reference or Rectified Mains, what would make it Safety Critical, its an PushPull from 12V! Even if something goes wrong (Short Pri/Sec), the Primary Circuitry will fail(Destroyed) and that's it! I no see any elevated Safety issues here except at the working end of the PSU (High Voltage)! Further these Transformers are used in the Majority of the Commercial low-cost CN Inverters ! 2) Regarding CU coated AL, well that's how it is, again in the Majority of the Asian Magnetics used even in Brand name PC PSU's, this is something we have to live with. Expecting for that Price a pure copper Magnetic is probably illusion. Further this is NOT a commercial Design. Cheers, Konstantin
Hello from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Konstantin! Your informative videos continue to fascinate us. WE like your presentation format and the close-ups reveal good details. You speak intelligently and your presentation is very logical. We enjoy how you patiently read through the schematic diagrams with explanations and provide actual set-up details and live measurements. Excellent work!
Hi Luc, Thankyou very much and Greetings from Vienna/Austria! You say "WE" , you mean more of your friends watch my Videos ? Cheers from a little to warm Vienna :-)
Thanks for your detailled explanations ! 👍👍👍
Thankyou !
Thanks for sharing. I use it as stabilized screen supply for push-pull 7189 pentode stereo amplifier. 300 V, 10-50 mA. Removed unnecessary bulky parts: fuse holder (replace with 40 AWG jumper wire), screw terminals, LED, trim pot (replace with 2.2K resistor), all electrolyte caps (bad quality indeed). In freed-up space added 10 uF stack of ceramic wafer filter caps, 1 mH iron powder core filter toroid, and 10 uF 450 V Nichicon second filter cap. Plus additional outboard LC filtering element. The module screwed to aluminum chassis by heat sink, with thermal paste between sink and chassis - for better cooling.
Hi Anatoly, Thankyou! Yes as I said its some Work necessary to get these Modules output "Cleaner". I would be interested to see how the 10uf Stack of Ceramics look ! What additional LC Filtering element you men/use ? My Email is in the Channel Description Tab. Cheers, Konstantin
This big inductor may give a nice kilowatt PA tank coil for the 10-meter band.
Its really nice made
You can use the vacuum relays for switching your PA to-from your SW antenna. May switch kilowatts of power.
Yes, can understand well.
Everybody I've talked to is dead set aginst swithcers for Ham eauipment. They are way to noisy. You mentioned using one for transmiter tubes, so be careful about high frequency noise getting through you transmitter.
Hi Richard, well all modern professional(not Amateur) Power RF TX / RX are using Switchmode PSU's, Today even in medicine where its dealed with nV, SMPS's are used, of course correctly designed ones.
Sir, whats the best way to tune this circuit for other frequency? I understand its with the gate driver tri-filar transformer, but is only with LTspice?
Hello, The Frequency is specified by the used Transducer, to change Frequency the transducer has to be changed the L2 Inductor and the T1 & T2 need to be recalculated eventually.
Thank you sir, I've been playing around with ZVS driver now for a couple of years now powering CRT transformer for fun. So yes I have 100khz transducer and was wondering if lt spice is a good software to simulate the circuitry if I plan on rewinding the torroid, the choke and the pulse transformer.
Hello, LTSPICE it just a Simulation Software, yes you can use it to Simulate the Results of your changes.
Well that was good my tinnitus a bit of a punch, good video thanks
Thankyou, btw, I have Tinnitus too, Cheers, Konstantin
krass, danke.
Danke !
New subscriber. I've been wanting to make a modular PS like this for years. Looking forward to more details in the next videos!
Hi Richard, Thankyou!
Hi, I found Sunshine P3005A which looks visually the same (except USB). Do you think its safe to buy :) ?
Hi Robert, KORAD is the manufacturer of those psu’s, you will see them under many different OEM names, they are basically the same, unless that some OEM habe requested slightly differences.(specs and usage Eventually) .
Dear sir, can you connect the high side to atenna and hear the am radio band
Hello, I dont understand what you mean ?
@@KonstantinGrigoriadis i mean the high voltage side can make the AM transmitter at 200khz and harmonic at 600khz
And what would that be of use ? There is no necessity of an antenna the sparks are distorting all over the am band.
@@KonstantinGrigoriadis wow that's so great, i try to protect my car with a jammer. Thank sir for your vidz
High temperature high voltage, love it :-) Is it possible that the "sweep" in frequency is due a unwanted oscillation in the 5V powerrail ? Grtz
Hi Bjorn :-) No, the Power Rails is clean and the MCU Generates the Sweep on purpose (that's the only reason to use a MCU), perhaps to cover a wide range of Coils that van be used. Cheers, Konstantin
Hi! Another great video! Could it be an SPWM signal?
Hello, Thankyou ! Well, it would make no sense and it looks different, I didn't analyzed it though , cheers, Konstantin
Hi, I remember a few years ago i was playing with one of these high voltage generators and destroyed one of my lab power supplies, I had not tied the negative of the supply to ground 😞. Are these units you demonstrated for continuous operation as I have a decretive discharge lamp that I need to repair. It's a big green mushroom 🙂 Keep the video coming.
Hi Dave, about continuous operation, it depends what current y lamp draws and if the modules are powered with 12-15v only, what are the specs of your lamp ?
Hello from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada!
Hi Luc, Greetings from Austria/Vienna
Thank you another good video hope you Will do a video about transistor withstand voltage tester to explain to us how the 10v to 3800v how it was done
High in frequency thats why u don’t hear 60 hz
Hi, Yes, the Humming of the Low Freq Transformer is missing, like in the Frankenstein Movies :-)
Sir, why is it difficult in our country (Indonesia) to get (online, 1 month) sheet transducers while in other countries it's easy ?
Hello, unfortunately, I do not know!
Nice project. Are there terminals/connector to read the scaled output voltage setting and cap leakage current? I was looking for something around the volt set potentiometer. I am thinking it would be nice to use the cheap Chinese LED voltmeter modules to display output voltage and current.
Hi Darren, Thankyou! The Modules of the Video are just the HV Flyback Converters for the Future Cap Leakage Design which will be MCU based and display both Set Voltage and Leakage at the Set Voltage on a LCD Display. The Cap Leakage Tester will have switchable: 1) a 12 Pos Switch forming a Voltage Divider String for standard High Voltages 2) a 10Turn Pot to set the High Voltage Freely 2) a 12 Pos Switch forming a Voltage Divider String for standard Low Voltages < 50V or so Cheers, Konstantin
@@KonstantinGrigoriadis I look forward to the finished design. It is something that I have wanted to build for a long time.
look forward to your design.
Which one ? My Version of the hv module or the capacitance leakage tester ?
@@KonstantinGrigoriadis My first interrest goes for the hv module. Reusing the parts for a better module with real world specoifications (without the need to cool it down to near zero Kelvin like Ali express does it). I am interested in getting the ripple voltage down to a minimum.
High Tony, the Transformer uses an EFD25/13/9 Core that will deliver Max ca. 20W(according to Magnetics Datasheet), that probably was intended for a Capacitor Charger for Photography Studio Flash(my Assumption :-). The Transformer gets Warm when these max 20W are exceeded and bcs the transformer is probably not designed to work with a duty Cycle more then 50%, which is the case using the UC3843 Chip that goes up to almost 100% Duty. In my Redesign of the Module for the Capacitor Leakage Tester, I will never reach these 20W. The most important is to not exceed those 20 W (the Magnetic Datasheet states it even for less 18W) and to use higher Input Voltage (19-24V Laptop PSU), to keep the Duty Cycle as near as Possible to 50% by using the Whole Secondary Winding instead only the Half ! Cheers, Konstantin
Got this module for testing transistors for their avalanche properties (for a Jim Williams fast edge pulse generator) works nice, I only used up to 250v. Just I'll be adding a filter on the output, something at least 22uH inductor and a second capacitor, probably a few ceramics too, I don't need a lot of juice but lower noise will be nice, I didn't measured the noise but probably be way more than 10Vpp.
Hi Ruben, the LC lowpass is nessesary , I would suggest additionally a ferrite bead 1000ohm@100Mhz followed by a 10nf HV Ceramic. This Module IS noisy :-)