AW's Going Regulated ! W00T !

[LuxLuthor]

I think the preference for many of us would be an adjustable POT regulated switch/bipin setup if that is still a possibility. It seems a setup for a D cell is a whole other topic, but judging by the feeler threads, there is a lot of people looking for those also. I'm not sure how effective it will be to use this thread to guage interest in both items.

 

[Nitro]

I think the preference for many of us would be an adjustable POT regulated switch/bipin setup if that is still a possibility. It seems a setup for a D cell is a whole other topic, but judging by the feeler threads, there is a lot of people looking for those also. I'm not sure how effective it will be to use this thread to guage interest in both items.

Sorry, I got a little excited when AW said, "I don't have any 32mm protection pcb yet".

 

[Aircraft800]

I don't have any 32mm protection pcb yet. I 'll need to know detail spec. of the cells ( such as max. ptc threshold ) before I can make the pcbs to maximize the performance of the D cells.

Regards,
AW

AW,

You are designing a PCB for D-size 32600 Li-ion 5000mAh battery's also?

WOOT!!

I know you have a lot of other projects, just sparked my interest.

(I didn't mean to hijack this thread, but in response to other hints AW posted here)

 

[Daekar]

Umm... this is about the regulated drivers... remember? Personally I'll be in for at least one or two... I was thinking I could drive a ROP HI for a good long time on 3 C-li-ions or 3 D-li-ions if they come out. It'll be nice to have lower current demanded of the cells because that will increase the total effective capacity available...

 

[Lunal_Tic]

Any chance of reversing the order of power on? (i.e. High, Medium, Low) I usually run my incans outside and have smaller lights for close work so High would be the most used setting and it would be nice not to have to toggle through Low and Medium to get to it.

Cheers,
-LT

 

[AW]

LT,

The driver has last setting memory. You can set it to turn on high and it will remember this setting until you remove the batteries.

AW

 

[Lunal_Tic]

LT,

The driver has last setting memory. You can set it to turn on high and it will remember this setting until you remove the batteries.

AW

Cool thanks for the info.

-LT

 

[LuxLuthor]

Yeah that is pretty cool. Actually, DAMN K00L....everyone gets the setting they want !!!! :thumbsup:

 

[Lunal_Tic]

It's nice to have it remember where you were last but it also means the next step from high is low.

-LT

 

[LuxLuthor]

It's nice to have it remember where you were last but it also means the next step from high is low.

-LT

Yeah....well honestly, it is not that big of a deal to cycle to where you want it. There are just as many that prefer a cycle of Low-Med-High as there are High-Med-Low. My frustration are with those lights that don't remember when off.

 

[Lunal_Tic]

Yeah....well honestly, it is not that big of a deal to cycle to where you want it.

A matter of perspective and use one would think.

I'll be interested to see how the actual light output looks in both low and medium since unlike an LED less juice generally means a beam that's a lot more orange. LL do you have one of these? Could you post L/M/H shots to show the color?

-LT

 

[Aircraft800]

AW,

(you may have already answered this above: "Yes, regulated version Mag driver will feature soft start and multi-level, all level regulated......", but I didn't know how the settings would work, or at what levels)

Is this going to be regulated and multi-level, with user settings.

EX: If I am running 2 AW "C" Li-Ion and a WA1111
1 click, 5V Output (LOW) 83%
2 click, 6V Output (Run bulb at spec.) 100%
3 click, 7.4V Output (Overdrive Baby!!) 123%

It would be nice to run at spec. to have a nice white beam and save on battery life, but have a LOW for close up work, and then a "WOW" setting.

 

[LuxLuthor]

A matter of perspective and use one would think.

I'll be interested to see how the actual light output looks in both low and medium since unlike an LED less juice generally means a beam that's a lot more orange. LL do you have one of these? Could you post L/M/H shots to show the color?

-LT

It is similar to what Aircraft posted...as far as the color, it depends on the bulb. If you are starting out with an Overdrive setting, then medium can still look fine. Obviously with some hotwire bulbs that need the voltage/current to make them perform, it will not do well if too low. It is only available so far in C mag...so not sure if you are asking about that.

 

[AW]

Aircraft800,

Both the regulated and the unregulated driver will run the bulb at spec. ( NOT reduced voltage/underdrive ). The regulated version will have a user specified Vout vs the unregulated version's Vin = Vout. The brightness level is controlled by the duty cycle of the PWM i.e the on/off frequency. It works by turning the light on and off in such a rate that you 'll see a smooth output from the bulb ( no strobing ). The more the off cycle and the beam will appear dimmer. A 100% duty cycle means the bulb is turned ON full time.

- 100% ( High ) = 100% PWM duty cycle
- 60% ( Med ) = 60% PWM duty cycle
- 30% ( Low ) = 30% PWM duty cycle

The voltage to the bulb in all three levels remains the same.

AW

 

[petrev]

Aircraft800,

Both the regulated and the unregulated driver will run the bulb at spec. ( NOT reduced voltage/underdrive ). The regulated version will have a user specified Vout vs the unregulated version's Vin = Vout. The brightness level is controlled by the duty cycle of the PWM i.e the on/off frequency. It works by turning the light on and off in such a rate that you 'll see a smooth output from the bulb ( no strobing ). The more the off cycle and the beam will appear dimmer. A 100% duty cycle means the bulb is turned ON full time.

- 100% ( High ) = 100% PWM duty cycle
- 60% ( Med ) = 60% PWM duty cycle
- 30% ( Low ) = 30% PWM duty cycle

The voltage to the bulb in all three levels remains the same.

AW

Hi All

Hopefully to clarify this a bit more ? ? ?

PWM is Pulse Width Modulation (produces a square wave)

The unregulated softstarter with 3 levels works as stated and while the Voltage, as seen say at the bulb on an oscilloscope, would have the same peak value at all 3 settings the RMS (Root Mean Square) Voltage at the bulb will vary so that it will appear as bright and white (or not) as it would if that real voltage were applied too it. PWM switches the voltage on and off very quickly, and if it were on only half the time (50% duty cycle) then the effective voltage is half too.

With the regulated version - while the Vin is above the required Regulated Vout then the PWM cycle is varied automatically via a feedback loop to produce the correct Vout - as the cells lose power the duty cycle increases until it reaches 100% and then Vout will equal Vin and output will start to fall below regulated value.

This is only a rough guide (idealised and approximated) and may not be quoted as gospel, etc. . . but may be helpful !

Cheers Pete

 

[LuxLuthor]

AW & Petrev, that is VERY VERY helpful. Being the novice on more detailed electronic components, I did not take the time to understand what PWM actually means....so I assumed (wrongly) that the lower settings were lower voltage.

So now we know that this design will allow (please allow for my "beginner mind" characterization) extremely rapid on/off "pulses" of a specified V-out, giving higher pulse frequency to achieve effect of 100%, and lower pluse frequency for medium & low settings....with a net effect of fewer "light wave slices per msec," but each of the same lumen intensity. As long as the on/off frequency is faster than 30/sec it won't appear as "strobing."

If my simplistic analogy is correct, then our brains must interpret more or less light wave slices/ms as brighter or dimmer?

That may not be exactly how it works, but now this is even way cooler than I already thought it was!!! I'll have the DeLorean standing by.

Edit: Here is a link that gives some more information about PWM.

And another related to *gasp* LED's.

Ahhh, after reading last link, I now see that the duration of on and off parts of the cycle, in addition to frequency is also key to the perceived brightness of the different levels.

 

[AW]

Thanks Pete for the further clarification and Lux for the info link. I hope you all is having a better understanding of how PWM works in this incan driver. This maybe confusing how PWM works in controlling the different brightness levels and voltage regulation but the above two posts explain it well.

Here is the scope readout of the C driver running on Low and High :

 

[petrev]

Hi

What a nice neat little scope.

Is that the Velleman HPS40 or the HPS10 ?

Hi Lux - Yes, the frequency normally doesnt change - just the on to off ratio (Duty Cycle)

Totally looking forward to the AW-D-PWMReg-SS-1Lvl-UAdj-HQPot Drop-In Switch Assembly
or ? AW-D1R SW ?

Cheers Pete

:twothumbs

 

[tomL]

Using PWM doesn't change the fact that a cooler hotwire results in a "warmer" color temperature (shifted towards yellow-orange-red as the filament gets cooler) when the duty cycle is reduced.

It's up to the user to decide how dim to run a given lamp. If you want a dimmer light with a whiter (colder) color, it is better to start with a lower wattage, giving up on the ability to have a lot of lumens.

This is why I favor user-selectable lamp wattages for the brightest setting. I would like to be able to install different lamps without needing to have different driver boards. This could be accomplished with micro-DIP switches, user installed jumpers, or via non-volatile memory (or even volatile memory if there is a safe default and an easy to way to re-set the setting)

 

[AW]

tomL,

The now available C driver seems to fit your exact requirement - it can run any wattage bulb up to 100W and any battery configuration from 6V to 30V. No need to fiddle with any adjustment at all.

Regards,
AW