How to Make a Simple DC to DC Cell Phone Charger Circuit

Posted by hitman
It is estimated that there are probably more cell phones in India than the number of toilets present here.
Astonishing, but true. A cell phone charger is one mate of cell phone that cannot be ignored because a
cell phone would become dead without a charger.

Normally a cell phone charger come as an integral part of a cell phone package and we use it in
conjunction with our AC mains supply.
But what happens if your cell phone gasps for power in the middle of a journey, probably when you are
driving or biking away on a middle of a highway?
A very simple yet reasonably effective DC to DC cell phone charger circuit is discussed in this article,
which can be easily built at home even by a layman.
Though the proposed charger circuit won't charge your cell phone at the rate equal to a normal AC to DC
charger, nevertheless it will complete the function without fail and won't betray you for sure.
The circuit diagram can be understood with the following points:
We all know the general specs of a cell phone battery, it's around 3.7 volts and 800 mAH.
It means the cell phone would require at around 4.5 volts for initiating the charging process.
However a Li-Ion battery which is employed inside cell phones are pretty sensitive to bad voltages and
may just blow off causing serious life and property issues.
Keeping this in mind the cell phone internal circuitry is specifically dimensioned very strictly.
The parameters just won't permit any voltage which may be even slightly out of the range of the battery
specifications.
The use of the versatile IC 7805 in the circuit answers the above issue just perfectly, such that the
charging voltage at its output becomes ideally suitable for charging the cell phone battery.
A high wattage resistor connected at the output of the IC makes sure that the current to the cell phone
stays well within the specified range, though this might have not been a problem anyway, the cell phone
would just refuse to charge if the resistor was not included.

Pictorial Diagram


You can use this cell phone charger for charging you cell phone during emergencies when there's no
mains AC outlets, the circuit may be powered from any 12 volt lead acid battery or similar DC power
source



Parts List

R1 = 5 Ohm, 2 Watt,
C1, C2 = 10uF/ 25V,
D1 = 1N4007,
IC1 = 7805, mounted on a heatsink,
Battery, any 12 volt automobile battery





Making a Multi-function Water Level Controller Circuit
Posted by Swagatam Majumdar
The following multi-function water level controller circuit post is based on the suggestions expressed by
Mr.Usman. Let's learn more about the requested modifications and the circuit details.

The Suggestion:

"Hi Swagatam,

The concept of this circuit looks good. May I suggest a couple of other desirable features?

1) To protect the motor from potential overheating (or as a safety feature) can u add an automatic
shutdown timer? If the motor is running for one hour (or 1.5hrs or 2-hrs) and the water level does
NOT reach the level-sensor, the motor should be automatically stopped. Of course, it can be re-
started manually by pushing the start button again.

2) Can the motor be manually stopped at any time? For example, what if one wants to water the
lawn (or wash the car) for a few minutes using high pressure water directly from the motor?"


Thanks very much!

Your suggestions are interesting!

I think I have discussed these issues in the following artricle:

http://homemadecircuitsandschematics.blogspot.in/2012/03/dc-motor-protector-circuit-over-
voltage.html

However instead of a timer I have used a temperature sensor circuit for tripping the motor if it starts
getting hot.

The motor can be manually stopped by shorting the base of T3 to ground. This can be done by
adding a push button across these terminals.

So the upper push button may be used for initiating the motor while the lower button may be used for
stopping the motor manually.






Thanks Swagatam for a prompt reply. I've found another circuit on your blog (April 20th post) that is
closer to what I have in mind.

http://homemadecircuitsandschematics.blogspot.com/2012/04/semi-automatic-water-level.html

I want a slightly different control logic in the above circuit:

Motor START Logic:
Manual push button (already implemented)

Motor STOP Logic:
1) Water level reaches a pre-determined level (as implemented in April 21st post), OR
2) A pre-determined time has lapsed (e.g. 30, 60 or 90 mins, this requires a long time-
delay/counter), OR
3) Manual stop (manual override), OR
4) Power faliure (load shedding), this is implemented by default!

So I guess, the STOP logic (1, 2 and 3) can be configured to the base of T1 (in your April 20 post)
and it should work. Pls comment, and if you have time maybe you can make a new post!

Thanks
Usman


The Design:

Let's analyze the above requirements and check how they have been implemented in
the following diagram:

1) Water level reaches a pre-determined level: Point A and B may be appropriately fixed inside the
tank for regulating this function. Since point B is situated at the bottom of the tank, remains
connected with the water permanently, now as the level rises and comes in contact with point A, the
positive potential from point A connects with point B, which instantly reset pin#12 of the IC, switching
OFF the relay and the entire system.

2) A predetermined time has lapsed: This feature is already present in the below given circuit. The
timing outputs can be increased to any desired extents simply by increasing the values of P1 and
C1.

3) Manual stop (manual override): This feature is actuated by SW2, pressing which resets the IC
pin#12 and the entire circuit.

4) Power failure (load shedding): During a possible power failure or instantaneous power "blinks",
the IC needs to be supplied with the required supply voltage so that the timing does not get
interrupted. This is very simply done by adding a 9 volt battery to the circuit.

As long as normal power is present, the cathode of D3 stays high keeping the battery switched OFF
from the circuit. The moment power fails, the cathode of D3 becomes low, providing a way-in to the
battery power which smoothly replaces the supply to the IC without causing any "hiccup" to the
counting operation of the IC.




Parts list for the above explained multi-function water level controller circuit

R1= 1M, 1/4 watt
R3 = 1M
R2, R6 = 4K7
R4 = 120K
R5 = 22K
P1 = 1M preset horizontal
C1 = 0.47uF
C2 = 0.22uF disc ceramic
C3 = 1000uF/25V
C4 = 100uF/25V
D1, D2, D3, D4 = 1N4007,
Relay = 12V/SPDT
SW1,SW2 = Bell push type of button
IC1 = 4060
T1, T2 = BC547
TR1 = 0-12V/500mA
BATT - 9V, PP3

Water level buzzer indicator circuit

The following circuit of a water high level and low level indicator circuit was requested by
Mr.Amit. Please read the comments given below to know regarding the exact specs of the
requested circuit.




Circuit Description

The above shown water high and low level buzzer indicator circuit may be understood with
the following points:

Point C which is connected to the ground or negative of the supply rail is kept immersed in
the tank water at the bottom level such that the water present in the tank is always held a
logic low.

Point B is the low level sensor point which must be positioned near the bottom of the tank,
distance may be set as desired by the user.

Point A is the high level sensor, which should be held somewhere at the top of the tank as
per user preference.

When the water level reaches under the point B, point B goes high due to R6, making the
output of N4 high and consequently producing a low at the output of N5....the buzzer B2
starts buzzing.

However in the meantime C2 starts charging up and once it's fully charged inhibits the
positive potential at the input of N5.....the buzzer is switched OFF. The time for which the
buzzer remains On may be determined by the values of C2 and R5.

In an event the water reaches the top level of the tank, point A comes in contact with the
low logic from the water, output of N1 becomes high and the same process is repeated as
explained above. However this time B1 starts beeping, only until C1 gets fully charged.

Five gates from the IC 4049 have been utilized here, the remaining one unused gate input
should be grounded for maintaining stability of the IC.

Parts List

R1,R6 = 3M3
R3,R4 = 10K
T1, T2 = 8550, or 187, or 2N2907 or similar
C1,R2 = to be selected for setting up buzzer on time
C2,R5 = to be selected for setting up buzzer on time.
N1---N5 = IC 4049
B1,B2 = Loud piezo buzzers


























































This is my schematic design of a Pulse Width Modulator DC/AC inverter using
the chip SG3524 .
I have built this design and using it as a backup to power up all my house when
outages occur.

If you like my work and intend to build the circuit don't forget to give me the 5
satrs :D and subscribe to me by clicking on the "follow" button so I know how
many people benefit from the design, Thanks

Notes:

1> The schematic circuit design is for a 250 watt output, while the pics are of my
1500 watts inverter that i built, to increase the power of the circuit you have to
add more of the Q7 and Q8 transistors in parallel, each pair you add will increase
your power by 250 watts, ex: to get 750 watts of power from the inverter you
need to add in parallel 2 of Q7 and 2 of Q8 to the original design.

2> If you increase the power transistors you have to enlarge the T2 transformer
to match the new needs, the circuit's transformer is rated 25 amps to handle 250
watts of 220v, for every 1 additional amp you need on the 220v side you have to
increase 10 amps on the 12v side, of course there are limits to the thickness of
the winding so if you need more than 750 watts i recommend that you use a
24VDC supply instead of 12 volts:

DC voltage and Transformer "T2" winding recommendation:
Power Supply Winding
750w 12VDC P:24V "12-0-12" / S:220V
1500w 24VDC P:48V "24-0-24" / S:220V
2250w 36VDC P:72V "36-0-36" / S:220V
3000w 48VDC P:96V "48-0-48" / S:220V
3750w 60VDC P:120V "60-0-60" / S:220V
4500w 72VDC P:144V "72-0-72" / S:220V
5250w 84VDC P:168V "84-0-84" / S:220V
*The transformer should be "center tapped" at the primary side.
**You can make the secondary 110v if needed.
***The transformer in the pic is a custom made (48V center tapped / 220v ) 2000
watts, weights like 10 kilos.

3> R1 is to set the PWM duty cycle to 220v. Connect voltmeter to the output of
your inverter and vary VR1 till the voltage reads 220V.

4> R2 is to set the frequency to 50 or 60 Hz (R2 range is between 40Hz to
75Hz), so guys that do not have a frequency meter are advised to blindly put this
variable resistor mid-way which should drop you in the range of 50~60 Hz.
If you want you can substitue the variable resistor with a fixed resistor using the
following formula: F = 1.3 / (RxC)
in our case to get a 50Hz output we remove both the 100K and the variable 100K
both from pin 6 and we put instead a 260K fixed resistor and we leave the 0.1uF
(the 104 cap) as it is, this change should give out a fixed 50Hz as per the formula
:
1.3 / (260,000 ohm x 0.0000001 farad) = 50Hz
But in reality it will not exactly give 50Hz because the 260K resistor has a
specific error value margin so does the capacitor, that's why i recommend a
variable resistor so that accurate calibration can be achieved.

5> Use either tantalum or polyester film "as in pic" for the 104 caps, ceramic disc
caps change value once hot and this in turn changes the frequency of the
inverter so they are not recommended.

6> Pin 10 of the SG3524 can be used to auto shut down the inverter, once
a positive voltage is given instead of negative to pin10, the SG3524 will stop
oscillating. This is useful for persons wanting to add some cosmetic makeup to
their inverters like overload cutoff, low battery cutoff or overheating cutoff.

7> Wiring connections on the power stage side should be thick enough to handle
the huge amps drain from the batteries. I marked them with dark black on the
schema also I included a pic so you see how thick those wires must be.

8> The design does not include a battery charger since each person will be
building a custom version of the inverter with specific power needs. If you are
ordering a custom made transformer you can ask them to take out for you an
additional output wire on the primary side to give 14v (between point 0 and this
new wire) and use it to charge a 12v battery, of course this needs a seperate
circuit to control charging auto cut-off. But anyway this is not advisable because it
will shorten the life of the transformer itself since using it as a charger will toast
the enamel coating layer of the copper wires over time. Anyway .. YES can be
done to reduce cost.

9> A cooling fan will be needed to reduce heat off the heat sinks and transformer,
i recommend getting a 220v fan and connecting it to the output T2 transformer,
when you power up the circuit the fan will start this will always give you a simple
way to know that 220v is present and everything is OK.. You can use a
computer's old power supply fan if you like.
Note that the fan must suck air out from the inverter case and NOT blow inside,
so install it the correct way or it will be useless.
Also note how I fixed both the heat sinks and where the fan is, in a way that the
fan sucks hot air from like a channel between the 2 heatsinks.

10> 2 circuit breakers are recommended instead of fuses, one on the DC side
and one on the AC side, depending on your design
Ex: for a 24vDC ( 1500 watts design ) put a 60Amp breaker on the DC side and a
6Amp on the AC side.
For every 1amp of 220vAC you will be draining like 8 to 10 Amps from the 12v
battery, make your calculations !

11> The 2 Heat sinks should be big enough to cool the transistors, they are
separate and should NOT touch each other. "see the pics"

12> Important: If you're building a big design that uses more than 24VDC as
power source, make sure not to supply the driver circuit with more than 24v
maximum. (EX: If you have 4 batteries 4x12 = 48v , connect the v+ supply of the
driver circuit to the second battery's (+) terminal with a thin 1 mm wire which is
more than enough. this supplies the driver circuit with +24v while supplies the
power transformer with +48v) "see the batteries pic example"

13> "Optional" : Deep Cycle batteries are your best choice, consider them for
best results .. read more

14> Be cautious when building this circuit it involves high voltage which is lethal,
any part you touch when the circuit is ON could give you a nasty painful jolt,
specially the heat-sinks, never touch them when the circuit is on to see if the
transistors are hot !! I ate it several times :)

15> The optional "Low voltage warning" is already embedded in the PCB layout,
you can disregard it and not install it's components if you do not needed. It does
not affect the functionality of the main circuit.

16> The Motorola 2N6277 is a durable heavy duty power transistor, it is used in
many US tanks for it's reliability but unfortunately it is a very hard to find
part, instead you can substitute each 2N6277 with 2 x 2N3773 or any equivalent.

17> I've included an optional "Battery level indicator" circuit diagram that has 4
LEDs, you can see it installed on the front panel of my inverter pic, it is
functioning great and shows precisely how much juice the batteries still have. I
have included a small relay that is powered by the last LED to auto shutoff the
inverter once last LED is off.

18> Also included an optional "Overload circuit", it is very easy to build and can
be calibrated to the desired overload current threshold cutoff point through the
potentiometer VR1.
R1 is rated 5watts for inverters upto 1000 watts. For bigger versions of the
inverter like 1000 to 3000 watts inverters, replace R1 (1 ohm, 5watts) with (1
ohm, 17watts) which should handle loads upto 10 VA.
Make sure you install a proper relay to handle big current drains.

19> Please guys take your time to read and understand my notes, browse
and read the posts and questions asked by others because there are many
useful information listed in replies. The main reason for me not
answering your question is because it has already been asked before and
answered upon.

20> It would be nice and inspiring for others if you take some photos and
show us how you built your version, any additions to the circuit are mostly
welcomed to be listed here, we can all benefit from them.

Adding a Soft Start to Water Pump Motors - Reducing Relay Burning
Problems
Posted by Swagatam Majumdar
When heavy motor systems or high current motors are involved, initial switch ON current surge often
becomes an issue. This surge tends to inflict huge sparking across the pump relay contacts
causing corrosion and reduction in its life due to stress, and wear and tear.

The sparking of the motor not only causes relay contact issues, but also affects surrounding electronic
circuits, causing them to hang or get disturbed due to large amount of RF interference generated during
motor switch ON.

However safeguarding the costly motor relay becomes the main issue with such situations. Though there
are many mechanical contactors available for controlling motor stress, these system are not efficient and
are ineffective against the RF emissions.

The simple electronic circuit presented below hopefully is able to eliminate all issues concerned with
heavy motor switch ON surge generation and relay contact protection.

The figure shows a simple dimmer switch circuit incorporating an ordinary triac and diac configuration,
which can be very effectively used for adding a soft start to any high current, heavy AC motor.

Here the control pot has been replaced with a LED/LDR box. As we know that in normal dimmer switches,
a variable resistance is used for controlling the fan speeds. Here the variable resistance is replaced with a
LED/LDR arrangement. It means now the speed of the motor, or in other words, current to the motor can
be controlled by controlling the intensity of the enclosed LED through an external trigger.

That's exactly what is done here. When the motor relay is switched ON, either by a switch or through an
electronic control circuit such as a water level controller circuit, the LED of the attached dimmer switch is
also switched ON simultaneously.

The LED switches ON the triac and the connected motor.

Being a solid state device the dimmer switch acts a little faster than the relay and therefore the motor is
first activated through the dimmer triac and just after a few milliseconds the triac gets bypassed by
the concerned relay contacts.

The above process completely eliminates any sparking from the relay contact since the triac has already
absorbed much of the current and the relay only has to softly takeover the already switched ON motor
conduction.

Here the brightness of the opto-coupler LED is crucial, and must be set such that the triac is only 75%
ON.

This adjustment will save the triac from initial heavy current transient and help the entire system to last for
many many years.

The resistor R4 may be appropriately set for achieving an optimal glow over the LED.


Parts List

R1 = 15K
R2 = 330K,
R3 = 10K,
Diac resistor = 100 Ohms,
R4 = to be adjusted as explained,
C1 = 0.1uF/400V
C2, C3 = 0.1uF/250V,
L1 = 10 amp/220V choke
Triac (Alternistor) = 10 Amp 400V,
Diac = as per the above triac.

Simplified Version


A little inspection reveals that the circuit actually does not require the opto coupler circuit at all. The circuit
may be simply arranged in the following manner:
R2 should selected suh that the triac conducts only 75% of the power.

When power is switched ON, the triac provides a soft initial start to the motor until within the next split
second when the relay also conducts enabling the motor the required full power. This completely
safeguards the actuator contacts from the initial current surges and sparks,


Much Improved Circuit

As rightly suggested by Mr.Jim, an initial torque is imperative for initiating a motor optimally especially
when it's loaded, if this initial torque is absent. the motor might stall with heavy loads under its belt and
might start smoking within minutes.

The following circuit is designed for solving both the issues together, it inhibits the initial surge current to
the ON/OFF switch and yet allows the motor to start with a "kick" so that it initiates without problems even
when it's loaded.



at Thursday, September 27, 2012
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