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Registered Member #4075
Joined: Tue Aug 30 2011, 02:28AM
Location:
Posts: 1
Does anyone have any ideas for a simple and LOW current flyback driver. Although HV is always dangerous, i'd prefer somthing with a low output current for "safety" reasons since I'm a beginner. BTW, any special safety precautions (besides one hand rule and other basic things like that [please don't flame this, just tell me what I need to know])?
Registered Member #1451
Joined: Wed Apr 23 2008, 03:48AM
Location: Boulder, Co
Posts: 661
If you've every done any other electronics, the 555 driver would be super simple and versatile. Just use a 9 volt battery to power it and the power should stay pretty low.
As for safety, make sure that you have a clean work area. I don't, and I have gotten shocked through scraps of wire on my workbench.
Registered Member #3395
Joined: Thu Nov 04 2010, 08:42AM
Location: Christchurch, New Zealand
Posts: 193
Hmm... yes, the 555 Flyback driver is a good start to HV electronics being fairly safe to operate and easy build. A simpler flyback driver would be the 2N3055 driver, however I do not recommend this one because it is extremely inefficient as most of the power is wasted as heat dissipation.
Also, when you get bored of tiny purple arcs and have a basic understanding of high voltage you can always move onto more powerful circuits like the ZVS driver or a half-bridge, full-bridge vacuum tube driver etc etc...
Registered Member #3414
Joined: Sun Nov 14 2010, 05:05PM
Location: UK
Posts: 4245
I'm currently doing a similar thing myself.
I'm just limiting the current using resistors, but a 12V 21w lightbulb will do just as well. (peak current is limited to <2A and if the bulb fails it fails 'open circuit')
I was using a 12V 4A battery charger with around 5000μF smoothing. I'm just using a car battery now.
I'm keeping the current limited until I'm happy with the circuit (trying to eliminate ringing, etc.), then I'll increase current until the transistors blow.
I'd recommend a simple 2N3055 circuit to start with because it is so simple to drive. This will then give you a 'benchmark' to compare other circuits to.
Registered Member #4078
Joined: Tue Aug 30 2011, 12:53PM
Location: Sydney, Australia
Posts: 19
(new member here, 1st post)
I might suggest a MOSFET based 555 driver for this. They are more efficient, and you won't find that you fry your transistor so easily. 2N3055s might get a bit warm. All you need is a ~100ohm resistor from pin3 of the 555 to the mosfet gate.
Any standard 555 oscillator circuit will do the trick, just try to keep the frequency at about 10-15KHz.
If you adjust the timer resistors for the 555 (ideally a trimpot) so that you get under 1A of drive current, you can be fairly confident that the flyback is giving a fairly safe current. Getting dangerous currents from a flyback usually requires many amps on the primary. The only real safety concern is small but annoying burns from the arc if you get bitten.
Your safety rules are pretty ok yes. Dont forget to discharge the flyback safely when done as if it contains a multiplier, there are caps that can hold charge (but usually its not a dangerous level).
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Easy flyback driver
