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4hv.org :: Forums :: High Voltage
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ZVS IRFP250 catastrophic failure

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Wolfram
Sat May 12 2012, 07:02PM
Wolfram Registered Member #33 Joined: Sat Feb 04 2006, 01:31PM
Location: Norway
Posts: 971
Your main problem is probably the ferrite core you used to wind the DC link inductor on. Ferrite toroids don't like DC at all (since there's no air gap in the core). Try using either a gapped ferrite core or an iron powder toroid instead.
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TS00
Sat May 12 2012, 07:30PM
TS00 Registered Member #4860 Joined: Fri May 11 2012, 04:42PM
Location:
Posts: 13
Wolfram wrote ...

Your main problem is probably the ferrite core you used to wind the DC link inductor on. Ferrite toroids don't like DC at all (since there's no air gap in the core). Try using either a gapped ferrite core or an iron powder toroid instead.

Interesting, so you think the ferrite core saturated?

What if I were to break & glue one of these rings, would that do it? I have a bunch of them, and this approach allows me to try again tomorrow (Sunday).
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Alex M
Sat May 12 2012, 09:25PM
Alex M Registered Member #3943 Joined: Sun Jun 12 2011, 05:24PM
Location: The Shire, UK
Posts: 552
Switch to using a powered iron core. I think that might have been at-least one cause to the problem using a ferrite toroid.

I haven't used my mazilli "the ZVS" circuit in a while now but I had no problems with it even after having it running for 20 minutes continuous (Jacobs ladder last Halloween). Never had anything explode whilst using it to drive flyback transformers.

I prefer bridge designs now as I can audio modulate via the chip (which seems to impress my friends and family more than 7 inch long arcs).

Only thing is you need to keep the transformer loaded or else the transformer will arc over (at-least when you have it running at its resonant frequency it does).

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TS00
Sat May 12 2012, 10:26PM
TS00 Registered Member #4860 Joined: Fri May 11 2012, 04:42PM
Location:
Posts: 13
Ok, I'll order an iron core. Any alternatives for the inductor to get me going until the new core arrives? Is a glued-together ferrite core an option?
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Dri0m
Sun May 13 2012, 06:28AM
Dri0m Registered Member #4497 Joined: Thu Apr 19 2012, 12:53PM
Location: Behind you
Posts: 62
I`m using ZVS to test homemade transformers and their insulations etc... ZVS ran for 2 hours with continuous arcing, and it was still cold, except transformer :)
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TS00
Sun May 13 2012, 09:38AM
TS00 Registered Member #4860 Joined: Fri May 11 2012, 04:42PM
Location:
Posts: 13
Dri0m wrote ...

I`m using ZVS to test homemade transformers and their insulations etc... ZVS ran for 2 hours with continuous arcing, and it was still cold, except transformer :)

Can you tell me about your inductor? Did you wind it? Ferrite or iron powder?
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Alex M
Sun May 13 2012, 10:51AM
Alex M Registered Member #3943 Joined: Sun Jun 12 2011, 05:24PM
Location: The Shire, UK
Posts: 552
This is the exact inductor I got used Link2 (The picture on the farnell website is wrong). Its a 47uH 10 amp inductor.

Here it is in circuit (I have also since tidied the messy wires up since a good layout is critical).

6168492233 D9a70e568f N
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TS00
Sun May 13 2012, 10:54AM
TS00 Registered Member #4860 Joined: Fri May 11 2012, 04:42PM
Location:
Posts: 13
Alex1M6 wrote ...

This is the exact inductor I got used Link2 (The picture on the farnell website is wrong). Its a 47uH 10 amp inductor.

Here it is in circuit (I have also since tidied the messy wires up since a good layout is critical).

6168492233 D9a70e568f N

Thanks - do you know if that is an iron powder core? The data sheet doesn't say.

In any case, I'm going to get one of these.
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Wolfram
Sun May 13 2012, 11:45AM
Wolfram Registered Member #33 Joined: Sat Feb 04 2006, 01:31PM
Location: Norway
Posts: 971
If it is wound on a toroid core and has a significant DC current rating, it has to be an iron powder core (or a gapped ferrite toroid, but these are pretty rare). Coils wound on ferrite toroids can't handle much DC current before saturating, so they often don't have a DC current rating at all. Which is also why they shouldn't be used in the ZVS. Some members insist that ferrite toroids work fine for the ZVS and also recommend them to others, and I suspect this is why it has such a bad reputation when it comes to reliability.

Breaking a ferrite toroid and gluing it might work. You have to be careful to get a large enough air gap, I suspect gluing a broken one together won't give you a large enough air gap. You also need to watch the inductance, it will drop drastically when you introduce an air gap. The main problem will probably be getting enough inductance when you have a reasonable air gap.

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TS00
Sun May 13 2012, 11:49AM
TS00 Registered Member #4860 Joined: Fri May 11 2012, 04:42PM
Location:
Posts: 13
Thanks Wolfram, that makes sense. I've ordered a couple of iron toroids, and will have another try when they arrive.

Do you think having the toroid fairly close (~3cm) to the flyback core is a problem? Could there be magnetic coupling between them? Should I get some more distance there?
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