Solid State Build

[wrtner]

I can't find the circuit diagram for this project. Would someone post it?

Thanks.

Paul-R

[BobZilla]

Paul,
This is something I am doing which is way off the normal path. It started as a fairly regular Solid state which is clearly documented in the beginning of the thread. The main circuit is exactly the same as a normal SSG accept to go solid state you move the trigger bottom, go air core, and add Patrick's CPD. You will want more resistance on your pot (or base) when running SS.

It started with Patrick's CPD mod for the trigger which does work great. If you are just getting started with SS I suggest you use his method until you get familiar with what that is doing. Originally the main thing that was different about this machine was that it has a 200ft coil, most people use 130ft or so. It also uses all 18awg including the trigger. I am also using branch diode mode which basically means your outputs are not bussed together.


I have introduced completely different switching system with the photo resistors/LED's combo which is allowing for precise controlling of the switching both on the trigger and the cap dumps. All of the principals are the same but the method is not. As is the case with all experiments it has morphed and continues too.

[BobZilla]

Another update on this experiment.

So anyone who has read through the whole thread knows that this thing has changed around quite a bit as I have tried different things. I was really excited about the cap dump with the photo-resistor controls but unfortunately I have found a flaw with it.

It works great for smaller batteries so it may have its use there but I am aiming for large batteries, 75AH and up. I found that when I drive the machine harder for larger batteries that I burnt out the photo-resistor. I tried making more of them in parallel to handle more power which did help but it still had issues.

Here is a picture of the panels I had made to try and improve the idea.



Once I came to the conclusion that this was not working as well as I hoped I decided to bring this machine back to its original intention, a straight up Solid State without cap dumps and utilizing four transistors.

I had damaged the circuit board earlier in the experiment which forced me to go down to only two transistors which I was running two power windings each of 200ft. That was never really the idea so I built a circuit board to accommodate four transistors with one power wire each.

I installed some double throw switches which allow me to divert the charge output to either of the two clips, or run both in a branch diode configuration. That is really how I had always wanted to run this machine anyway. So to sum it up again it now has 4 transistors with one 200ft 18AWG each which are configured in two banks. The two banks can be run independent in branch mode or I can throw a switch and have all power diverted to a single output.

I have kept my photo-resistor system on the trigger and it works really well. There is a big difference in using it for this purpose vs. a cap dump controller. In combination with the main POT on the circuit board I have complete control over the frequency of the pulse AND the amplitude. It’s really neat to play with! If I turn the amplitude up I can actually hear the coil sing out “Chirp, Chirp, Chirp” as it gets triggered by the photo-resistor controller. I can adjust it to higher pitch, lower pitch, whatever I want. The over all current draw is affected both by the amplitude and the frequency so I can adjust either to get the exact current draw that I want.

Here is a picture of the latest incarnation of this device:



I will do some runs with it and post back some results. I have been using it for quite awhile now in this configuration and it does work pretty well. I have no problem achieving full charges (15v) on my 75AH batteries. I’m not too sure about OU but at least it can drive such large batteries all the way up. As I said I will do some runs and share what I find out. ------Bob

[brodonh]

Hi All,

Appreciate the thread.

With out wading through the whole thread, I'd like to ask a simple question.

What is the purpose of the cap and diode on the pot.

It was not explained early on and would like to know what it is supposed to do.

Thankyou all for being here.

bro d

[BobZilla]

Hi Bro d

I will not go deep into an explanation but in short the CDP mod which is Patricks (Min2oly) idea charges the cap until it reaches a higher voltage than you would have without one and then it dumps to the base. What that does is create a pulsing effect the circuit, thumping the base with strong current and voltage in short bursts. You can adjust the frequency a little by changing the size of the cap. Generally speaking a 1uf works good but you can use between 1 and 5 uf for varied results. There is more too it than this but that is the basic idea. Perhaps Patrick will chime in with his thoughts on it. If you look on Youtube for Min2oly's channel you can see all of the wonderful work Patrick has shared including the CPD.

I highly recommend adding a CDP to any solid state unit you are messing with. It is a great addition and is very easy to do. I borrowed from Patrick's idea and came up with the photo-resistor method. It works in a similar fashion accept the pulse frequency and the base resistance on the pot are not dependent on each other. See with the CPD as you lower your base pot, the frequency of the pulse on the cap will increase. That is what I wanted to decouple with my idea. So for example if I wanted to set my main base pot to draw at 1 amp when the circuit is engaged and keep a strict 1 pulse per second I can do that. With the CDP you can set the 1 pulse per second but your amplitude is going to fall where ever it will, they are tied together. Conversely if I wanted to keep 1 pulse per second but I am charging really small batteries I can keep my timing the same and raise only the base resistance so I am hitting with .5 or .25 amp. It adds a bit of control over frequency and amplitude. I can also do many pulses per second and vary the amplitude, any combination can be achieved because it is not coupled between the base resistance and the cap.

Looking at the bigger picture I wanted to have this control why? Well a few reasons but, I believe the batteries and the coil can find resonance when adjusted right. Especially when trying to recover old sulphated batteries the frequency and resonance play a big part in dissolving that build up. This gives me more of a spectrum to experiment with. It also helps in controlling the draw rate of the circuit. for example if I have a small primary with a low c20 rate. I can adjust this to still hit the base with high draw, say like 1 amp but compensate for the small battery by reducing the pulse rate. If the battery is only supposed to discharge at .5 amp like with a 17ah then I can set my machine to pull at 1 amp but pulse slower so that I am not killing the primary but I am still delivering the 1 amp pulse. Anyway there are a lot of variables and situations that can be played out.

Try Patricks CPD, you will like the results. MANY people have used it with a lot of success.