Oznog
Active Member
The trouble with caps is of course that they don't put out power at just one voltage. If you try to run a device that only works from 13v to 10v you're only using 40% of its capacity. Given, you'll only need to return 40% to get it back up, but we paid a lot for that capacity. The bad part is that the device's performance is often variable over that range.
The cool part is by putting on a dc/dc coverter you can make the output voltage constant despite the input voltage and, if it's a boost converter, you can drain the entire capacity of the caps to 0v before the output shuts off. Makes real good use of even a single ultracap. Best idea is a buck-boost converter.
With a boost converter, a 1W Luxeon would go for 2.6 hrs off a single 2600F 2.7v ultracap (in theory only, 10%-15% losses should be anticipated in the converter). 350F, 0.35 hr. Unfortunately powered the converter may be tricky but you get the idea.
The cool part is by putting on a dc/dc coverter you can make the output voltage constant despite the input voltage and, if it's a boost converter, you can drain the entire capacity of the caps to 0v before the output shuts off. Makes real good use of even a single ultracap. Best idea is a buck-boost converter.
With a boost converter, a 1W Luxeon would go for 2.6 hrs off a single 2600F 2.7v ultracap (in theory only, 10%-15% losses should be anticipated in the converter). 350F, 0.35 hr. Unfortunately powered the converter may be tricky but you get the idea.