Hello all. first time poster with questions.

[bowt1eguy01]

I would first like to say that I am not versed in most of anything on this site. So please assume your explaining something to a 5 yr old. lol

I have a project I'm currenty working on with someone who is qualified and versed in electronic circuits. One of my problems is he is doing this for free for me on his spare time, so naturally it's the path of least resistance in trying to solve design problems. I'm trying to contribute as much as possible so I figured exploring options here to present to him would be the best way to go.

I'm trying to make a transformer-less EL driver circuit that runs of a 3v battery. Were having performance issues trying to power just 10 inches of wire. The wire is dim at best. He used a setup that he said was meant to power a EL panel, due to it being off the shelf components. Below is an excerpt from an email he sent that illustrates the issue:

"Vp-p is the peak to peak voltage difference across the el wire. Remember the discussion on H bridge circuits? H bridges switch both sides of the wire, effectively doubling the p-p voltage. So, to find a driver capable of 300Vp-p, it has to incorporate a high voltage switcher capable of generating 150VDC, plus an H bridge driver for the EL that will run at 2 KHz.

The difference between what makes an EL panel “happy” and what best drives EL wire is the problem I kept running into. The chips available are aimed at el panels, and the one I tried was about the only one that would work at battery levels, and could have the el drive frequency adjusted up to el wire frequencies. If the high voltage generator was adjustable I think it would work, but it’s fixed at around 90-95V max.

Generating the high voltage from battery levels is the biggest challenge. Circuits for generating a camera flash probably come closest, but they still aren’t generally meant to maintain high voltage for a 2KHz repetition rate"

I found this circuit here https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...l7C0CA&usg=AFQjCNEodByKBHkDYTQVjpSS4vkwHe-WOQ and was curious if that solves my problem, and if not is there any ideas on how?

Thanks

 

[SABorn]

Ok i will bite, what the hell is a EL wire???????????

Secondly what is it meant to do.??

Pete.

 

[dougy83]

Ok i will bite, what the hell is a EL wire???????????

He's obviously spanish, duh.

The difference between what makes an EL panel “happy” and what best drives EL wire is the problem I kept running into. The chips available are aimed at el panels, and the one I tried was about the only one that would work at battery levels, and could have the el drive frequency adjusted up to el wire frequencies. If the high voltage generator was adjustable I think it would work, but it’s fixed at around 90-95V max.

Generating the high voltage from battery levels is the biggest challenge. Circuits for generating a camera flash probably come closest, but they still aren’t generally meant to maintain high voltage for a 2KHz repetition rate"

I found this circuit here https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...l7C0CA&usg=AFQjCNEodByKBHkDYTQVjpSS4vkwHe-WOQ and was curious if that solves my problem, and if not is there any ideas on how?

Thanks

Is there any reason you don't just buy a prebuilt one? e.g. **broken link removed**

I had a look for EL inverter ICs but only saw the 180Vpp & 220Vpp varieties. The LyTec EL wire I saw needs, in some cases, 130VAC RMS (that's 2*sqrt(130) = 367Vpp); so 220Vpp won't cut it.

If you wanted, you could use a transformer circuit; you can wire up a blocking oscillator with just a resistor, capacitor transistor and transformer. (the camera flash inverter in disposable cameras uses a blocking oscillator and you could use one of them if you wanted). The output voltage/current can be adjusted by changing the component (e.g. resistor) values.

 

[4pyros]

Ok i will bite, what the hell is a EL wire???????????

From wikipedia;
Electroluminescent wire (often abbreviated to EL wire) is a thin copper wire coated in a phosphor which glows when an alternating current is applied to it.

 

[bowt1eguy01]

I am very open to using a transformer circuit, the problem is I have space restrictions in my project, so if anyone knows of a transformer that is very tiny in height, and outputs a frequency in the 2,000 Hz range, please let me know. From what my friend told me, the issue is finding something that accomplishes both challenges of frequency output and voltage when using an IC. The circuit I listed in the first post, correct me if I'm wrong, achieves the voltage requirement but it's max output is 1,000 Hz. I read about PWM methods, and cascading H bridges and was curious if those would be viable solutions to step up the frequency?

 

[bowt1eguy01]

I also have a circuit diagram I could post, if that helps.

 

[dougy83]

...the problem is I have space restrictions in my project, so if anyone knows of a transformer that is very tiny in height ...please let me know.

What's the restriction? Are you ok with custom-winding transformers? Is this for production, or just a one-off?

What is the background of the project? Do you need frequency & voltage control; or is anything that lights the EL wire acceptable?

The circuit I listed in the first post, correct me if I'm wrong, achieves the voltage requirement but it's max output is 1,000 Hz. I read about PWM methods, and cascading H bridges and was curious if those would be viable solutions to step up the frequency?

Didn't your friend say you needed 300Vpp - that IC only gives 180Vpp; this can't be changed as the reference & feedback is all hardwired inside the IC. I didn't see any limit for the output frequency; for 2000Hz, REL should be 330k.

I read about PWM methods, and cascading H bridges and was curious if those would be viable solutions to step up the frequency?

Freq is set by value of REL.

 

[maur908]

It would nice if you could please give me a few tips on working with zigbee & zigbee programming, also the possible problems that i could face while working with Zigbee...Thanking you in advance

 

[Reloadron]

It would nice if you could please give me a few tips on working with zigbee & zigbee programming, also the possible problems that i could face while working with Zigbee...Thanking you in advance

Your question has nothing to do with the thread topic. You would do much better if you asked your question in the micro controller section of the forum.

Ron

 

[maur908]

sorry...