Low Pass RC filter

Scarr

Member
I want to stop any noise above 50Hz on a line, I have played with some caps and resistors and some online calculators but can't seem to get the values correct! The line is 12v DC can any suggest a RC pair that will work

Thanks

Steve
 
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You can't stop noise but you can reduce it an arbitrary amount depending on the filter order. How much current must the filter carry?
 
Hi crutschow,

Enough to have a Arduino Due detect a low/high transition I would think a few mA would be fine

Thanks

Steve
 
Hi

A passive low pass RC filter should do something anyway. You have to see how high a value R can take in your application and not bother anything else. Once you determine that, you can add additional stages easily if needed by dividing that R up between the stages.

For example, if you determine that R=10 is the maximum value your application can take, then for one stage you use R=10 and some large capacitor like 100uf or even 1000uf. If that's not enough, to add another stage divide R by 2 which gives us 5 ohms for each stage, and keep the capacitor value the same (like 100uf to 1000uf or more). If that's not enough, then divide the original R by 3 and add anther stage. Since the original R was 10 ohms, the new R is 3.33 ohms and you use three stages. For four stages, R would be 10/4=2.5 ohms, and for five stages 10/5=2 ohms for each resistor.

Keeping the cap the same value for all the caps ensures you get more cut in the noise, and keeping the total series value of R the same as the original means you dont cut the DC value which the application needs to work properly.

Also, a series inductor can work wonders for this kind of thing. A small inductor in series with the cap makes a single stage cut much better. You do have to be more careful though because when the power turns off there is a chance that the inductor can develop a high voltage which could blow out various parts of the circuit. It depends on several factors how bad this can be.
 
A digital filter will work as long as there's no aliased noise (that above 1/2 the A/D sample frequency).

What is the frequency and amplitude of the noise?
 
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