Re: [neonixie-l] Homebrew high voltage nixie power supply

[Bill Notfaded]

I agree and it looks great too!  The size is reasonable too considering
what it's doing... Really really cool Kevin I love it.  I think it's
actually really neat with the dual coils!

Bill

On Fri, Oct 4, 2019, 5:12 PM Kevin A.  wrote:

> Thanks!
>
> That's right; at 15:1 for 40 watts, its unusual to see a single inductor
> boost stage. Like you said, the usual solution would be a flyback
> transformer. The duty cycle for this design is around 94% at max load, but
> it works!
>
> Why do anything the conventional way if your goal is to power a ton of
> huge nixie tubes?
>
> On Fri, Oct 4, 2019, 6:48 PM gregebert  wrote:
>
>> With such a high boost-ratio, the other alternative is a flyback
>> converter, which is almost identical except there is a secondary winding
>> that goes to the high-voltage side.
>>
>> Basically to get more voltage out of a boost-converter, you need more
>> current. There are only 2 ways to do that if you've maxxed-out your
>> duty-cycle:
>>
>>1. Increase the supply voltage (which is not an option)
>>2. *Reduce* the inductance in order to increase the current.
>>
>> By paralleling the inductors, you went with option 2. By doing so, you
>> cut the peak-current in half, which keeps you away from saturation, and it
>> also reduces the RMS current, which reduces heating losses.
>>
>> Glad to see you got it working!
>>
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>> 
>> .
>>
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Re: [neonixie-l] Homebrew high voltage nixie power supply

[Kevin A.]

Thanks!

That's right; at 15:1 for 40 watts, its unusual to see a single inductor
boost stage. Like you said, the usual solution would be a flyback
transformer. The duty cycle for this design is around 94% at max load, but
it works!

Why do anything the conventional way if your goal is to power a ton of huge
nixie tubes?

On Fri, Oct 4, 2019, 6:48 PM gregebert  wrote:

> With such a high boost-ratio, the other alternative is a flyback
> converter, which is almost identical except there is a secondary winding
> that goes to the high-voltage side.
>
> Basically to get more voltage out of a boost-converter, you need more
> current. There are only 2 ways to do that if you've maxxed-out your
> duty-cycle:
>
>1. Increase the supply voltage (which is not an option)
>2. *Reduce* the inductance in order to increase the current.
>
> By paralleling the inductors, you went with option 2. By doing so, you cut
> the peak-current in half, which keeps you away from saturation, and it also
> reduces the RMS current, which reduces heating losses.
>
> Glad to see you got it working!
>
> --
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> 
> .
>

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Re: [neonixie-l] Homebrew high voltage nixie power supply

[gregebert]

With such a high boost-ratio, the other alternative is a flyback converter, 
which is almost identical except there is a secondary winding that goes to 
the high-voltage side.

Basically to get more voltage out of a boost-converter, you need more 
current. There are only 2 ways to do that if you've maxxed-out your 
duty-cycle:

   1. Increase the supply voltage (which is not an option)
   2. *Reduce* the inductance in order to increase the current.

By paralleling the inductors, you went with option 2. By doing so, you cut 
the peak-current in half, which keeps you away from saturation, and it also 
reduces the RMS current, which reduces heating losses.

Glad to see you got it working!

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Re: [neonixie-l] Homebrew high voltage nixie power supply

[Kevin A.]

Yup, 2 inductors are in parallel. Couldn't find a single inductor with the
desired spec. I guess my design is sort of atypical compared to the
majority of boost converters.

On Fri, Oct 4, 2019, 3:57 PM gregebert  wrote:

> Are the 2 inductors paralleled ?
>
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> 
> .
>

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Re: [neonixie-l] Homebrew high voltage nixie power supply

[gregebert]

Are the 2 inductors paralleled ? 

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[neonixie-l] Homebrew high voltage nixie power supply

[Neil]

Very impressive write up Kevin. Like Bill, the first thing that came to mind 
was “can I get one?”. I’ve started the resurrection of an unfinished 8 x ZM1350 
SmartSocket project and had just done the power supply calculation and realised 
I needed 8x roughly 14mA = 112mA for all segments on. I don’t plan on that 
happening much if ever but am going to use two Taylor supplies. This should 
mean I can cover that worst case, while having loads of margin and hopefully 
cool running for normal operation. I look forward to following your progress 
with the 20w supply and if you do eventually have any for sale I may be 
interested.

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Re: [neonixie-l] Homebrew high voltage nixie power supply

[Kevin A.]

Thanks Nick! I'd like to do more if I could find the time.

On Sun, Aug 18, 2019, 11:57 AM Nicholas Stock  wrote:

> That’s a really nice write up Kevin!
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Aug 17, 2019, at 22:18, Kevin A.  wrote:
>
> Just wanted to share a nixie related project I've been working on for a
> few weeks now. I've got the boards ordered for my latest revision. Looking
> for any feedback and to see if this interests anyone.
>
>
> https://neonkev.com/2019/08/18/project-20-watt-high-voltage-boost-converter/
>
> Since I got into nixies, I've found that good high voltage power supplies
> are a major asset to any successful design. Instead of relying on Chinese
> eBay stuff or other unsustainable sources, I wanted to build my own using
> the latest in boost controllers and high power semiconductors in addition
> to using the highest quality, brand name components in the actual
> construction the supply. It's not a design built down to the lowest cost
> but one built for silent, reliable, and continuous low-ripple operation at
> rated power.
>
> This will be made open source once I've matured it to a reasonable degree.
> I hope that the latest revision will prove satisfactory.
>
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> .
>
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> 
> .
>

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Re: [neonixie-l] Homebrew high voltage nixie power supply

[Nicholas Stock]

That’s a really nice write up Kevin!

Sent from my iPhone

> On Aug 17, 2019, at 22:18, Kevin A.  wrote:
> 
> Just wanted to share a nixie related project I've been working on for a few 
> weeks now. I've got the boards ordered for my latest revision. Looking for 
> any feedback and to see if this interests anyone. 
> 
> https://neonkev.com/2019/08/18/project-20-watt-high-voltage-boost-converter/
> 
> Since I got into nixies, I've found that good high voltage power supplies are 
> a major asset to any successful design. Instead of relying on Chinese eBay 
> stuff or other unsustainable sources, I wanted to build my own using the 
> latest in boost controllers and high power semiconductors in addition to 
> using the highest quality, brand name components in the actual construction 
> the supply. It's not a design built down to the lowest cost but one built for 
> silent, reliable, and continuous low-ripple operation at rated power. 
> 
> This will be made open source once I've matured it to a reasonable degree. I 
> hope that the latest revision will prove satisfactory. 
> -- 
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[neonixie-l] Homebrew high voltage nixie power supply

[Kevin A.]

Just wanted to share a nixie related project I've been working on for a few 
weeks now. I've got the boards ordered for my latest revision. Looking for 
any feedback and to see if this interests anyone. 

https://neonkev.com/2019/08/18/project-20-watt-high-voltage-boost-converter/

Since I got into nixies, I've found that good high voltage power supplies 
are a major asset to any successful design. Instead of relying on Chinese 
eBay stuff or other unsustainable sources, I wanted to build my own using 
the latest in boost controllers and high power semiconductors in addition 
to using the highest quality, brand name components in the actual 
construction the supply. It's not a design built down to the lowest cost 
but one built for silent, reliable, and continuous low-ripple operation at 
rated power. 

This will be made open source once I've matured it to a reasonable degree. 
I hope that the latest revision will prove satisfactory. 

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