The post discusses a two opamp low high battery charger controller circuit which is not only accurate with its features but also allows a hassle free and quick setting up of its high/low cut-off threshold limits. The idea was requested by Mr. Mamdouh.
The Request
Hi Mr Swagatam,
I've got the idea, please bear with me, because I'm new to circuits design. i actually thought about using opamps to create the circuit that i need, so that makes me feel better i was heading in the right direction.
However, how can i upgrade this smart emergency light circuit to operate on 26-30 volts and 3 amps. I'll be using a dc to dc voltage booster and steady current between the battery and this circuit, as the battery wont be able to supply the required voltage.
so, I'm not sure if this circuit will still remain to operates with the voltage booster between the battery and the circuit. also, i will have another voltage booster to be connected the main power adapter as the adapter will only produce 19v and i need 26-30 volts. I'm kinda lost with this part because i need circuit to:
1) as soon as i connect the external power automatically it will disconnect the battery and supply the system, in the mean while charging the battery.
2) overcharging protection ( which included in the above design).
3) battery low and full charging indicates (which included in the above design).
4) also i don't know what is the formula to help how to determine the voltage required across my battery to charge it with( battery will be extracted of old laptops.total will be 22V with 6 apms at no load)
5) also, i don,t know the formula to indicate how long my battery will last, and how to calculate the time if i want a battery to last me two hours.
Also, the cpu fan will supplied by the system too.
it would be great too to add the option of a dimmer, my original plane was to vary between 26-30 v not need much more than that.
it's a flash light design but using higher wattage LED.
I'm sorry for those many questions, but i'm trying to get help and improve my skills in designing as i'm very new to electronics world.
The Design
In all of my previous battery charger controller circuits I have used a single opamp for executing the full charge auto cut-off, and have employed a hysteresis resistor for enabling the low level charging switch ON for the connected battery.
However calculating this hysteresis resistor correctly for achieving the precise low level restoration becomes slightly difficult and requires some trial and error effort which can be time consuming.
In the above proposed opamp low high battery charger controller circuit two opamp comparator are incorporated instead of one which simplifies the set up procedures and relieves the user from the long procedures.
Referring to the figure we can see two opamps configured as comparators for sensing the battery voltage and for the required cut-off operations.
Assuming the battery is s 12V battery, the lower A2 opamp's 10K preset is set such that its output pin#7 becomes high logic when the battery voltage just crosses the 11V mark (lower discharge threshold), while the upper A1 opamp's preset is adjusted such that its output goes high when the battery voltage touches the higher cut off threshold, say at 14.3V.
Therefore at 11V, the A1 output gets positive but due to the presence of the 1N4148 diode this positive stays ineffective and blocked from moving further to the base of the transistor.
The battery continues to charge, until it reaches 14.3V when the upper opamp activates the relay, and stops the charging supply to the battery. The situation is instantly latched due to the inclusion of the feedback resistors across pin#1 and pin#3 of A1. The relay becomes locked in this position with the supply completely cut off for the battery.
The battery now begins slowly discharging via the connected load until it reaches its lower discharge threshold level at 11V when the A2 output is forced to go negative or zero. Now the diode at its output becomes forward biased and quickly breaks the latch by grounding the latching feedback signal between the indicated pins of A1.
With this action the relay is instantly deactivated and restored to its initial N/C position and the charging current yet again begins flowing towards the battery.
This opamp low high battery charger circuit can be used as a DC UPS circuit also for ensuring a continuous supply for the load regardless of the mains presence or absence and for getting an uninterrupted supply through out its usage.
The input charging supply could be acquired from a regulated power supply such as an LM338 constant current variable constant voltage circuit externally.
Answers for other additional questions in the request are as given under:
Formula for calculating full charge cut off limit is:
Battery voltage rating + 20%, for example 20% of 12V is 2.4, so 12 + 2.4 = 14.4V is the full charge cut off voltage for a 12V battery
To know the battery back up time this calculator can be used which gives you the approximate battery back up time.