F5 power amplifier

Me again :D
In the F5 manual for unregulated supply, Mr.Pass recommends 15000uF/25v x 4 plus some resistors in series per rail.. Thats ok.

But I have some (actually 20pcs) 1,500uF/35v Panasonic FM caps in my drawer.. And I'd like to use them for this project. In their datasheet, Panasonic guys say; they have 3750mA (for 100Khz) and ~2750mA (for 50Hz) ripple capacity.. So if I connect them in parallel as 5 per rail (per amplifier) that makes ~13-14A ripple capacity per rail. If you consider I will use that amp with 2x20v transformer per amplifier and will use 8 ohm speakers, do you think these caps will enough to have a really quiet amplifier?
 
Dxvideo said:
Me again :D
In the F5 manual for unregulated supply, Mr.Pass recommends 15000uF/25v x 4 plus some resistors in series per rail.. Thats ok.

But I have some (actually 20pcs) 1,500uF/35v Panasonic FM caps in my drawer.. And I'd like to use them for this project. In their datasheet, Panasonic guys say; they have 3750mA (for 100Khz) and ~2750mA (for 50Hz) ripple capacity.. So if I connect them in parallel as 5 per rail (per amplifier) that makes ~13-14A ripple capacity per rail. If you consider I will use that amp with 2x20v transformer per amplifier and will use 8 ohm speakers, do you think these caps will enough to have a really quiet amplifier?

If you parallel capacitors, you can add the capacitance. So papa uses 2x30000uF per stereo amp. If you are planning making monoblocks with 2x7500uF (2x5x1.5mF) in each you'll not have enough capacitance for a class a amp. Even if you just planning on making one stereo amp you'll be using 2x15mF - half the amount of capacitance papa uses, which I think is bad idea.

Short answer: no
 
So you don't consider the total ripple capacity!
Anyway,
In fact I am agree with you that we must respect the designers concept.. However as I can see, Mr.Pass (or Papa :) ) uses the same power supply design for the F4 also.. It's a stronger amplifier and naturally it needs more current.. So the F5 must need less "unrippled" power for especially 8R s..
What do you think?
 
Dxvideo said:
So you don't consider the total ripple capacity!
Anyway,
In fact I am agree with you that we must respect the designers concept.. However as I can see, Mr.Pass (or Papa :) ) uses the same power supply design for the F4 also.. It's a stronger amplifier and naturally it needs more current.. So the F5 must need less "unrippled" power for especially 8R s..
What do you think?

I don't think ripple current capacity is all that important, because you need to have low voltage ripple and to get that you need larger caps than the current capabilities indicate.

The F4 has more fets, but with less bias current for each device - the total is about the same.
 
Hi,
paralleled smoothing capacitors are great for achieving high ripple capacity, when it's needed.
The first stage of a CRC or CLC PSU needs lots of ripple capacity.

A ClassA amplifier draws lots of current continuously and this requires good ripple capacity. But, that is only part of the requirement.
The high current draw ensures that ripple in the PSU output is much higher than when a ClassAB amplifier is idling @ Iq=50mA.

You need capacitance to keep the ripple down to acceptable levels.

The F5 requires good ripple capacity to prevent the smoothing caps overheating and excellent capacity to keep ripple down to an acceptable level.
Design for both, not one exclusively over the other.
 
tinitus said:
Fore classA I would use nothing but big caps, they are tougher

As Andrew explains, too small caps can get pretty hot, if overloaded, and wont last long
I don't agree.
small caps usually have small ripple capacity.
paralleling small caps to equal the capacity of one large cap usually results in more ripple capacity. It thus reduces the risk of overheating and thus increases the life of the capacitors, provided the caps have cool air circulating around them.
 
Ex-Moderator R.I.P.
Joined 2005
AndrewT said:
I don't agree.
small caps usually have small ripple capacity.
paralleling small caps to equal the capacity of one large cap usually results in more ripple capacity. It thus reduces the risk of overheating and thus increases the life of the capacitors, provided the caps have cool air circulating around them.


Maybe my english isnt that good :rolleyes:
But thats what it meant to me
I may simplify a bit too much
Sorry if I dont understand what you say
Or "quoted" you poorly

btw, do you know "FTcap"
Just saw them on BMM site
Up to 220.000uf in 40V

:)
 
Formerly "jh6you". R.I.P.
Joined 2006
Hi Ozgur,

To choose the right filter capacitance, we should know what is our DC load current and what should be our target ripple voltage. We are however lucky because Papa has done all these for us in his F5 design.

If you want to apply the same bias current of total 2.6A for both channels, try to keep the CRC filter values of the same as the original. It doesn't matter capacitances are pralleled or not as long as the total capacitance is the same. Meanwhile, if you want to reduce the bias current or increase it, you could change CRC values linearly according to the change-rate of the bias.

:)