Hi Ian,
Is the UcAdapter PCB strictly a mounting board/platform or does it also provide shielding?
Is the UcHybrid completely passive (no chips, only supercaps) as opposed to the UcConditioner 3.3V?
What is the difference (aside from shape) between the UcMateConditioner (that goes on LiFePO4) and the UcConditioner?
Is the UcAdapter PCB strictly a mounting board/platform or does it also provide shielding?
Is the UcHybrid completely passive (no chips, only supercaps) as opposed to the UcConditioner 3.3V?
What is the difference (aside from shape) between the UcMateConditioner (that goes on LiFePO4) and the UcConditioner?
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Ian, would the UC conditioners be suitable to be fed by shunt type power supplies or are they really incompatible? I understand that they could make sense for the 5v conditioner to be fed by something like the linear Salas l adapter which can deliver well above 1.5A, but I also have a number of shunt 5v supplies. For example, I use one to feed a 200mA load and set the current limiter on the shunt supply to about 400mA. If I were to put the 5v UC conditioner in this circuit, I would expect to gain at least some improvement, but given the charge/discharge characteristics of the ultracaps would they be able to charge fast enough and/or would my shunt supply be shunting way too much current given that the load being drawn from the ultracaps? I could up the current limiter to 1.5amps or more but would be very concerned about shunting an extreme excess amount of current.
In short, do 5v or 3.3v applications requiring far under 1.5 amps make sense to power with a UC conditioner and a shunt supply or should I be focused on a non-shunting power supply?
In short, do 5v or 3.3v applications requiring far under 1.5 amps make sense to power with a UC conditioner and a shunt supply or should I be focused on a non-shunting power supply?
You need a series reg...(non shunting) or atleast an psu with a current limiting ldo on the end.
No matter what you set a shunt CCS to...charging ultracps demands tons of current if left unchecked. A shunt reg will sag massively I would expect and probably be damaged
An L adapter can supply up to 7 or so amps I believe but I think you still need an ldo to limit the current....or one of those cheap chinese CC/CV charging modules on the end of it
No matter what you set a shunt CCS to...charging ultracps demands tons of current if left unchecked. A shunt reg will sag massively I would expect and probably be damaged
An L adapter can supply up to 7 or so amps I believe but I think you still need an ldo to limit the current....or one of those cheap chinese CC/CV charging modules on the end of it
@jimk04,
That's not how I understand most shunt regulators (including Salas) work. ALMOST all shunt regulator circuits I've seen start with a series constant current source which sets the shunted current. This also acts as a current limiter AFAIK... please correct me if I am wrong. So I believe the current source will limit the charging current to a UC pair on the output until the UCs reach the regulators output voltage.
AFAIK, the more important questions is will the regulator be stable into a 10F-325F capacitor?
AND because the UC will charge at the current limit until it is at the terminal voltage, there may not be any headroom for powering the connected device while charging. Based on Ian's earlier comments, the UcConditioner will have a charging current limit. I remember that being 1A. I'm not sure if that is retained or changed in his latest version of the UcConditioner, but one will need to take that into consideration.
We'll know more when they get into the wild!
@stew1234, I have NOT personally tried UC's after a shunt regulator. I only have a couple of Reflektor-D's and some shunts that are a friend's design that use a similar topology but simpler circuit than Salas. For something like the UltraBiB or Reflektor-D, that'd be a question for Salas.
One inexpensive / quick n' dirty supply to use with the UcConditioner would be the 5V linear-regulated 1A wall warts from Jameco at $11 each. These also can be cracked open (carefully) & upgraded with improved diodes, caps, and adding transformer ringing suppression snubbers and a simple AC filter.
This one and the 12V/1A version also have some voltage headroom and use an adjustable regulator, so you can tweak them up or down a few volts OR tap into the raw DC if you like. I HAVE used my modified 12V/1A ones to power 5V Reflektor-D's with good effect. NO, they aren't reference-grade DC supplies. BUT even modified, they are $35 or less (depending on your part selection).
They'd also likely benefit from a regulator upgrade, but then you are spending more than 3x the cost of the base wallwart!
I reported on using modified Jameco Linear-Regulated Wallwarts powering a Allo Katana in posts 114 and 126 of this thread:
Getting the best out of Allo.com's new Katana DAC...
Post 114 was using them in place of my then-reference DC supplies. Post 126 was my 1st report on using UC pairs and I used the Jameco supplies as one of the DC supplies to keep them charged. Note at that time I was using NESSCAP UCs which to my ears added an emphasis in the upper midrange and lower treble which over time I could not endure. The current Maxwell units Ian recommends do not do this, again to my ears and in my setups.
My 2 cents!
Greg in Mississippi
That's not how I understand most shunt regulators (including Salas) work. ALMOST all shunt regulator circuits I've seen start with a series constant current source which sets the shunted current. This also acts as a current limiter AFAIK... please correct me if I am wrong. So I believe the current source will limit the charging current to a UC pair on the output until the UCs reach the regulators output voltage.
AFAIK, the more important questions is will the regulator be stable into a 10F-325F capacitor?
AND because the UC will charge at the current limit until it is at the terminal voltage, there may not be any headroom for powering the connected device while charging. Based on Ian's earlier comments, the UcConditioner will have a charging current limit. I remember that being 1A. I'm not sure if that is retained or changed in his latest version of the UcConditioner, but one will need to take that into consideration.
We'll know more when they get into the wild!
@stew1234, I have NOT personally tried UC's after a shunt regulator. I only have a couple of Reflektor-D's and some shunts that are a friend's design that use a similar topology but simpler circuit than Salas. For something like the UltraBiB or Reflektor-D, that'd be a question for Salas.
One inexpensive / quick n' dirty supply to use with the UcConditioner would be the 5V linear-regulated 1A wall warts from Jameco at $11 each. These also can be cracked open (carefully) & upgraded with improved diodes, caps, and adding transformer ringing suppression snubbers and a simple AC filter.
This one and the 12V/1A version also have some voltage headroom and use an adjustable regulator, so you can tweak them up or down a few volts OR tap into the raw DC if you like. I HAVE used my modified 12V/1A ones to power 5V Reflektor-D's with good effect. NO, they aren't reference-grade DC supplies. BUT even modified, they are $35 or less (depending on your part selection).
They'd also likely benefit from a regulator upgrade, but then you are spending more than 3x the cost of the base wallwart!
I reported on using modified Jameco Linear-Regulated Wallwarts powering a Allo Katana in posts 114 and 126 of this thread:
Getting the best out of Allo.com's new Katana DAC...
Post 114 was using them in place of my then-reference DC supplies. Post 126 was my 1st report on using UC pairs and I used the Jameco supplies as one of the DC supplies to keep them charged. Note at that time I was using NESSCAP UCs which to my ears added an emphasis in the upper midrange and lower treble which over time I could not endure. The current Maxwell units Ian recommends do not do this, again to my ears and in my setups.
My 2 cents!
Greg in Mississippi
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Yes, they are pure passive. No any feedback.
UcConditioner and UcMateCondtioner are same in function. But UcMateConditioner was designed working with LifePO4 Mk II/III power supply. For power supply other than, please use UcConditioner.
Ian
@stew1234,
UcConditioner works for shunt regulator. The only thing is that many shunt reg has limited output current that may not enough to maintain the voltage while charging the UC pack from empty. But that's only for the first time.
Solve this problem would be very easy. Just simply disconnect the load at first time using the UcConditioner. After UcConditioner enter conditioning state, turn off the power supply. And then connect the load, turn on the power as normal, no need worry about the issue any more.
Ian
Ian
@alazira
UcHybrid doesn't have any regulation chip. What you saw is the optical isolated MOSFET driver.
Lower voltage requires even lower ESR so the UcConditioner 3.3V design will be different.
Ian
Upgrad RaspberryPi audio with ConditionerPi
Upgrading with ConditionerPi could be the easiest way to improve RaspberryPi power supply.
ConditionerPiWithP4 by Ian, on Flickr
Ian
Upgrading with ConditionerPi could be the easiest way to improve RaspberryPi power supply.
ConditionerPiWithP4 by Ian, on Flickr
Ian
If you don't use the LifePO4 power supply for long time, please disconnect the cable between UcHybrid. It takes less than 1mA from battery cell. For normal use there will be no problem at all.
Ian
It could be, but need to confirm. I don't have this uc buy you can try if you want.
Ian
Hi, what you mean normal use? I have using my dac about 6h and im charging bateries.
Upgrading with ConditionerPi could be the easiest way to improve RaspberryPi power supply.
ConditionerPiWithP4 by Ian, on Flickr
Ian
Is this a new dac..? Onboard clock and seperate power rails?!