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[Amps] HV lytic max V ratings..some notes.

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Subject: [Amps] HV lytic max V ratings..some notes.
From: "Jim Thomson" <Jim.thom@telus.net>
Date: Fri, 9 Apr 2010 05:13:49 -0700
List-post: <amps@contesting.com">mailto:amps@contesting.com>
Somebody was asking abt how high you can safely operate a typ 450 v lytic. 
Per Cornel dublier's  eng notes, buried pretty good,  they say..[ and I don't 
know
if this pertains to new ...'wonder caps'  that pack a lot of uf into a small 
can,
or the older types].. for  commercial / military applications, don't run em over
75%  of their V ratings.   And for aerospace applications, don't run em over 50%
of their ratings. 

That's 75%  of the  working vdc.. NOT the ...'surge rating'.    Typ surge  V 
rating is
525 vdc.      That surge rating is typ 3-8 seconds MAX. 

They also  depicted  a graph of leakage current in micro amps VS  voltage,  
from 90-110%
of a 450 vdc  cap.   The leakage current dropped like a rock, when the cap was 
run at  90%
of it's rating  VS  100% .   They  don't  show leakage current < 90%... but it 
drops even more. 

I notice the stock  200 uf  @  450 vdc caps  in my 4 x old 1977 era  Drake 
L4B's  seem too last
forever. B+ on em is 2650 vdc  NO load on RX.   2650/3600 = 73.6%    A heath 
SB-220 and similar
amps  with the same  8 x 450 vdc caps, run at 3300-3600 vd.... don't fare as 
well after yrs of use. 

The L4PS  uses  100 k  2 watt  carbon comp resistors's and even those things 
didn't drift anywhere
near as bad as I thought they would.   [ I replaced both the caps and the 100 k 
resistors  with bigger
caps  and 3 watt, 1%  tol resistor's]

Regardless of hv cap value, [from 200 uf  up to 4800 uf],  a 100K 3 watt  MOF  
works  very well. 
The total bleeder current more than swamps out the leakage current of the 
caps... by a ratio of
10-15 : 1  

The absolute ideal eq resistor is the  VISHAY  100k  3 watt  MOF   1%  Tol 
units.   I bought 300
of em [100 per box]  and all  300 of em are exactly  200 ohms  on the low side 
of 100 K. [.02% low]
The kicker is.. there is no more than a few ohms difference  between all  300 
of em... and this is
3 x different lot #'s.       NO more  playing..'matchup'.   Just grab as many 
as you  need for a 
given project. 

Mouser  cat part #     CFP-31003FB14
Cust PN  71-CPF3-F-100K-T2
Vishay PN CPF3100K00FHB14 

These are only  [I think] 50 ppm  temp coefficient too.  W4ZE, Tony King [sk]  
put me onto
these Vishay / Mouser resistors a few yrs ago.  Tony was fed up with playing 
matchup all the time.

On these HB  HV supply's  I have been building, using surplus  HV lytic's,   I 
don't run the  caps  at
more than 68-75%  of their  working vdc ratings.   

The  resulting leakage current is through the floor.   Also, if any spikes, 
transients, surges,etc
gets past  the  250/277/120 vac MOV protection, the HV caps  will just absorb 
the spikes + transients.

These  surplus caps I have been using have bucket loads of uf anyway.. so it's 
not like I'm short
of total C.   As  far  as  surplus  lytics.. I have seen  everything from  1600 
uf, 2000 uf ,  2300 uf
2500 uf, 3900 uf, 4800 uf and now  10,000 uf.    There are also some good deals 
 on 350 vdc rated 
caps.. you just require more of them.   A buddy used a string of 30 x 5200 uf 
caps on a 7700 vdc
supply, with great success.   Every config tried always had the  100 K  3 watt  
mof  across it... and
also a RVS connected  6A10  safety diode.   The  resulting V drop  across  each 
cap is virtually
identical... within a few volts.   I put the Vishay  resistors in the 4 x drake 
amps as well.  

later... Jim  VE7RF   

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