The Most Versatile Voltage Converter you never heard of! The (S)EPIC Converter
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Date: 2022-06-19
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Comments and reviews: 9
Huseyin
I found a moderately high power (5a or 60w) buck/boost converter. What I found was a decrease in efficiency, increase in heat. My aim was to power 4g modem/router on boats, which operates in high temperatures (on sea, on summer, in Turkey. Boats are like cars, while engine is running voltage contains lots of jitter due to charging alternator. And just like cars, in small boats there is not a service battery, which means while engine is not running voltage is 12v. While starting the engine, voltage can drop down to 10v. While engine is running, there is a lot of noise (or jitter) and voltage is 14. 4v.
My solution was to use two coils, then a group of capacitors then a boost converter (increases the voltage to 15v) then a buck converter (reduces the voltage to 12v. This devides the heat dissipation, reduces the jitter and just works.
But in lower power applications (like 1-2amps) buck-boost converters works very nice.
reply
I found a moderately high power (5a or 60w) buck/boost converter. What I found was a decrease in efficiency, increase in heat. My aim was to power 4g modem/router on boats, which operates in high temperatures (on sea, on summer, in Turkey. Boats are like cars, while engine is running voltage contains lots of jitter due to charging alternator. And just like cars, in small boats there is not a service battery, which means while engine is not running voltage is 12v. While starting the engine, voltage can drop down to 10v. While engine is running, there is a lot of noise (or jitter) and voltage is 14. 4v.
My solution was to use two coils, then a group of capacitors then a boost converter (increases the voltage to 15v) then a buck converter (reduces the voltage to 12v. This devides the heat dissipation, reduces the jitter and just works.
But in lower power applications (like 1-2amps) buck-boost converters works very nice.
reply
Gianluca458
I have a DC to DC converter which have 3 inductors. Yeah. Its a buck boost converter but at the same time converts a single supply input into a double supply output. Its incredibly useful, but the problem is that it can output only 20w max.
Is there a way to build such a circuit that can output a bigger amount of power like 200 or 400w?
It can be incredibly useful to run POWERFUL audio amplifiers without transformer, just from a battery. Please, this is probably the most interesting voltage converter and in my opinion its worth giving it a shot.
I used JLCPCB for the first time a few days ago and ordered some boards (layout made by me, schematic found on the internet and made better. They are 200w audio amplifiers but they require a double supply.
Its propably possibile build one of those, but i cant design it unfortunately. Some online schermatics dont look so promising.
reply
I have a DC to DC converter which have 3 inductors. Yeah. Its a buck boost converter but at the same time converts a single supply input into a double supply output. Its incredibly useful, but the problem is that it can output only 20w max.
Is there a way to build such a circuit that can output a bigger amount of power like 200 or 400w?
It can be incredibly useful to run POWERFUL audio amplifiers without transformer, just from a battery. Please, this is probably the most interesting voltage converter and in my opinion its worth giving it a shot.
I used JLCPCB for the first time a few days ago and ordered some boards (layout made by me, schematic found on the internet and made better. They are 200w audio amplifiers but they require a double supply.
Its propably possibile build one of those, but i cant design it unfortunately. Some online schermatics dont look so promising.
reply
Motion_Dude
Again a great video. The explanations are really easy to follow and very well illustrated.
What I was wondering though, is where the losses come from in this kind of circuit. Could the increase of the efficiency be traced back to the lower ESR from the coils maybe? The commercial ones had around 2 ohms and the DIY had a little less if I saw correctly.
And how about the diode? What was the forward voltage there? It would be really interesting to see those values. Well, if the efficiency is of interest anyway.
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Again a great video. The explanations are really easy to follow and very well illustrated.
What I was wondering though, is where the losses come from in this kind of circuit. Could the increase of the efficiency be traced back to the lower ESR from the coils maybe? The commercial ones had around 2 ohms and the DIY had a little less if I saw correctly.
And how about the diode? What was the forward voltage there? It would be really interesting to see those values. Well, if the efficiency is of interest anyway.
reply
Rockscanfly
One design improvement that we weren't able to get running effectively was to replace the diode with another MOSFET. It would theoretically improve the efficiency of low voltage output considerably but getting the timing right is a pig. It'd be great if you were to make a video on it
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One design improvement that we weren't able to get running effectively was to replace the diode with another MOSFET. It would theoretically improve the efficiency of low voltage output considerably but getting the timing right is a pig. It'd be great if you were to make a video on it
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FairFrozen55
You got any videos of using the DC Convertors to charge any lithium batteries? I bought a handheld blower that seems to not charge, wanted to try recharging the battery but I dont know how I could do that, a video to reference would be very helpful.
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You got any videos of using the DC Convertors to charge any lithium batteries? I bought a handheld blower that seems to not charge, wanted to try recharging the battery but I dont know how I could do that, a video to reference would be very helpful.
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dhruv
Is this commercial Buck converters are coming with close loop control (I mean, is it change its duty according to the change in output voltage? As we know, the output voltage may change with change in load. Please, give your thoughts) Thanks, in advance
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Is this commercial Buck converters are coming with close loop control (I mean, is it change its duty according to the change in output voltage? As we know, the output voltage may change with change in load. Please, give your thoughts) Thanks, in advance
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BRUXXUS
It s kind of amazing that buying two inductors is significantly cheaper than a single coupled one. I suppose there s just not a big enough market for them to compete on price, huh?
Super cool video! Especially the DIY circuit at the end.
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It s kind of amazing that buying two inductors is significantly cheaper than a single coupled one. I suppose there s just not a big enough market for them to compete on price, huh?
Super cool video! Especially the DIY circuit at the end.
reply
Charles
Not sure if it's a SEPIC but I have a Zk-SJVA-4X buck/boost converter (outputs up to 30V, they say it can take 50W with proper heat dissipation but idk whether to believe them) that uses two wires wound around a single ferrite core.
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Not sure if it's a SEPIC but I have a Zk-SJVA-4X buck/boost converter (outputs up to 30V, they say it can take 50W with proper heat dissipation but idk whether to believe them) that uses two wires wound around a single ferrite core.
reply
Dominik
Is it just a mistake on your DIY schematics or source of Q1 is really not grounded? How the DIY version compares to the others when it comes to efficiency?
Great video, I love your videos on power converters. Very educational.
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Is it just a mistake on your DIY schematics or source of Q1 is really not grounded? How the DIY version compares to the others when it comes to efficiency?
Great video, I love your videos on power converters. Very educational.
reply
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