Automatic LED Emergency Light-Modified Version

Hi All Readers of CircuitsToday, As there is serious discussions going on about our previous Automatic LED Emergency Light Circuit using LM 317, Mr.Seetharaman has come up with a modified version of the same which answers many of the doubts raised in our Comments section. Note: Mr.Seetharaman has developed a new version of Automatic LED emergency light. This one is more simple,more efficient and uses minimum components. Take a look: Simple Emergency Lamp Circuit Here follows Seetharamans Description about the Modified Automatic LED Emergency Light using LM 317. Dear John Since there were lots of doubts from our readers on the LED emergency light, I have written a detailed letter to two of our readers. Of course few modifications are required, which I have indicated on the drawings and on calculations how I arrived at it. I thought of enclosing it to you so that it can be kept in some library of our site for any ones reference. For each circuit we can have a similar detailed theory, may not be with all calculation, just general operation theory of each part of the circuit. You may think of it. As a first feed back I am sending this. I have a feeling that most of the people would have made the mistake in base emitter of BD140, the lead out are against normal convention.

To understand the above circuit in a better way, it can be divided into two parts. 1. LED lamp circuit 2. The Battery charger circuit
LED Lamp circuit

1. All are white hi bright LEDs rated for 3Volt @ 25mA 2. The total current requirement is 12 X 25 = 300mA 3. This current has to flow through T2 BD140 PNP transistor 4. The minimum current gain (hfe) of this transistor @ 500mA is 50 5. Hence the base current Ib requirement is Ic / hfe, 300 / 50 = 6mA 6. Base emitter drop of T2 at 500mA is 0.77 volt 7. With the fully charged battery at 6.9volt terminal voltage (for cycle operation use) the voltage available across the new bias resistance is (6.9 0.77) 8. Hence the bias resistance is = 6.13 / 6 = 1000ohms 9. As the battery drains the final terminal voltage will be 5.4volt 10. The bias resistance will be (5.4 0.77) / 6 = 770 ohms Hence a 680 ohms was preferred for bias resistance with drained battery also it will give enough brightness. 11. The very important information about BD140 is, as you view the pins, metal portion of the transistor facing down left is emitter centre collector and right is base. Most of the constructors make this mistake, relying on the convention that left base and right emitter. If you have made this mistake please correct it. Once this portion is checked for reliable operation we will proceed to charger portion.

The Battery charger circuit

1. The battery requires a full terminal voltage of 6.9V at this point charger should cut off. 2. That is the voltage across the chain ZD1, R2 and T1 be should be 6.9 volt 3. T1 be voltage of 0.7 volt plus drop across R2 and zener voltage should be 6.9V 4. T1 be current = Ic / hfe 5. Ic is 1.25 / 180 = 7mA 6. Ibe = Ic / hfe of T1 i.e = 7 / 70 = 100uA 7. Drop across R2 =1.2 X .1 mA = 0.12volt 8. Hence Zener voltage = 6.9 (0.7 + 0.12) = 6.08 the near by preferred zener voltage is 6.2 volt 9. Say the battery voltage at full charge will be 7 volt with 6.2 volt zener diode 10. To calculate R16 value for charging at 1 /10 th of the rated current of the battery 4.5AH / 10 = 450mAH 11. Transformer 9volt AC the voltage across C1 will be 9 X 1.414 = 12.6 volt 12. The drop across LM317 at 450mA current for good regulation is 3volt 13. The drop across protective diode D5 is 0.7 volt. 14. The voltage available at cathode of D5 is 12.6 (3+0.7) = 8.9volt 15. The battery after fair discharge will be at 6 volt 16. Hence R16 = (8.9 7) / 0.45 = 6 ohms 17. The nearby standard value for operation is 5 ohms. 18. At the end point of battery 5.4 volt the maximum charging current can be of (8.9 5.4) / 5 = 0.7 amps well within the higher charging limit of the battery. 19. With this circuit over night the battery will get charged fully. 20. Over charging is taken care and protected by T1 Hope with the above guide line you can make your light work successfully.

More Modification!!!
Automatic LED Emergency Light with Under Voltage Cut Off Protection:

Dear Readers, Mr. Seetharaman has further modified this LED Emergency Light with an under voltage cutoff protection to protect battery from deep discharge. Once the battery terminal voltage falls below 5.7 volts the LEDs will be switched off. Take a look at the modified circuit shown below.

24V lead acid battery charger circuit

Description. This lead acid battery charger circuit is designed in response to a request from Mr.Devdas .C. His requirement was a circuit to charge two 12V/7AH lead acid batteries in series.Anyway he did not mentioned the no of cells per each 12V battery. The no of cells/battery is also an important parameter and here I designed the circuit assuming each 12V battery containing 6 cells. When two batteries are connected in series, the voltage will add up and the current capacity remains same. So two 12V/7AH batteries connected in series can be considered as a 24V/7AH battery. The circuit given here is a current limited lead acid battery charger built around the famous variable voltage regulator IC LM 317. The charging current depends on the value of resistor R2 and here it is set to be 700mA. Resistor R3 and POT R4 determines the charging voltage. Transformer T1 steps down the mains voltage and bridge D1 does the job of rectification. C1 is the filter capacitor. Diode D1 prevents the reverse flow of current from the battery when charger is switched OFF or when mains power is not available. Circuit diagram.

Notes.
y y y y y y y

Assemble the circuit on a good quality PCB. T1 can be a 230V primary, 35V/3A secondary step down transformer. If 3A Bridge is not available, make one using four 1N5003 diodes. LM317 must be fitted with a heat sink. R2 = 0.85 ohm is not a standard value. You can obtain it by combining a 6.2 ohm and 1 ohm resistors in parallel. F1 can be a 2A fuse. To setup the charging voltage, power ON the charger and hook up a voltmeter across the output terminals and adjust R4 to make the voltmeter read 28V. Now the charger is ready and you can connect the batteries. This charger is specifically designed for two 12V/7AH/6 cell lead acid batteries in series OR a 24V/7AH/12 cell lead acid battery.