Core Questions (PC40, EE-25)

The_Ed

New member
I'm new here (Hi) and I've been interested in SMPS technology for quite a while. I'm an engineering student but I haven't taken Power Electronics yet. I really want to learn how to use this technology for my own personal use (I'm not trying to find homework answers, or look up designs to plagiarize for my final project). I'd really be interested in making a kilowatt-class supply, although I'd be more inclined to run my design off a car battery (or bank of them) than use an off-line supply. I have a cheap lawn-tractor battery for such occasions.

For a first project I'm trying to be realistic, so I'm looking for something like 25w. I have a few transformer cores that I ordered from Ebay. Mostly, they come to me broken but I get a few good ones. They are listed as PC40 (I'm guessing that's the ferrite mix) and EE25 (form factor). I looked up the type and the datasheet I read implied they are designed for 100 KHz operations and can go up to 100w. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess the broken ones I super-glued together aren't going to give me that level of performance but I might get 10w out of them. Maybe. There's also air-core inductors which won't saturate but I'm sure there's a reason they aren't widely used.

A lot of SMPS texts I have read don't give a whole lot of data on what a suitable inductor/transformer is, or where to get ones or how to make your own. Much of what I've seen is along the lines of "here's a list of good part numbers, have fun!". Except the part numbers are from a manufacturer out of business or can't be obtained in quantities less than 10,000.

So, I'm hoping this community will bring me closer towards my goals of making cool things. I'm also hoping I learn a lot.

Ed
 
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