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B
5/98
AN-21
5
Lower values of input capacitance will reduce the available
output power. Going from 3 to 2
μ
F per watt will decrease the
output power by as much as 15% for Universal input. The
available power falls dramatically for values less than 2
μ
F per
watt.
The value of capacitor C1 also determines the average value of
the DC bus voltage. The Universal VAC Mains curves in
Figures 2 and 3 were generated with an average DC bus value
of 105 VDC while the 230 VAC Mains curves in Figures 4 and
5 were generated with an average DC bus value of 265VDC.
Other Considerations
Curves in this application note were generated from the typical
power supply parameters in Tables 1, 2 and 3. If measured
efficiency in a particular
TOPSwitch-II
application does not
agree with the values predicted from the curves, it is likely the
physical parameters of the measured power supply do not
match the tabular values. Use the guidelines below to get best
agreement between measurements and predictions.
When measuring efficiency from an AC source, use an
electronic wattmeter designed for average input power
measurements with high-crest factor current waveforms.
Do not simply measure RMS input voltage and RMS input
current. The product of these two measurements is input
volt-amperes or input burden (VA), not the real input
power in watts.
Use a DC voltage source to prevent AC ripple voltage
from modulating the duty cycle. Efficiency depends
heavily on actual DC input voltage. A convincing
experiment is to vary the DC voltage
±
15 V to see how
efficiency varies over the range of expected AC ripple
voltage.
Measure transformer leakage inductance accurately. Take
into account inductance of external circuitry, which can
increase effective leakage inductance by 30% or more.
Measure switching frequency accurately for the individual
TOPSwitch-II
in the circuit to account for component-to-
component variations.
Verify actual clamp voltage. Effective clamp voltage can
be 230 VDC or higher, even though the clamp Zener diode
is specified to be 200 V. See AN-16 for details.
Determine which physical power supply parameters do not
match the typical values in Table 3. Change (temporarily) to
components that match the parameters in the table until
measured efficiency matches the predicted value.