Ripple voltage - safe zone

[Pdelcast]

Originally Posted by Big House

What is the safe zone for ripple voltage. I was comparing graphs of my XL2 with and with out cap packs and in looking at all three the highest ripple voltage i saw was 4v at 306 amps. Trying not to kill my controllers so any help is appreciated.

The safe zone depends on capacitor temperature. At 4V of ripple voltage, the capacitors are not going to survive long...

If you are really running those kinds of peak currents, I'd suggest an external capacitor pack (or 2!)

http://www.castlecreations.com/produ...-cap-pack.html

Thanks!

Patrick

[Dr_T]

Originally Posted by Pdelcast

If you are really running those kinds of peak currents, I'd suggest an external capacitor pack (or 2!)

Patrick, is the amount of ripple Voltage a good indication for the need to increase Capacitance? Say I am between 5-10% ripple Voltage (sort of ok zone, right?), would adding more Capacitance still lower the ripple and be beneficial?

Can one add too much Capacitance? More specifically: is there a maximum amount of Capacitance you would advice for a Mamba Monster or XL2?

Thanks!

[Pdelcast]

Originally Posted by Dr_T

Patrick, is the amount of ripple Voltage a good indication for the need to increase Capacitance? Say I am between 5-10% ripple Voltage (sort of ok zone, right?), would adding more Capacitance still lower the ripple and be beneficial?

Can one add too much Capacitance? More specifically: is there a maximum amount of Capacitance you would advice for a Mamba Monster or XL2?

Thanks!

You can't add too much capacitance... More is always better, but diminishing returns above about 1.2mf (1200uF)

Percentage isn't a good indicator either, the absolute ripple voltage is the best value to use. I prefer to see a ripple voltage below about 2V in my setups.

Thanks!

PAtrick