1. Home
  2. Electronic Components
  3. How can I switch 100 Amps at VERY low voltage?

How can I switch 100 Amps at VERY low voltage?

Hi all,

After a half dozen re-writes, I realize I may be asking the impossible, but here goes...

What I need to do is supply 100 ADC to a .001 ohm load and reverse the polarity to this load every four seconds. I'm seeking a (least expensive) solution that can be used in lieu of multiple relays because I believe most contactor relays within my budget would be short-lived.

The most desirable characteristics in order of importance are:

1) Robust design (failure intolerant situation) 2) tolerate 50% duty cycle @ 100 Amps (100% if devices share the same case/heat sink?) 3) operate at as low a voltage as possible 4) Low thermal loss (lowest switching device saturation voltage) 5) easily mounted device(s) to facilitate heat sinking (i.e. TO-220 case style or chassis mountable) 6) easiest and/or most convenient drive requirements

Thus far, considerations have included; 4 3PST contactor relays, 2 contactor relays + 2 power sources, 4 SCR's, 2 SCR's + 2 power sources, MOSFET(s), and power transistor(s). IGBT devices were abandoned because I could not find one with low enough saturation voltage, and DC SSR's due to cost.

Optional control scenarios included programming the power source to zero current to turn off SCR's, and in the case of relay's, additionally firing an SCR across the p/s output to circumvent contact arcing (might not be possible if o/p voltage is under 1 VDC?). Obviously, an additional goal is a favorable MTBF of p/s('s) and component choice(s)... .

I have some junk box parts, consisting of used contactors that will support 100 ADC with paralleled contacts (coils are 24VAC, high wattage...), 4 SCR's are on order to at least try (MITSUBISHI TM200DZ-H's X2, but I don't expect these to meet characteristic #4 above), a few SSR's suitable for p/s input or contactor drivers, and several large heat sinks.

Can anyone recommend alternative device(s) (manufacturers & part numbers?!) or even a full switching/control scenario utilizing as much of my on-hand items as practical - that will generate the least amount of excess heat without eating up my two used power supplies that would cost me $4000+ each to replace if I had to do it during a test cycle... .

Thanks in advance!!!! Stephen Kurzban

Reply to
jdworley
Loading thread data ...

Why? An explanation would help to focus the answer.

FWIW, have you looked at magnetic blowouts?

Reply to
Homer J Simpson

Albright International have motor reversing contactors with magnetic blowouts and double-contact break on most of them.

We use their products a lot and have found them to be very reliable.

Carriage/Post might be a cost problem if you are outside the UK, but worth looking at.

The SW180 is probably the one to look at for single pole switching, but look through their site and see what suits you:

formatting link

Peter

-- Peter & Rita Forbes Email: snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk Web:

formatting link

Reply to
Peter A Forbes

Is it an inductive load ?

That makes a *big* difference.

Graham

Reply to
Eeyore

What rise / fall times can you tolerate? Even assuming a non-inductive load, it's going to take some time to switch that amount of current.

Note that even a non-inductive load will still have some inductance simply due to connectivity; very small admittedly on a good set of planes.

Cheers

PeteS

Reply to
PeteS

How about mercury relays. Four spst NO relays will work. These relays have very good overload capabilities. They will emit a lot of RFI when they open on an inductive load.

snipped-for-privacy@hiwaay.net wrote:

Reply to
Nermal

Resistance measurement similar to those taken with the galvanometer in a current comparitor bridge - the system is currently missing the accessories, one of which is a DPDT 100A high current switch. I'm designing a replacement for it.

Please tell me more :-) What is a magnetic blowout?

The biggest problem I'm seeing (besides cost) in a mechanical solution, is lack of DPDT contact arrangement, heat generation in driving the relay coil(s), and duty cycle.

I'll do an internet/Google search later today for "magnetic blowout", but I am primarily interested in a solid state solution because of the potential for mechanical failure due to the high duty cycle - thank you Mr. Simpson!

Reply to
jdworley

I found reference to them last night but no prices (yet) - and have the telephone number for their U.S. distributor so I can call them tomorrow. I do not know if I can afford their product line until then, but also, I have no idea what a "double contact break" is either (was planning on asking them that question). Same with the magnetic blowout (don't know what that is, didn't know to ask them, however ... thanks).

I would ultimately reconsider a mechanical solution if one was available in DPDT and the specifications were favorable.

What I've been seeing, is many of the manufacturers (I've talked to so far) are stating increased DC ratings of their lower current contactor relays. However, by the time you get to their higher current product lines (where they would support the 100 Amps I need, mostly with all contacts in parallel), they are actually de-rating the contacts at DC. Not sure why.

My primary goal, cost aside, is to avoid facing a mechanical failure at an inopportune moment - so I've been trying to focus on a robust solid state solution. ANY solution I choose, however, must not generate too much heat (the biggest stumbling block to a solid state solution, no?).

Does Albright offer a DPDT relay that can switch at least 100 ADC 450 times per minute through each contact (or 4PDT at over 50 ADC per contact)? If so, do you have any idea of the price range?

Thanks Peter - your input is appreciated!

Reply to
jdworley

Any :-)

Yes, load is "mostly" (per your observation) non-inductive.

Thanks Pete

Reply to
jdworley

You can get mosfets in the milli-ohm range.

Saturated switching is where these things can be used safely and effectively in parallel. The more you use in your full bridge arrangement, the lower the loss will be in the switch.

formatting link

With four fets per switch arm, switch loss would be half the loss in the 1mOhm load.

A full wave bridge at this voltage level could be driven directly with

15volt logic - though you'd want to keep the change-over slow, to allow the current to reverse without resorting to body diode paths.

RL

Reply to
legg

Mercury Relay.

--
"I'm never wrong, once i thought i was, but was mistaken"
Real Programmers Do things like this.
http://webpages.charter.net/jamie_5
Reply to
Jamie

Two 2-pole 100A mercury contactors would do the trick. IIRC, they take longer to break than to make, but if your power supplies limit smartly that might not be an issue (in fact, shorting might be the way to go). They are available with 120VAC coils. I'd expect around $500 total. Durakool is one of several makers. Good for millions of operations.

Alternatively, you could use four of something like this:

formatting link
$35/ea. at Digikey.

in an H-bridge configuration. You'll be burning up 90% of the PS output in the two MOSFETs that are on at once, in this case.

The mechanical contactors will work too, but the noise might drive anyone in close proximity mad.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

--
"it's the network..."                          "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com             Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog  Info for designers:  http://www.speff.com
Reply to
Spehro Pefhany

Thanks for the input Nermal

Allied Electronics had a "mystery unit" listed I planned to follow up on (SRC Devices # MSS71A12). Just did - it's very low current...

Magnecraft makes one I can parallel (WM60AA-120A) but preliminary searches Friday indicated four of these would be out of my price range.

Two Tyco PRD-11AG0-120 relays might work, but are more than I want to spend (over $60 total) until I know if the SCR's I have coming are going to work out - and - if a solid state solution would be more reliable/cheaper, that would still be my first choice since the Tyco unit might not stand up to the duty cycle long enough to make it cost effective. Same with some Stancor's I just looked at ($84 - $120 for two SPDT, 100A or 200A at Mouser).

I can spend > $50 (more than I already have!) on a solution, but if I do, I'm hoping it would be reliable (permanent) and not run too hot - and I prefer to avoid mechanical solutions for that price unless there is no practical electronic one...

Reply to
jdworley

snipped-for-privacy@hiwaay.net wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@hiwaay.net:

Are these parts specified for high volts (>200V) as well, i.e. switchgear for mains supplies? If so, it could be because DC at high volts and high amps can make an arc on breaking contact, that is hard to stop. Even with arc supression, I think there is more contact wear with DC.

Reply to
Lostgallifreyan

You might have a look at the Kilovac APX-150 relays at

formatting link
They're now a division of Tyco. They can handle lots of current, have very low contact resistance, and are vacuum sealed, which significantly reduces arcing and contact damage. I think that they might even have an inert gas in them. I worked on a project years ago that used a similar Kilovac relay and they performed well. No idea what they cost.

Reply to
reglarnavy

Take a look at some application notes for multi-phase buck regulators. International Rectifier

formatting link
and others offer parts for this approach. I would envision that you could use 2 regulator configurations (one for each polarity). By leaving the ground side mosfets on during the time the other regulator array is active, you would complete the circuit. The multiphase approach allows the use of multiple mosfets without the need to parallel them.

Reply to
Gary Reichlinger

How much loss can the switch have? is the supply a current source or a 0.1 V voltage source?

My first thought would be a TO-247 Mosfet H bridge with 2 - 4 0.002Rds FETs per switch (8 to 16 total FETs.)

with 4 FETs per switch your looking at .5mohms per switch so thats .001ohms through both the top and bottom switch in the bridge.

At 100 amps your looking at .1V of drop and 10 watts of Pd. That would mean your source would need to provide .2V to get 100 amps through the load.

You will need to drive fets with mofet drivers located close to the FET gates. I'd use at least 12V for hard saturatinon.

If you need lower contact resistance than 0.001 ohms you will have a diffiult time. :(

Reply to
Mook Johnson

Don't have that kind of money for the relays, especially when there is no DPDT version (requiring the purchase of at least two..). I did look at these from Magnicraft (sp) though.

Hmmm - missed the $35 each, spent over an hour looking these up and seeking alternatives when the one price I found was $40.00. Very nice solution, but in this incarnation, more than I can afford when you add up the need to purchase 4 (eight?) of them. I did see they were much higher voltage rated than I need though - and went to the manufacturer's site to see if I could identify another cheaper alternative device at lower voltage rating. Unfortunately, the site stopped working and I couldn't download the spreadsheet - when all was said and done, I came away with no alternative devices and no pricing...

Astute observation about the 90%! I am thinking with the right devices, and several paralleled, perhaps that can be dropped down to 50% - but even at 90% its a win over mechanical switching.

I wonder if anyone knows of a MOSFET switching device at low voltage and low cost...

THANK YOU FOR THE HELPFUL INPUT!!!!!!!!!!!

Best, Steve K.

P.S. I will be calling ST MicroElectronics on Monday.

Reply to
jdworley

Reply to
jdworley

Hi,

Sent reply by e-mail but it bounced - not edited for ng...

Thanks for the reply ... running out of time today (gotta run some errands)

- do you have any links on the parts involved? I don't know if the "TO-247 Mosfet H bridge" you mention below is a circuit reference or part (?), will be very interested if you have the time to respond - thanks you for your input!

Best, Steve K.

p.s. HP power supply > > Hi all,

Reply to
jdworley

ElectronDepot website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.