Announcing the next generation: UltraCap LPS-1.2 (Now 5/7/9/12V! ; Now with parallel LT3045 regulators!)

[Superdad]

On 12/19/2018 at 1:15 PM, rickca said:

 @Superdad can you please comment on the following Q&A from Farad Power Supplies designed by Mattijs de Vries from Pink Faun.

 

Why are you using the super capacitor power bank as smoothing capacitors and do you not switch between one bank while loading the other?

There are several reasons why we do not do this. First it means extra switching electronics in the supply lines, second it means that you are using only half of capacity of the super caps at a time. Third and maybe most important, it means that the final regulator does not get a constant voltage at its input, meaning different voltage drop, and therefore slowly varying power dissipation and temperatures all the time. This influences the output characteristics of the regulator, and the output power quality. 

 

John already addressed the fact that Mattijs statement that the final regulator—in our bank-alternating design—does not get a constant voltage at its input is incorrect.

 

But I also want to address something implied above and specifically in another section of their FAQ, wherein they incorrectly state:

Why do your supplies only have one fixed output voltage?

The power dissipation of a linear regulator is dependent on the ingoing and outgoing voltage and current. Therefore the only way to make the output flexible is to make the input voltage flexible or by using switching power regulators, as many other brands do. Both of these ways are very sub-optimal designs. 

=============

 

UpTone Audio's UltraCap units do not use any switching regulators in the isolated sides!  What we do, and this is part of the genius of John’s design--is to vary the voltage that each bank gets charged up to, then disconnect the charging (optoisolaters, etc., remember we have multiple, galvanically isolated power domains).  

Simplified, it works like this:

1) The bank of caps not in use at any given instant gets charged to 5V above whatever the LPS-1.2's output switch is set to (e.g. if the user sets to 12V, then the bank is charged to 17V);

 

2) The charging circuits are then 100% disconnected from this bank (the ultracaps are then a pure "battery" at this point, discharging only--which BTW makes their ESR essentially irrelevant as opposed to caps that are charging while discharging, but that's a more technical discussion which I'll leave to John at some point);

 

3) This isolated "pure bank" then feeds a TI TPS7A4700 regulator with--in the 12V output setting example 17V, and the TI reg is set to regulate to 13V--to input 1V above to the final regulators.

 

4) Thus the paralleled pair of high PSRR, ultra-low-noise, ultra-low-output impedance, Linear Technology LT3045 regulators is always fed with a pure voltage that is 1V above whatever the output setting is.

 

5) The ultracap bank is only allowed to drop by 3V before we alternate to the other bank (which has been charging while the active bank was being used).  So in our 12V setting example, the "battery" bank is allowed to discharge from 17V down to 14V (and that 14V is 1V above the 13V being fed to the final regs.)  Thus the intermediary linear regulators are only ever asked to dissipate the wattage of between a 1-4V drop.

 

Unfortunately, this new firm is not the first to misunderstand our sophisticated design.  There is another company whose website FAQ speciously states that our product (well he does not name us but there are no other bank-alternating ultracap supplies on the market) outputs a "saw-tooth pattern with sharp peaks and valleys."  Seriously?! 

 

Hope this clears things up a bit.  

 

Oh, and here is a pic from the Banff, Alberta, Canada ski vacation my wife and I just returned from (celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary!).  It was spectacular.  We got exercise, ate like royalty, and I managed not to gain pounds. Now that's what I call a successful (though expensive) vacation!  

 

Happy holidays everyone!

 

--Alex C.

 

[Superdad]

45 minutes ago, R1200CL said:

I couldn’t find the user guide on your home page. 
I need to understand how the light sequence ought to be, and what blinking means. 

Hi Andreas:

The User Guides for both the original UltraCap LPS-1 and the UltraCap LPS-1.2 can be found on the Q&A page for those models, here:

https://uptoneaudio.com/pages/ultracap-lps-1-q-a

 

Removing and reapplying "energizing"/charging power to a UltraCap unit results in a much longer turn-on cycle than if the unit had been sitting unpowered for a while.  That is because it has to fully discharge--so it knows where it is at when it recharges.

 

As far as LED meaning--after full red>amber>green boot cycle is completed (and for test you should do with nothing attached to the output):

--With load attached, 5 red flashes, then one green flash, then 5 red again--repeating, means that the load exceeds the UltraCap units 1.15A maximum.  

 

[The green flash in the middle is the unit checking to see if load has reduced. So with a device (perhaps a Rendu) where new application of power begins its own boot-cycle that might not over-draw until partway through, the green LED of the UltraCap might stay on a bit longer--until the device does actually draw more than can be delivered. Such is sometimes confusing for some.]

[Superdad]

29 minutes ago, acousticmood said:

Can you help?

Happy to assist. Please contact us directly via the Contact Us page on our website. Be sure to include your last name so that we can locate your order in our system.

If by chance you already sent a message in the past 24 hours then you sure to hear back from me shortly. I was out of the office yesterday so playing catch-up with e-Mail today.

Thanks,

—Alex C.

[Superdad]

2 hours ago, acousticmood said:

Thanks Alex I left a message on the website and also gave you a call.

 

have a good weekend - we’ll follow up week

 

 

Hi George:

I am a bit concerned since I replied to your e-mail about 5-6 hours prior to your above message.  Please check your SPAM folder.  (Got your voice mail as well, but my e-mail reply was fuller concerning your 4.5 year old unit.) 

You are welcome to telephone again after the weekend--especially if you have not been able to find my e-mail.

Thanks,

ALEX