This tool calculates the cap value (Farad) for a power supply. The power supply is either a full-wave or half-wave rectifier.
Calculator
Enter
- Type of power supply
- Desired ripple voltage (ΔV),
- Load current (I)
- Frequency of the power supply (f)
Example Calculation
For a full-wave rectifier, with a load current of 2 Amp, 60 Hz frequency and Ripple Voltage of 1 Volt the required capacitor is 16.7 mF. For a half-wave rectifier with the same input parameters, a 33.3 mF cap is required.
Note the larger the value of the cap, the larger the RC time constant. This is consistent with the fact that with a half wave rectifier, the settling (or discharge) time is longer.
Formula
C = ILOAD/(2*f*VRipple) for a full wave rectifier
C = ILOAD/(f*VRipple) for a half wave rectifier
where,
- ILOAD is the load current
- f is the frequency
- VRipple is the peak-to-peak voltage ripple (calculator)