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obama obama
wrote...
Posts: 60
Rep: 4 0
12 years ago
We are trying to build a circuit that will charge quickly and discharge at a controlled rate to ensure a time constant of 180 seconds.
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wrote...
12 years ago
I recommend charging the capacitor through one resistor, and discharging it through a different one.  Use an SPDT switch to select charge / discharge.

Just choose R(discharge) and C so that they multiply together to make 180.

Select whatever voltage you want.  Then, assuming the cap is fully discharged, choose R(charge) to be as low as possible for fast charging.  By "possible", I mean make sure that the product of voltage and current doesn't exceed the power rating of the resistor.

Ex: suppose you want to charge the cap to 12V, as fast as possible, and only have 1/4 watt resistors.  0.25 W / 12 V = 0.02083 A.  12 V / 0.02083 A = 576 ohms.  Use 576 ohms or higher.  Using less than that, and the resistor will dissipate more heat than it is rated for.

PS: Don't forget that it takes 5 Tau (5 time constants of RC) to fully charge or discharge a capacitor, practically speaking.  Charging or discharging for exactly 1 tau (R * C) will only accomplish 63% charge/discharge.
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