Then you would have a shunt type regulator you could turn on a dump load Or disconnect the panels to keep the battery from over charging. It wouldn't add that much to the cost and would protect a more costly battery. Just a thought.
Good idea, thanks.
Also, I think I've messed up a bit there and built a circuit that will fry trimpots if they're incorrectly adjusted - I think I should be using a lower-voltage zener with a 1k resistor between it and the trimpot. (ie. zener->resistor->connection to the transistor bases->trimpot).
I'll post an updated diagram once I've sorted that problem.
BTH[ Parent ]
How about, insteading of grounding the tap of the trimpot and hooking the diodes to the top, grounding the bottom of the trimpot and hooking the diodes to the tap?[ Parent ]
That would probably work too, but I gave this a try yesterday and now the whole thing works pretty much the way I intended it to:
If you want to increase the voltage spacing between the LEDs you can add an extra diode in series (as I've done with Q1).
I've revised the PCB layout a bit to accomodate the changes, and it now measures 100x25mm (4x1"). I'll post the artwork here if anyone is interested.
