circuit to draw a constant current from a lead acid battery

Thread Starter

gkasun

Joined May 2, 2015
6
I supposed to draw a constant current from a lead acid 12v car battery.
i need a help to implement a circuit for that.
is there any proper circuit ?
 

Attachments

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,846
For some reason, that circuit looks to me to be very dangerous to the transistor.

How much current do you want to draw? How low do you expect to run the 12V battery?
 

crutschow

Joined Mar 14, 2008
34,285
Here's a simple constant-current circuit that should work for you.
Note that the top transistor must be a power type rated to carry at least twice the maximum current you want, and must be on an appropriate heat sink for that current and the voltage across it from the battery.
The base resistor carries the required base current for the collector current from the battery based upon the minimum transistor current gain (β or hFE).
 

Thread Starter

gkasun

Joined May 2, 2015
6
wow thank u for quick replies
i didn't think so.
actually i want to draw constant current from a lead battery and graph lead acid battery voltage variation with time.
 

wayneh

Joined Sep 9, 2010
17,496
A quick and dirty approach is to just use a headlight. A fully charged battery might start at 13.5V and should not be run down past 12V, maybe 11V if you're pushing it. So the voltage fades 2.5V/13.5V or nearly 20%. The current in the headlight will drop a bit less because the resistance of the filament falls as it cools.

So yes, the current will fade as the voltage drops, but that small error can be estimated and might be insignificant compared to whatever you're testing for, for instance good versus bad battery.

The headlight is designed to shed heat and gives visual feedback.
 

ian field

Joined Oct 27, 2012
6,536
I supposed to draw a constant current from a lead acid 12v car battery.
i need a help to implement a circuit for that.
is there any proper circuit ?
There are 2 classic text book current regulators that you can find easily online, the first is a basic emitter follower that you include a current sensing resistor in series with the emitter - a second transistor is connected with its B/E junction across the sense resistor, when the current is enough to develop 0.6V across the sense resistor it biasses on the second transistor - its collector is tied to the emitter follower's base and shunts its bias to control the current.

The single transistor variety is a little like the full automatic bias common emitter stage; the base is fed by a voltage from a potential divider, from the emitter resistor's point of view its an emitter follower delivering Vref minus 0.7V - so a fixed emitter resistor will have a fixed voltage and pass a fixed current. Ie=Ib + Ic, so the collector current will be only a tiny bit less than the current in the emitter resistor.

A fixed Vref for the base is better than a potential devider - among the favourites for a fixed volt drop are a series pair of silicon diodes or a green LED.
 

Thread Starter

gkasun

Joined May 2, 2015
6
This is not an assignment.i supposed to compaire different batteries under how drain there current with time.
To do that i need to build a constant current draining circut.
So i need to find a most suitable circuit to do that.
Finaly i hope to draw a graph of each battery voltages with time.
 

ian field

Joined Oct 27, 2012
6,536
This is not an assignment.i supposed to compaire different batteries under how drain there current with time.
To do that i need to build a constant current draining circut.
So i need to find a most suitable circuit to do that.
Finaly i hope to draw a graph of each battery voltages with time.
If its a car/caravan battery - you'll need a *HUGE* heatsink.

Usually, I just gang as many H4 headlamp bulbs as I think I'll need. Its not accurate, but gives me a reasonable idea.

The dipped beam filament gets the most wear, so its easy to scrounge scrap bulbs with the HB filament still good.

Don't lay the bulbs on wooden floorboards - they'll scorch!
 

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
29,978
K .its fine.actualy i hav not decided yet that what is the drain current.
Well, that really matters.

A circuit that will deliver a 0.5A constant current is very different from one that will deliver 50A of constant current.

If you want one that is scalable, then that isn't too hard.

But you need to decide just what the problem is that you are trying to solve before you proceed to solve it.
 

ian field

Joined Oct 27, 2012
6,536
Well, that really matters.

A circuit that will deliver a 0.5A constant current is very different from one that will deliver 50A of constant current.

If you want one that is scalable, then that isn't too hard.

But you need to decide just what the problem is that you are trying to solve before you proceed to solve it.
AFAICR: battery manufacturers base their Ah capacity on a 20 hour discharge rate - if you discharge a 60Ah battery at 60A, it won't last 1 hour.

IMO: a simple resistor is good enough for the TS requirements - simply calculate the resistance for 1/20 of the Ah rating and check the voltage at 20 hours.

I usually use old headlamp bulbs of known rating - its not accurate, but it gives a fair idea whether the battery does what it says on the tin.
 
Top