I need a 12v, 1kHz-12kHz variable frequency oscillator circuit, with as high an amperage into a coil as reasonably possible.
I'm considering making a device to test for myself the claims of vendors hawking "salt-free" water conditioning as a substitute for or supplement to traditional, ion-exchange softening. Why not just buy one? Because the vendors are charging $500-1000 for them, and it seems to me they are much simpler than that. They do offer free trial periods, and I may consider that.
This thread is NOT about discussing the merits of the vendor claims, only in the circuitry required to perform a test. I'm aware there's a very good chance this is a scam. Even the design raises an eyebrow; they've put what looks like a huge heat sink on a device that consumes 5W.
One of the leading vendors describes the treatment here and in US Patent 5,074,998 (expired, or expiring in 2011).
As far as I can tell, the idea is to flow your home's water through a solenoid coil made by wrapping wire around your piping. The solenoid is fed an alternating current:
"Electronic water softeners signal produces a unique square wave current that sweeps all the frequency responses from 1,000 - 12,000 Hz at a rate of 20 times a second." (from http://www.promolife.com/water-puri...c-non-chemical-water-softeners/prod_1320.html) The patent above mentions a similar range of 700-3000Hz.
The commercial devices use very little power, less than 10 watts for sure and generally 5W or less. They disclose that the "application voltage" is 12v, although I can't tell what the actual oscillator voltage is. If they are truly pulsing any decent current (and not just selling fish oil), they must be using some sort of efficient oscillator to get that current with so little power consumption.
Any ideas about a circuit design?
I'm considering making a device to test for myself the claims of vendors hawking "salt-free" water conditioning as a substitute for or supplement to traditional, ion-exchange softening. Why not just buy one? Because the vendors are charging $500-1000 for them, and it seems to me they are much simpler than that. They do offer free trial periods, and I may consider that.
This thread is NOT about discussing the merits of the vendor claims, only in the circuitry required to perform a test. I'm aware there's a very good chance this is a scam. Even the design raises an eyebrow; they've put what looks like a huge heat sink on a device that consumes 5W.
One of the leading vendors describes the treatment here and in US Patent 5,074,998 (expired, or expiring in 2011).
As far as I can tell, the idea is to flow your home's water through a solenoid coil made by wrapping wire around your piping. The solenoid is fed an alternating current:
"Electronic water softeners signal produces a unique square wave current that sweeps all the frequency responses from 1,000 - 12,000 Hz at a rate of 20 times a second." (from http://www.promolife.com/water-puri...c-non-chemical-water-softeners/prod_1320.html) The patent above mentions a similar range of 700-3000Hz.
The commercial devices use very little power, less than 10 watts for sure and generally 5W or less. They disclose that the "application voltage" is 12v, although I can't tell what the actual oscillator voltage is. If they are truly pulsing any decent current (and not just selling fish oil), they must be using some sort of efficient oscillator to get that current with so little power consumption.
Any ideas about a circuit design?