Power LED Driver Schematic Circuit Diagram

If you want to operate power LEDs with a truly constant current – which significantly prolongs the lifetime of the lamp – and avoid the power loss resulting from using a constant voltage supply with a series resistor, you need a suitable constant current source. However, the only way to achieve really good efficiency is to use a switching regulator. Altogether, this means that you need a switching regulator designed to generate a constant current instead of a constant voltage.

With this in mind, the author started working on the development of a LED pocket torch with especially high efficiency. Along with using high-capacity rechargeable batteries to maximize operating life, it’s worthwhile to be able to reduce the brightness, and therefore the operating current of the LEDs, when you don’t need full power. Accordingly, the author incorporated a dimming function in the design, based on operation in PWM mode to reduce power losses to an absolute minimum. As you can see from the circuit diagram, the author chose an LT3518 switching regulator IC, which is a buck/boost converter optimized for LED operation. Here it is used as a down converter (buck mode). This IC can achieve better than 90% efficiency in this mode, depending on the input voltage. According to the typical application circuit on the data sheet [1], its switching frequency can be set to approximately 170 kHz by selecting a value of 82 kΩ for R1. To maximize overall efficiency with this type of IC, the voltage drop over the sense resistor used to measure the current flowing through the LED should be as low as possible. This particular device operates with a voltage drop of 100 mV, corresponding to a current of just under 1.5 A with the specified value of 68 mΩ for R2. This value proved to be suitable for the Cree LED used by the author. At this current level, a diode with a power rating of at least 6 W should be used for D1.

IC1 has an additional property that is ideal for this application: the connected LED can be dimmed by applying a PWM signal to pin 7 of the IC, with the brightness depending on the duty cycle. Obviously, the PWM frequency must be lower than the switching frequency. The PWM signal is provided by IC2, a special voltage-controlled PWM generator (type LTC6992 [2]). The duty cycle is controlled by the voltage applied to the MOD input on pin 1 (range 0–1 V). The resistor connected to pin 3 determines the internal clock frequency of the IC according to the formula f = 1 MHz × (50 kΩ/R3). This yields a frequency of approximately 73.5 kHz with R3 set to 680 kΩ, which is much too high for controlling IC1. However, the PWM IC has an internal frequency divider with a division factor controlled by the voltage applied to pin 4, which in this circuit is taken from voltage divider R4/R5. The division factor can be adjusted over the range of 1 to 16,384. The division factor with the specified component values is 64, resulting in a PWM frequency of around 1,150 Hz. If you want to be able to generate a PWM signal with an adjustable duty cycle over the full range of 0 to 100%, you must use the LTC6992-1 option. The -4 option, which provides a range from 5 to 100%, might be an acceptable alternative. To prevent the duty cycle (and thus the brightness of the LED) from depending on the battery voltage, which gradually drops as the battery discharges, IC3 generates a stabilized 1.24 V control voltage for potentiometer P1. Series resistor R7 reduces the voltage over P1 to 1 V, which exactly matches the input voltage range of the LTC6992. All capacitors should preferably be ceramic types, in particular due to their low effective series resistance (ESR) as well as other favorable characteristics. However, only capacitors with X5R or X7R dielectric should be used; capacitors with type Y dielectric have very poor temperature characteristics.

The supply voltage is limited to 5.5 V by the maximum rated supply voltage of IC2. The author used four NiMH rechargeable cells connected in series, which yields a voltage that is just within spec. With an operating voltage in the range of 4.5 V to 5.5 V, you must use an LED that can operate at less than 4 V. This eliminates devices with several chips connected in series on a carrier, which is very often the case with power connected to this lower supply voltage. Finally, a few words about soldering. An exposed thermal pad must be provided on the PCB for the LT3518, and the rear face of the IC must be soldered to this pad. The author obtained good results by dimensioning the exposed pad large enough to extend beyond the outline of the IC. When assembling the board, first tin the pad and the rear face of the IC. Then heat the pad with a soldering iron. When the solder melts, withdraw the tip of the soldering iron to the edge of the pad and simultaneously place the IC on the pad and align it. After this, the pins can be soldered.

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