What is a household voltage stabilizer for? Voltage stabilizer: what is it for

For many consumers, a voltage stabilizer is still associated with a noisy rattling box installed near a Soviet-era tube TV, which, among other things, could successfully serve as a heater for a small room. And even when an expensive device breaks down during a thunderstorm, not everyone understands that this would not happen with a good stabilizer.

The voltage stabilizer will protect electrical equipment from fluctuations in the mains voltage, which will allow:

● extend the service life of expensive machinery and equipment;

● prevent premature failure of household appliances and electronics;

● save energy, as at lower voltages, electrical appliances begin to consume more power.

What household appliances require stabilizers?

According to GOST, in Russian power grids deviations in the network up to 10% are permissible. This is in theory. In reality, in our country, GOST remains a purely theoretical concept, and deviations of only 10% can only be in big cities, and then in central regions. For the private sector, remote neighborhoods, and even more so for rural areas, deviations of 10% are a luxury. It is all the fault of the not modernized electric highways, designed for the needs of citizens of the 80s.

As a result, in practice, it turns out that at the slightest storm or welding work nearby, even the most modern models of household appliances in houses burn out, and popularly known “pilots” are not saved. In addition, in Russian realities, a direct consequence of the unstable voltage in the network is a reduction in the service life of electrical appliances and electronics, compared to those declared by the manufacturer.

Taking into account the real situation with Russian electricity, it is safe to say that 90% of household appliances and electronics require voltage stabilization, namely:

● TVs, since the input range of their built-in switching power supplies is in most cases narrower than the voltage run in a home network, as a result of which neither the power supply nor the fuses protect the device from short-term but critical voltage surges;

● refrigerators, since they have built-in from one to two compressors operating on asynchronous motors, the winding of which heats up and then burns out at a voltage below 210 V;

● air conditioners, microwave ovens, washing machines, pumps - they heat up and burn for the same reason as refrigerators, plus when the voltage is low or high, their electronic units malfunction;

● electrical appliances equipped with heating elements - heaters, modern electric stoves and ovens, water heaters - try to increase the current consumption at reduced voltage, and therefore consume more power, but emit less heat energy;

● computer equipment - freezes at low voltage and fails at high voltage.

It turns out a pretty impressive list of home devices that really need a high-quality voltage regulator.

Which voltage regulator to choose?

Currently, there is a large selection of stabilizers on the market that differ in the type of output voltage regulation: electromechanical, relay, thyristor or triac, as well as inverter. They all have different values \u200b\u200bof parameters such as regulation speed, input voltage limit range, stabilization accuracy, noise level during operation, however, any of them is able to adjust the voltage to the range in which appliances and the electronics will at least not burn. Nevertheless, when selecting a device in each specific case, it is necessary to determine in advance the required values \u200b\u200bof these parameters and select the device that best matches them. This will allow both to provide a suitable level of protection for the equipment connected to the stabilizer and save money by not buying a solution with better characteristics than required. If you want to purchase the most modern model, with which you can forget about any problems with voltage quality, then you obviously should opt for inverter voltage stabilizers, which are distinguished by instantaneous speed, high accuracy and the widest range of acceptable input voltage. These devices are naturally a little more expensive than solutions of the old generation, but such a generally small investment in a good stabilizer will guarantee to keep more serious investments in expensive equipment.

A 220V mains voltage stabilizer is a device that equalizes the voltage from the supply network to a certain value, and gives consumers stable 220 volts, regardless of surges and drops on the line. The installation of such a device will provide protection for electrical devices from abnormal operating modes, such as high or low levels. In this article we will consider the device and the principle of operation of voltage stabilizers, as well as the types of these devices and their area of \u200b\u200bapplication.

Definition

A voltage stabilizer (CH) is a device designed to convert the input unstable voltage from the mains: underestimated, overestimated or with periodic jumps, into a stable value at the output of the device and electrical appliances connected to it.

Let's paraphrase for dummies: the stabilizer makes it so that for the devices connected to it, the voltage is always the same and close to 220V, regardless of what it is supplied to its input: 180, 190, 240, 250 volts or even floats.

Note that 220V or 240V is the standard value for the Russian Federation, Belarus, Ukraine, and so on. But in some countries of near and far abroad, it may be different, for example 110V. Accordingly, "our" stabilizers will not work there.

Stabilizers are different: both for operation in DC circuits (linear and pulse, parallel and series types), and for operation in AC circuits. The latter are often called "mains voltage stabilizers" or simply "220V stabilizers". In simple terms, such stabilizers are connected to the mains, and consumers are already connected to it.

In everyday life, CH is used to protect both individual devices, for example, for a refrigerator or a computer, and to protect the whole house, in this case, a powerful stabilizer is installed at the input.

Classification

The design of stabilizers depends on the physical principles on which they operate. In this regard, they are divided into:

• electromechanical;
• ferroresonant;
• inverter;
• semiconductor;
• relay.

According to the number of phases, they can be single-phase and three-phase. A wide range of capacities allows us to produce stabilizers for both home and small household appliances:

• for TV;
• for a gas boiler;
• for the refrigerator.

So for large objects:

• industrial units (for example, three-phase industrial stabilizers Saturn);
• workshops, buildings.

Stabilizers are quite energy efficient. Electricity consumption ranges from 2 to 5%. Some stabilizing devices may have additional protections:

• from;
• from;
• from;
• from frequency drops.

Operating principle

Voltage stabilizers are of different types, each with a different regulation principle. We will consider these differences later. If we generalize the principle of operation and the structure of all types, then the mains voltage stabilizer consists of 2 main parts:

1. Control system - monitors the level of the input voltage and gives the command to the power unit to increase or decrease it, so that the output is stable 220V within the specified error (control accuracy). This error is within 5-10% and is different for each device.
2. The power section - in servo-driven (or servo-motor), relay and electronic (triac) - is an autotransformer, with the help of which the input voltage rises or falls to a normal level, and in inverter stabilizers, or as they are also called "double conversion" - an inverter is used ... This is a device that consists of a generator (PWM controller), a transformer and power switches (transistors) that pass or turn off the current through the primary winding of the transformer, forming an output voltage of the desired shape, frequency and, most importantly, magnitude.

If the input voltage is normal, then some models of stabilizers have a "bypass" or "transit" function, when the input voltage is simply supplied to the output until it goes out of the specified range. For example, from 215 to 225 volts, the "bypass" will be turned on, and with large fluctuations, for example, with a drawdown to 205-210V, the control system will switch the circuit to the power section and start adjusting, increase the voltage and the output will already have stable 220V with a given error ...

Smooth and most accurate adjustment of the output voltage for inverter MV, in second place are servo drives, and for relay and electronic ones, the adjustment takes place in steps, and the accuracy depends on the number of steps. As mentioned above, it lies within 10%, more often about 5%.

In addition to the two parts mentioned above, the 220V voltage stabilizer also contains a protection unit, as well as a secondary power supply for the control system circuits, the same protections and other functional elements. The general device is clearly demonstrated by the picture below:

At the same time, the scheme of work in its simplest form looks like this:

Let's take a quick look at how the main types of voltage regulators work.

Relay

IN relay stabilizer regulation takes place by switching the relay. These relays close certain contacts of the transformer, raising or lowering the output voltage.

The controlling body is an electronic microcircuit. The elements on it compare the reference and mains voltage. If there is a discrepancy, a signal is given by the switching relay to connect the increasing or decreasing windings of the autotransformer.

Relay MVs usually regulate electricity within ± 15% with an output accuracy of ± 5% to ± 10%.

The advantages of relay stabilizers:

• cheapness;
• compactness.

Disadvantages:

• slow response to voltage fluctuations;
• short service life;
• low reliability;
• when switching, a short-term power outage of the devices is possible;
• unable to withstand overvoltage;
• noise, clicks when switching.

Servo

The main elements of servo stabilizers are autotransformer and servo motor. When the voltage deviates from the norm, the controller sends a signal to the servo motor, which switches the required autotransformer windings. As a result of using such a system, smooth regulation and accuracy up to 1% of the total range are provided.

In servo-driven MV, one end of the primary winding of the transformer is connected to a rigid branch of the autotransformer, and the other end of the primary winding is connected to a movable contact (graphite brush), which is moved by a servo motor. One terminal of the secondary winding of the transformer is connected to the input power supply, and the second terminal is connected to the output of the voltage regulator.

The control board compares the input and reference voltage. For any deviations from the set ones, the servo drive comes into operation. He moves the brush along the branches of the autotransformer. The servo motor will continue to run until the difference between the reference and output voltage is zero. The whole process, from the inflow of poor quality electric power to the output of a stabilized current, takes tens of milliseconds and is limited by the speed of the brush movement by a servo drive.

Servo-driven mains voltage stabilizers are produced in various designs.

1. Single-phase. Consists of one autotransformer and one servo drive.
2. Three-phase. They are classified into two types. Balanced - have three transformers and one servo drive and one control circuit. Regulation is carried out on all three phases simultaneously. They are used to protect three-phase electrical devices, machine tools, devices. Unbalanced - they have three autotransformers, three servomotors and three control circuits. That is, stabilization occurs in each phase, independently of each other. Scope: protection of electrical equipment of buildings, workshops, industrial facilities.

Advantages of servo stabilizing devices:

• high-speed performance;
• high stabilization accuracy;
• high reliability;
• overvoltage resistance;

Disadvantages:

• need periodic maintenance;
• require minimal device setup skills.

Inverter

The main difference between this type of MV is the absence of moving parts and a transformer. Voltage regulation is carried out by the double conversion method. In the first stage, the input AC current is rectified and passed through a ripple filter consisting of. After that, the rectified current is fed to the inverter, where it is again converted into alternating current and supplied to the load. In this case, the output voltage is stable both in magnitude and in frequency.

In the next video, you will learn about the principle of operation of one of the options for implementing a voltage converter from 12V DC to 220V AC. Which differs from the inverter voltage stabilizer primarily in the input voltage, otherwise the principle of operation is very similar and the video will allow you to understand how this type of device works:

Advantages:

• speed (the highest of the listed);
• large range of regulated voltage (from 115 to 300V);
• high efficiency (over 90%);
• silent work;
• small dimensions;
• smooth regulation.

Disadvantages:

• reduction of the regulation range with increasing load;
• high price.

So we examined how a voltage regulator works, what it is for and where it is used. We hope the information provided was useful and interesting for you!

Materials

Whatever type of voltage regulator belongs to, its mission is to protect electrical appliances from low-quality alternating voltage. Maximum deviations from the norm in 220V, according to GOST, should be plus or minus 10%. These standards are clearly overestimated, but even their domestic power engineers manage to ignore. In this regard, with standard domestically produced stabilizers, the input voltage is kept within 150-260 V.

A voltage stabilizer becomes an urgent need when low voltage continually stops work or interferes with starting the refrigerator, forces the TV image to ripple, etc. By and large, all electronic household appliances require voltage stability, and this need is the more, the more the equipment is stuffed with electronics. And such is present, for example, in the so-called. economical lamps, which is not known to everyone.

In the conditions of our power grid, it is undesirable to use devices designed for consumers from the European Union. As in the CIS countries, in Russia a 10% difference with the "classic" voltage of 220V is considered acceptable. With a reference to these indicators, domestic electrical appliances are produced. Thus, even if the voltage is 198-242V, all these units should work without failures. The standards of European countries are more stringent, the spread is less here. As a result, the characteristics of the electrical equipment produced for Europe do not correspond to the parameters of our power grids.

If there are no visible "symptoms" of abnormal voltage, but there are doubts, a simple tester for a few dollars is enough to measure the performance of the network. It is easy to do this even for those who have never dealt with this device. It is most correct to take measurements for several days (preferably, it should be both weekdays and weekends), the time of day should also be different. In accordance with the testimony of the tester, one or another decision is made about the advisability of installing a stabilizer.

A voltage that is within the 205-235V range means that stabilizers can be supplied only for the most expensive and most important devices. If the voltage is greater or less than the range of 205-235V, if it changes sharply, if you can see that the light is blinking, but with all this it remains within 195-245 V, then the "indications" for installing the stabilizer are as follows: necessarily, for all other devices - very, very desirable. And finally, the presence of a stabilizer is an absolute must if the voltage values \u200b\u200bwere less than 195 or more than 245 V, if the voltage jumps from minimum to maximum during one day.

It will be useful to know that a voltage of 198V or 242V, which is considered the norm by domestic standards, actually leads to the fact that household appliances "live" much less than the time allotted to them. Moreover, the "old age" comes the earlier, the more electronics are used in the device. Wear increases significantly when the voltage goes beyond this range. It is the undervoltage that is responsible for the fairly common breakdowns of refrigerators. If the voltage is stable at the level of 160-190 V, then this equipment may refuse to work after only a year after the start of use - and such situations are not something out of the ordinary. The stabilizer will help to significantly increase the life of household appliances.