Electronic – Problem With Power Supply.

bridge-rectifiercapacitorpower supplyresistors

I am using the following circuit to convert 230V AC into 12V and 3.3V DC.Here i am using a X rated capacitor instead of a transformer and i am taking 12V and 3.3V DC output from this circuit to power my loads.The circuit is build on a PCB and the PCB is properly covered in order to avoid direct electric contact to the mains through the circuit.Now the circuit is working fine.

But when i continuously power the circuit that is on and off the 230V AC input, some times the resistor R2(22ohm 1W) get damaged.I think the problem is due to the inrush current at the time of power on.

So please let me know that is this problem is due to inrush?
Is there any other reason for this?
If this is due to inrush what will be the suitable value for resistor to protect it from damage due to inrush?
How can i calculate the inrush current in this circuit?

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Best Answer

To calculate inrush, assume everything is discharged and the AC line is connected at its peak. You say your input is 230 VAC. That's assumed to be a sine, so the peak is 325 V.

The elements limiting the inrush current are R2 and C1, which are in series. Instantaneously, the 325 V is all applied across R2. How fast that decays depends on C1. Since the value for C1 is messed up in your schematic (all I see is "105"<something>) we can't help with that and you're on your own.

Even if the instantaneous energy dumped into R1 is low enough, the voltage may not be. R1 must not only be rated for the short term energy handling (different from sustained power rating), but also the voltage.

A obvious thing to do would be to change R1 to a 2 W resistor, and of course make sure it's rated for 350 V at least, then see what happens.

In general when dealing with line power, you should derate significantly since the cost of failure can be quite high.