Any 12V AC powered IR illuminators out there?

105437

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I need more IR light back in my wooded area. I only have 12V AC power out there. I'm starting to look today for AC powered IR lights, but I'm hoping someone may know. I don't believe solar powered IR would work back there if there is such a thing. Thanks!
 

TonyR

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Or this ==>> Bridgold 5pcs KBPC5010 Bridge Rectifier Diode,50A 1000V Single Phase,Full Wave 50 Amp 1000 Volt Electronic Silicon Diodes,Through Hole 4-Pin

There are some smaller and cheaper full wave bridge rectifier packs but they require soldering. This has a mounting hole and allows soldering OR slip-on lugs. $9 for 5 pieces, too.

Just apply your 12VAC across the "AC" tabs and out comes the 12VDC on the positive "+" and the negative "-" tabs.
FullWaveBridgeRectifier.jpg

EDIT: In my haste I left out some important information. This bridge performs no regulation, only rectifying so more components are required on it's DC output. Thanks to @Mark_M for reminding me. It seems that 20 years of retirement has taken a toll on my gray matter..
 
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105437

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Great info guys, thanks for the replies. I had no idea AC -> DC converters like this existed! I should be able to get plenty of IR light back there now.
 

wittaj

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Or this ==>> Bridgold 5pcs KBPC5010 Bridge Rectifier Diode,50A 1000V Single Phase,Full Wave 50 Amp 1000 Volt Electronic Silicon Diodes,Through Hole 4-Pin

There are some smaller and cheaper full wave bridge rectifier packs but they require soldering. This has a mounting hole and allows soldering OR slip-on lugs. $9 for 5 pieces, too.

Just apply your 12VAC across the "AC" tabs and out comes the 12VDC on the positive "+" and the negative "-" tabs.
View attachment 168825
I assume one of these would work to convert AC back to DC for some of the doorbell cams that require DC?

My neighbor didn't want to change out his transformer because when he moves he plans to put a doorbell back.
 

TonyR

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I assume one of these would work to convert AC back to DC for some of the doorbell cams that require DC?

My neighbor didn't want to change out his transformer because when he moves he plans to put a doorbell back.
It should rectify incoming AC to DC out, so yes.
It performs no regulation, only rectifying.
 

Mark_M

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Just apply your 12VAC across the "AC" tabs and out comes the 12VDC on the positive "+" and the negative "-" tabs.
View attachment 168825
A bridge rectifier isn't truly DC.... it needs some electrolytic capacitors on the output.

It performs no regulation, only rectifying.
and you beat me to it :).


Example of a power supply using such a bridge rectifier, the capacitor is in parallel.
1690668704893.png

Here's the AC waveform of 12v RMS (16.97 peak-peak). Frequency is different for ease of viewing the graph.
1690667267018.png

If you put that through a bridge rectifier it just allows the positive half of the sinewave to come through. The voltage between the two output terminals is still fluctuating between 0v and peak voltage.
1690667364385.png


With a capacitor in parallel to your full-bridge rectifier, the output is smoothed a lot more but will still experience some voltage ripple.
1690667509880.png

Secondary of your AC transformer current is roughly 1.8 times current on the DC output (1.8 * I_dc.)
An IR spot light should handle some ripple fine..... more sensitive loads should have better regulation. You can buy buck-stepdown modules or linear voltage regulators for this.
1690668577485.png

Enough with equations..... LOL.
 

Gimmons

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I have a dc led strip light running off the 12v ac my landscape lights use. A simple bridge rectifier does the job. The strip light was cheap, so I wasn't afraid to try it without a regulator.
 

TonyR

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I have a dc led strip light running off the 12v ac my landscape lights use. A simple bridge rectifier does the job. The strip light was cheap, so I wasn't afraid to try it without a regulator.
Generally, in such an application you might get some flicker from the LED's due to no filter capacitor and/or no regulation but I would think it's no big deal, it's not like you are trying to use it to read by so some flicker is tolerable.:cool:
 

Gimmons

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For whatever reason, maybe a bunch of leds in the strip has some capacitance, I see no flicker. Or maybe 60 cycles per second is faster than I can see it.
 
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