12V AC-DC MC34063

LED Buck Driver

Application
Brief

Roger Miller
FAE
ON Semiconductor

October 22, 2003

Driving One 350 ma LED from a 12V source

Figure 1 shows a schematic for driving one 350 ma LED from a 12V DC source. The
MC34063 is used in a step down topology. The chip is a basic DC/DC controller with a
1.5A switch. The current through the LED is sensed by a 3.6ohm 1W resistor. The
voltage across the resistor is used as the feedback voltage (1.25V) for the controller. R2
keeps the current at about 350 ma. With 470 pf used as the timing capacitor the oscillator
runs at about 50 khz. R1 limits the current for short circuit conditions and C4 provides
filtering for the feedback voltage.

12 V DC Buck One LED

L1
220uH

U1
8
7
6

R1

DC

SC

IPK

SE

Vcc
Comp

TCap

12V DC

Led1

C4

Lumiled1

100uF

D5

Gnd 4

0.33ohm

1N5817

C2
MC34063

12V

470pF

C3
100uF

Gnd

R2
3.6ohm

Figure 1

Figure 2 shows the same schematic with a diode bridge added. This allows operation with
a 12V AC transformer.

12V AC Buck One LED

AC1

12V AC

D1

D2

1N4001

1N4001

D3

D4

1N4001

1N4001

L1
220uH

U1
AC2

8
7
6

R1

DC

SC

IPK

SE

Vcc
Comp

TCap

1
2

Lumiled1

100uF

D5

Gnd 4

0.33ohm

Led1

C4

1N5817

C2
MC34063

470pF

C3
100uF

R2
3.6ohm

Figure 2

Figure 3 shows a further refinement with a PNP transistor (2N3906) used as a level
shifter. This allows a smaller resistor (1.8 ohm) and reduces the power dissipated since
the resistor voltage is now only about half (.65V) of what is was in the previous
schematic.

AC1

12V AC

D1

D2

1N4001

1N4001

D3

D4

L1
220uH

U1
AC2

1N4001

1N4001

8
7
6

R1

DC

SC

IPK

SE

Vcc
Comp

TCap

1
2

R3

D5

Gnd 4

0.33ohm

Led1

C4

Lumiled1

100uF

10kohm

1N5817

C2
MC34063

470pF

C3
100uF

R2
Q1

1.8ohm

2N3906

Figure 3

Figure 4 shows the 12V AC_DC demo board with a ACE microcontroller used for
dimming with a PWM signal feeding the current sense node. By using the jumpers this
board can work with either an AC or a DC 12V source.

MC34063 AC/DC Buck Demo Board

2

AC1

12V AC

J1
D1

D2

1N4001

1N4001

D3

D4

L1
150uH

U2

U1
AC2

1N4001

1N4001

DC

IPK

6
2

R1

SC
SE
T Cap

Vcc

Com p

Lumiled1

1
2

C1

U3

100uF

D5

Gnd 4

Lumiled1

1N5817

0.33ohm

C2

J2

MC34063

470pF

U4
Lumiled1

C3
100uF

R2
10kohm

Vreg
IN

OUT

U5

C4

MC78L05CP

2
2

1uF

J3
J4
J5

3
4

G3
G4
G5
G0

Vcc

U6

Gnd

R3

R4

67kohm

3.6ohm

8
7
6

R5

G2
G1

ACE1101

Figure
4

10kohm

C5
0.1uF

Bill of Materials

Ref.

Qty.

Description

Value

Package

Vendor

Vendor PN

U1

IC, Current-Mode
Controller

U2

White LumiLED

Star

Luxeon

LXHL-MWIC

U3

White LumiLED

Star

Luxeon

LXHL-MWIC

U4

White LumiLED

Star

Luxeon

LXHL-MWIC

D1

Diode

50V 1A

DO-41

ON Semi

1N4001

D2

Diode

50V 1A

DO-41

ON Semi

1N4001

D3

Diode

50V 1A

DO-41

ON Semi

1N4001

D4

Diode

50V 1A

DO-41

ON Semi

1N4001

D5

Diode

20V Schottky

DO-41

ON Semi

1N5817

C1

Capacitor

100uf

Leaded

Panasonic

C2

Capacitor

470 pf

Leaded

Kemet

C3

Capacitor

100 uf

Leaded

Panasonic

C4

Capacitor

1uF

Leaded

B.C.

C5

Capacitor

.1uF

Leaded

Kemet

R1

Resistor

0.33 ohm

Ohmite

R2

Resistor

.1 ohm

Dale

R3

Resistor

67 K ohm

YAGEO

R4

Resistor

3.6 ohm

Panasonic

R5

Resistor

10K ohm

YAGEO

L1

Inductor

100 uh

Talema

PCB

MC34063 BUCK REV A

Dip 8

ON Semi

MC34063AP1

Digikey #

EEU-FC1H101
C315C471K1G5CA
EEU-FC1H101
BC1151CTND

C320C104K5R5CA

399-2054-ND

41FR33-ND
LV4-1-0.1-1%
66.5KXBKND
P3.6W-1BKND
10.0KXBKND

SWC-3.0-150

TE2024-ND