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RE: The DC-DC converter and why Elon Musk wastes a lot of energy.
I always build politically incorrect joule-thieves.
Diodes can be very political incorrect. Every relay is build with a 'snubber' diode that basically shorts out all the energy that the relay will release on collapse of the coil.
so every time a relay switches 100% of the released energy is just burned up in a diode.
Interesting.
Where else might one put the energy?
in a battery?
tricky part is that the collapsing coil is a negative peak about 10 times higher then the input voltage. But it is still the same amount of energy AFTER being used to switch the relay.