bret.tallent
USA
Asked
— Edited
Hello All,
I have found an inexpensive buck converter to get my 12 volts down to 3.3 to drive lasers or LEDs. They are DC To DC Converter Buck Step-down Module LED Power 3A 12V To 5V 3.3V
I found them on Ebay and got 10 of them for around $14.00 including shipping.
Linky I hope this link works!
Correction. My board came from SparkFun not servocity.
@MovieMaker - I did see those at sparkfun and almost bought one. But after reading about these and the ability to go with either 5v or 3.3v out, multiple outs, and the price, I went with these. Now to see how well they work...
According to specs minimum input voltage is 9V... has anyone tried 7.2V?
Don't get this one if you are using a lower voltage..
This is a low drop out adjustable , use one of these. Or just use the correct resistor. You could do that too
http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-5-24V-to-0-93-20V-2A-DC-to-DC-Converter-Step-Down-Buck-Module-with-Voltmeter-/150843486243?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item231ef8f023
The unit pictured is 8 dollars shipped and works good. I love the visual led indicator makes adjustments and troubleshooting really easy.
Good call Josh, I do use one of these for all of my step downs to 6V for my servos.
Bret the best converter to use is a LDO regulator up to 10 amps ,3 pins easy to use and best part is much longer battery life
That type of converter has a dropout of 1.25 volts most LDO is .2 volts or less
I see alot of guys love to use DC-DC converter but they are not great for battery type toys or projects or meter ,they waste much much power ,plus cost is mostly higher
Only good about them is plug and play,just wire it up and its ready to go
Using LDO is has much less power lost,pretty easy to make ,small pcb and a cap and about $3 TOTAL COST
look at the EZB it doesnt use DC-DC converter for same reason and most LDO CAN TAKE UP TO 24 volts input
MOSTLY at work that what i do design Low battery circuits since almost every tester me make ONLY uses batteries,plus if you look at and battery type of product none ever usesa DC-DC converter for the same reasons
Can you please link us to this ldo
Farnell UK - 3.3v Low Drop Out Regulators
They are what to look for. I'm sure searching a product code would bring up suppliers in your country. I have posted a small schematic for a 6v regulated supply using one somewhere, I'll see if I can find it shortly.
here is one link,there are many others at different outputs and current rating
and easy to find a lower cost also,this is 3.3 volts at 3 amps
3.3 volt LDO regulator
they are so simple to use most have 3 pins and use them like any standard regulator ,ones with 5 pins has a shutdown pin or flag
DIGIKEY IS A GREAT PLACE IT HAS OVER 42000 TYPES of LDO regulators
digikeY LDO REGULATORS