[Noisebridge-discuss] DC-DC Power conversion - Cheapish finds!

[Garrett Mace]

On 1/7/2013 11:47 AM, Anders Nelson wrote:
> Hey all,
>
> I found some awesome DC-DC non-isolated convertors on Digikey, perhaps 
> you can benefit from my toils in their search fields. They are all 
> really compact and handle a buttload of current. Input and output 
> voltage ranges vary, but these were the cheapest and most available 
> units I found.
>
> You may ask "Why would I pay ten bucks for a switching convertor when 
> I can pay fifty cents for an LDO?" The answer is heat dissipation and 
> efficiency. If you don't want to burn people/things and/or literally 
> reduce your battery life by half (in the case of 12v -> 6v 
> conversion), you should use a switcher.
>
> -3A: http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/PT6304N/PT6304N-ND/278552
>
> -10A: 
> http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/OKR-T%2F10-W12-C/811-2180-ND/2199630
>
> -6A: 
> http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/OKR-T%2F6-W12-C/811-2179-ND/2199629
>
> -3A: 
> http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/OKI-T%2F3-W32P-C/811-2287-1-ND/2708573
>
> And here are some enclosures sized well to protect them:
>
> http://www.boxenclosures.com/category/category_product.html?cats__id=612
>
> You can, of course, build your own DC-DC convertor much cheaper. But 
> when you haven't the time these can save your potato.
>
> =]
> --
> Anders Nelson
>
> +1 (517) 775-6129
>
> www.erogear.com <http://www.erogear.com>
>
>
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Actually, these are a fairly good deal even compared to building one 
yourself. In order to build one yourself (on the spur of the moment, 
anyway) you're pretty much limited to DIP components, which means chips 
like the LM2576 which are fairly low frequency and a few bucks on their 
own. And due to the low switching frequency, you need a pretty large 
external coil and capacitors. Overall, a self-built DC-DC converter will 
end up several times larger and heavier than these small DC-DC modules. 
I've used some of these as stopgap measures, before getting time to 
redesign with an on-board converter.

--- Garrett

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