#buckconverter — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #buckconverter, aggregated by home.social.
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Well, this is annoying.
I have some little power #modules (bought on #AliExpress, natch) that were advertised as automatic boost/buck converters. Input from <4V to >30V, output from 1.25V to 35V.
They're based on the XL6009 switching converter, which supports auto-buck-boost as one mode.
But they appear to use it in boost-only mode. The output voltage can not go below the input as far as I can tell. From the datasheet, it looks like that's because the auto-buck-boost config requires a few more components, plus a transformer instead of a simple inductor, which is probably the main reason (BOM).
The listing just seems to be ... wrong.
Annoying.
#seller #SellerDescription #YumCha #Chinesium #BuckConverter #BoostConverter #AutoBuckBoost #BuckBoost #electronics #hobby
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Well, this is annoying.
I have some little power #modules (bought on #AliExpress, natch) that were advertised as automatic boost/buck converters. Input from <4V to >30V, output from 1.25V to 35V.
They're based on the XL6009 switching converter, which supports auto-buck-boost as one mode.
But they appear to use it in boost-only mode. The output voltage can not go below the input as far as I can tell. From the datasheet, it looks like that's because the auto-buck-boost config requires a few more components, plus a transformer instead of a simple inductor, which is probably the main reason (BOM).
The listing just seems to be ... wrong.
Annoying.
#seller #SellerDescription #YumCha #Chinesium #BuckConverter #BoostConverter #AutoBuckBoost #BuckBoost #electronics #hobby
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Well, this is annoying.
I have some little power #modules (bought on #AliExpress, natch) that were advertised as automatic boost/buck converters. Input from <4V to >30V, output from 1.25V to 35V.
They're based on the XL6009 switching converter, which supports auto-buck-boost as one mode.
But they appear to use it in boost-only mode. The output voltage can not go below the input as far as I can tell. From the datasheet, it looks like that's because the auto-buck-boost config requires a few more components, plus a transformer instead of a simple inductor, which is probably the main reason (BOM).
The listing just seems to be ... wrong.
Annoying.
#seller #SellerDescription #YumCha #Chinesium #BuckConverter #BoostConverter #AutoBuckBoost #BuckBoost #electronics #hobby
-
Well, this is annoying.
I have some little power #modules (bought on #AliExpress, natch) that were advertised as automatic boost/buck converters. Input from <4V to >30V, output from 1.25V to 35V.
They're based on the XL6009 switching converter, which supports auto-buck-boost as one mode.
But they appear to use it in boost-only mode. The output voltage can not go below the input as far as I can tell. From the datasheet, it looks like that's because the auto-buck-boost config requires a few more components, plus a transformer instead of a simple inductor, which is probably the main reason (BOM).
The listing just seems to be ... wrong.
Annoying.
#seller #SellerDescription #YumCha #Chinesium #BuckConverter #BoostConverter #AutoBuckBoost #BuckBoost #electronics #hobby
-
Well, this is annoying.
I have some little power #modules (bought on #AliExpress, natch) that were advertised as automatic boost/buck converters. Input from <4V to >30V, output from 1.25V to 35V.
They're based on the XL6009 switching converter, which supports auto-buck-boost as one mode.
But they appear to use it in boost-only mode. The output voltage can not go below the input as far as I can tell. From the datasheet, it looks like that's because the auto-buck-boost config requires a few more components, plus a transformer instead of a simple inductor, which is probably the main reason (BOM).
The listing just seems to be ... wrong.
Annoying.
#seller #SellerDescription #YumCha #Chinesium #BuckConverter #BoostConverter #AutoBuckBoost #BuckBoost #electronics #hobby
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Coping with Disappearing Capacitance in a Buck Converter https://hackaday.com/2025/08/10/coping-with-disappearing-capacitance-in-a-buck-converter/ #ceramiccapacitor #analogdiscovery #buckconverter #dielectric #capacitor #hardware #ceramic #Parts
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Coping with Disappearing Capacitance in a Buck Converter https://hackaday.com/2025/08/10/coping-with-disappearing-capacitance-in-a-buck-converter/ #ceramiccapacitor #analogdiscovery #buckconverter #dielectric #capacitor #hardware #ceramic #Parts
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Coping with Disappearing Capacitance in a Buck Converter - Designing a circuit is a lot easier on paper, where components have well-defined ... - https://hackaday.com/2025/08/10/coping-with-disappearing-capacitance-in-a-buck-converter/ #ceramiccapacitor #analogdiscovery #buckconverter #dielectric #capacitor #hardware #ceramic #parts
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Coping with Disappearing Capacitance in a Buck Converter - Designing a circuit is a lot easier on paper, where components have well-defined ... - https://hackaday.com/2025/08/10/coping-with-disappearing-capacitance-in-a-buck-converter/ #ceramiccapacitor #analogdiscovery #buckconverter #dielectric #capacitor #hardware #ceramic #parts
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The BAPPR Keeps Your Addressable LED System Cool https://hackaday.com/2024/07/27/the-bappr-keeps-your-addressable-led-system-cool/ #switchingpowersupply #addressableleds #buckconverter #Neopixels #hardware #LEDHacks #ledstrip #rgb
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The BAPPR Keeps Your Addressable LED System Cool https://hackaday.com/2024/07/27/the-bappr-keeps-your-addressable-led-system-cool/ #switchingpowersupply #addressableleds #buckconverter #Neopixels #hardware #LEDHacks #ledstrip #rgb
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The BAPPR Keeps Your Addressable LED System Cool https://hackaday.com/2024/07/27/the-bappr-keeps-your-addressable-led-system-cool/ #switchingpowersupply #addressableleds #buckconverter #Neopixels #hardware #LEDHacks #ledstrip #rgb
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The BAPPR Keeps Your Addressable LED System Cool https://hackaday.com/2024/07/27/the-bappr-keeps-your-addressable-led-system-cool/ #switchingpowersupply #addressableleds #buckconverter #Neopixels #hardware #LEDHacks #ledstrip #rgb
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The BAPPR Keeps Your Addressable LED System Cool - We all love a nice strip or grid of addressable LEDs. It can add flair or an artis... - https://hackaday.com/2024/07/27/the-bappr-keeps-your-addressable-led-system-cool/ #switchingpowersupply #addressableleds #buckconverter #neopixels #hardware #ledhacks #ledstrip #rgb
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The BAPPR Keeps Your Addressable LED System Cool - We all love a nice strip or grid of addressable LEDs. It can add flair or an artis... - https://hackaday.com/2024/07/27/the-bappr-keeps-your-addressable-led-system-cool/ #switchingpowersupply #addressableleds #buckconverter #neopixels #hardware #ledhacks #ledstrip #rgb
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The BAPPR Keeps Your Addressable LED System Cool - We all love a nice strip or grid of addressable LEDs. It can add flair or an artis... - https://hackaday.com/2024/07/27/the-bappr-keeps-your-addressable-led-system-cool/ #switchingpowersupply #addressableleds #buckconverter #neopixels #hardware #ledhacks #ledstrip #rgb
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The BAPPR Keeps Your Addressable LED System Cool - We all love a nice strip or grid of addressable LEDs. It can add flair or an artis... - https://hackaday.com/2024/07/27/the-bappr-keeps-your-addressable-led-system-cool/ #switchingpowersupply #addressableleds #buckconverter #neopixels #hardware #ledhacks #ledstrip #rgb
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The BAPPR Keeps Your Addressable LED System Cool - We all love a nice strip or grid of addressable LEDs. It can add flair or an artis... - https://hackaday.com/2024/07/27/the-bappr-keeps-your-addressable-led-system-cool/ #switchingpowersupply #addressableleds #buckconverter #neopixels #hardware #ledhacks #ledstrip #rgb
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Anyone out there used a buck converter to power a #pi5 from a power bank?
Getting that ideal 5V 5A combination seems impossible from unmodified power from portable sources. A DC-DC step down should be able to generate that V and A. But the voltage input has to be within a specified range to get the desired A.
Sure, the 5 can run off of lower amperage but not at all well. I'm looking to get the same performance as though I were using the official 27W power supply.
Also, WTH is up with the math? 5.1V and 5A does not equal 27W! I guess that 27W rating is the upper bound as the supply can also take in 9V 3A (27W). The supply must itself be using a buck converter. I just need one a LOT smaller. I'm aware of boards like this that may do the trick. https://a.co/d/dU6wNU3
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A new power supply for the Commodore 64
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Cheap Power Supplies with Fake Chips Might Not be That Bad
#parts #buckconverter #counterfeit #dcdc #fake #lm2596 #ripple #hackaday
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Cheap Power Supplies with Fake Chips Might Not be That Bad - We all know the old maxim: if it’s too good to be true, it’s probably made with fa... - https://hackaday.com/2023/11/10/cheap-power-supplies-with-fake-chips-might-not-be-that-bad/ #buckconverter #counterfeit #lm2596 #ripple #parts #dc-dc #fake
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Cheap Power Supplies with Fake Chips Might Not be That Bad - We all know the old maxim: if it’s too good to be true, it’s probably made with fa... - https://hackaday.com/2023/11/10/cheap-power-supplies-with-fake-chips-might-not-be-that-bad/ #buckconverter #counterfeit #lm2596 #ripple #parts #dc-dc #fake
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I‘m currently trying out buck converters as a drop in replacement for linear voltage regulators. It should be much more efficient if they can handle the load. Let’s see. #synthdiy #synthesizer #psu #eurorack #buckconverter #kicad
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Buck Converter Takes 8V to 100V - For those living before the invention of the transistor, the modern world must app... - https://hackaday.com/2023/09/17/buck-converter-has-tremendous-range/ #buckconverter #powersupply #converter #mp9486 #parts #dc-dc #buck #dc
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Buck Converter Takes 8V to 100V - For those living before the invention of the transistor, the modern world must app... - https://hackaday.com/2023/09/17/buck-converter-has-tremendous-range/ #buckconverter #powersupply #converter #mp9486 #parts #dc-dc #buck #dc
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Minimizing Stress on a Coin Cell Battery - When it comes to powering tiny devices for a long time, coin cell batteries are th... - https://hackaday.com/2023/08/10/minimizing-stress-on-a-coin-cell-battery/ #boostconverter #buckconverter #batteryhacks #switchmode #voltagesag #coincell #battery #dc-dc #life #smps
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Minimizing Stress on a Coin Cell Battery - When it comes to powering tiny devices for a long time, coin cell batteries are th... - https://hackaday.com/2023/08/10/minimizing-stress-on-a-coin-cell-battery/ #boostconverter #buckconverter #batteryhacks #switchmode #voltagesag #coincell #battery #dc-dc #life #smps
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Minimizing Stress on a Coin Cell Battery - When it comes to powering tiny devices for a long time, coin cell batteries are th... - https://hackaday.com/2023/08/10/minimizing-stress-on-a-coin-cell-battery/ #boostconverter #buckconverter #batteryhacks #switchmode #voltagesag #coincell #battery #dc-dc #life #smps
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Minimizing Stress on a Coin Cell Battery - When it comes to powering tiny devices for a long time, coin cell batteries are th... - https://hackaday.com/2023/08/10/minimizing-stress-on-a-coin-cell-battery/ #boostconverter #buckconverter #batteryhacks #switchmode #voltagesag #coincell #battery #dc-dc #life #smps
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Minimizing Stress on a Coin Cell Battery - When it comes to powering tiny devices for a long time, coin cell batteries are th... - https://hackaday.com/2023/08/10/minimizing-stress-on-a-coin-cell-battery/ #boostconverter #buckconverter #batteryhacks #switchmode #voltagesag #coincell #battery #dc-dc #life #smps
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So, on my last DC-DC converter, I left off messing around with the control loop. I got it working decently, but there were still some oscillations. Thinking about it, this was probably due to ADC resolution, which is 10 bits on that microcontroller, while the PWM register I was using is 8 bits.
If you think about it (which I didn't initially), that means that you get quantization error, since the ADC can read voltages and currents the PWM (via the MOSFETs and the rest of the converter) won't produce. In other words, the controller is demanding more than what the converter can do.
I think I can maybe add some extra filtering to fix that. In the future, I'll try using the 16 bit register for PWM as well.
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Op Amp Challenge: An Op-Amp Buck Regulator - Switching regulators have delivered such convenience and efficiency compared to th... - https://hackaday.com/2023/05/01/op-amp-challenge-an-op-amp-buck-regulator/ #opampchallenge #buckconverter #contests #hardware #op-amp #pwm
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Op Amp Challenge: An Op-Amp Buck Regulator - Switching regulators have delivered such convenience and efficiency compared to th... - https://hackaday.com/2023/05/01/op-amp-challenge-an-op-amp-buck-regulator/ #opampchallenge #buckconverter #contests #hardware #op-amp #pwm
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Working a little more on the firmware for my buck converter. I got a basic PI control loop going, but only for the current. I'm working on stabilizing it, as right now I'm getting a lot of ripple. Mostly, I wanted to get the code in there, so I can check a GPIO pin on the microcontroller with an oscilloscope and see how much time it's actually taking to do one iteration. (The code right now turns an LED on at the start of the PI code, and off at the end.)
It's been a while since I had a controls course, and I should probably go and review it in order to make some accurate adjustments to the proportional and integral gains. But madly turning knobs (putting in new numbers and recompiling) is fun too.
It will be even more fun when there are two loops (current and voltage) to tweak.
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Working a little more on the firmware for my buck converter. I got a basic PI control loop going, but only for the current. I'm working on stabilizing it, as right now I'm getting a lot of ripple. Mostly, I wanted to get the code in there, so I can check a GPIO pin on the microcontroller with an oscilloscope and see how much time it's actually taking to do one iteration. (The code right now turns an LED on at the start of the PI code, and off at the end.)
It's been a while since I had a controls course, and I should probably go and review it in order to make some accurate adjustments to the proportional and integral gains. But madly turning knobs (putting in new numbers and recompiling) is fun too.
It will be even more fun when there are two loops (current and voltage) to tweak.
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Input is about 0.11 A at 38.47 V for 4.23 W, and output is 0.17 A at 12.48 V for 2.12 W into the light bulb. (I only have the one meter handy, so I had to measure these at different times, values might be off by a few 10s of mA or mV.)
That's 50% efficient. Not great, but it's also at very low power. I designed this to handle 5 A on the low voltage side (could be 12 or 24 V nominal), and I haven't taken it that high yet. I'm going to work on the firmware some more and then take it up gradually.
It does work well in both directions, (step up or step down), though. Ideally it will be able to charge one battery from another so long as one is a higher voltage.
#electronics #BuckConverter #power #PowerElectronics #PowerConversion
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Thinking about a basic scheduler to use in my buck converter controller, an AVR. Mostly, I'll need to run the control law (claw) every so often. But I also want to listen for and respond to messages on the USART. I'd like to add even higher-level functionality, eg switching between being a voltage and current source, and battery charging. Basically, some form of cooperative multitasking, and hopefully something I can keep (kind of) simple.
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It bucks. I think I got most of the bugs out of the PCB, and now with simple firmware that just does a constant PWM, it seems to work. Here it's stepping 12 volts from the battery down to about 2.5 folds for the light bulb. I didn't feel like getting the meter out, so you'll have to take my word for it.
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I'm going to leave this for now, but next step is going to be getting PWM working. I need to generate complementary signals with dead time. I was hoping to get comms working so I could change the duty cycle from my PC without reflashing the firmware every time.
Once I get that going I can play with this as an open-loop buck, just to make sure the power stuff works. Then it'll be starting on the control law, or claw, and some kind of scheduler.
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CW: Microcontroller, Blinking Lights
And we got lights blinking.
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Okay, everything's installed. I had a few little hiccups, like picking a footprint with the wrong pitch (1.27 mm, needed 2.54 mm) for the programming header, so I got creative and attached a 2.54 mm header I had with wires. I also neglected the courtyard for the big inductor, so it hangs off the board. The two MOSFETs could use a little more space, but at least they're insulated to the heatsinks...
So this thing won't be passing vibe anytime soon. But, so far it seems okay electrically - as in, the housekeeping supply still puts out 5 V, and about 14.2 V for the gate driver. Nothing seems to be pulling it down, like a solder bridge or something. I should be able to get started on programming it, starting with a constant, open-loop PWM signal to the MOSFETs. Then I can look at RS485 comms, and proper control loops.
For those who've only seen bits and pieces of my postings on this, this circuit is just a buck converter. Or a boost converter, in the opposite direction. I just wanted to play around with one, and will probably revise the board in the future.
Basically, it's mean to work with a 12 or 24 VDC nominal bus on the low voltage side, and a 24 or 36 VDC bus on the high voltage side. (In other words, voltage you'd see from a 12, 24, or 36 VDC lead acid battery.) It's mostly to play around, but I intend to add extra logic to make it charge a higher voltage battery from a lower voltage one (or vice versa). Could also be used for photovoltaic maximum power point tracking (MPPT) I guess, but that's not the main intent right now.
#electronics #BuckConverter #PrintedCircuitBoard #kicad6 #PowerElectronics
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More parts soldered, but going to stop for the night.
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Looks like it's working with about 37.5 V, from 3 12 volt #batteries. So not too bad. Once again, I have the shield just in case.
#electronics #PowerConversion #BuckConverter #PrintedCircuitBoard #LeadAcidBatteries #36v
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My buck converter board finally came. I might start to get this thing assembled this week, at least in stages - I want to make sure the housekeeping supply works (the buck converter that powers the buck converter), then get the microcontroller on. Then get the rest of it together, and maybe move some power.
I should have enough parts to build two of these, assuming I didn't do something horrendous that requires a redesign. Like accidentally build an efficient radio transmitter.
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Okay, I managed to save some space. There's a couple things I think I want to check footprint-wise, mainly orientation of some diodes.
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Redoing this board a little bit to make it 100 mm long, down from 120. This is hopefully to save some cash when sending it to fab. There was a lot of unused space anyway.
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So this board is about 2.5 inches by 5 inches, and will end up being four layers. That includes a main power/signal plane on top, a ground plane, a 5V plane, and an extra signal plane on the back. I haven't started routing it yet, and I may tweak the layout to space things out or make the board a little smaller.
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The initial glob of components, which can hopefully be turned into a sane layout.
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CW: Electronics
After another chunk of procrastination, it's kind of falling into place. Next step is to generate a BOM, then see what parts are unavailable and what to sub for them.