Comments on: Adjustable breadboard supply

By: Jed Admas

Jed Admas — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 02:50:38 +0000

I know this is a little off topic but who do you use for a web host?

By: kurf

kurf — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:06:57 +0000

Ladyada is using a MIC2941 which as she says in a very low drop out linear regulator. The MIC2941 comes in a 3V and 5V fixed configuration and a Adjustable configuration as well. Sells for about $2.31 on digikey, cheaper if you buy in bulk. You can find the datasheet online. It will give you several recommended circuit designs, one of them ladyada is using, that you can setup your self in minutes on a breadboard.

By: dj_super_promo_remix

dj_super_promo_remix — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 20:17:38 +0000

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http://d-lar.pdj.ru/remixes/868757/Bucovina_Machalagease_DJ_D_Lar_Remix.html

By: lekernel

lekernel — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 16:36:52 +0000

this is not hacking

By: TJHooker

TJHooker — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:07:12 +0000

it’s perfect for a solar batter charger considering you have a controller.

I seen a guy do one with a regulator, diode and a national semiconductor LDO to make a 12V regulator that handled hi current. He used it on a portable 12V 48W solar power setup.

By: Tachikoma

Tachikoma — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:22:04 +0000

The ATX power supply is a great idea, and one day I am intending to build a dedicated bench supply from one of those. However, I don’t think it’s a good idea to rely on their internal short circuit protection feature for safety. Modern ATX power supplies are designed to deliver huge amount of current. Therefore, the current threshold that triggers the protection is most likely high; probably high enough to incinerate something flimsy like a prototyping or a bread board into nothingness. Anyone using an ATX supply should attach a current limiter to the output.

By: thethirdmoose

thethirdmoose — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 23:00:47 +0000

This is really only marginally useful. Realistically, 85% of the time you will be using 5V. The rest of the time you will be using 1.8V or 3.3V which you probably already have a million regulators for. The only other commonly used voltage is 12V, which you can also use a regulator for.

A much better solution, IMO, one that doesn’t limit your current or rely on any extra circuitry on your board, is to use an old ATX PSU. You get short circuit prevention, a huge current supply, and a whole lot of different voltages (including negative voltages) to work with.

By: vic

vic — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:43:33 +0000

Well the regulator has only 400mV drop but the protection diode also has a drop of around 500mV at 1.25 amp so using a Li-ion battery won’t work for large currents. It will work without problem for low currents. BTW the MIC2941 has a -20 volt reverse voltage protection built-in ;)

The 3.3V/5V/Adjustable switch is the best feature IMHO. I think it’s maybe a tad expensive ;P

By: cgmark

cgmark — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:31:04 +0000

This is not a switching supply design so if you intend to use it for low voltages like 3 or 5vdc , don’t use high input voltage sources like 18-20vdc as it will have to dissipate the difference as heat. Try to pick power sources that are as close to the output voltage that you intend to use.

By: Life2Death

Life2Death — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:27:11 +0000

This is awesome!

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:44:17 +0000

At $15, that’s a great price for novices who don’t have the knowledge to design/build something like this from scratch. Another well designed and useful kit from LadyAda.