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Regulator recommendations

PostPosted: Sun May 29, 2016 3:50 am
by coldpenguin
I was considering a project using a bridge rectifier and an mcp1754 to provide 3.3v to the esp and board.
It looks like at 150ma I might be getting too close to the limits for the esp.

Input to the regulator is a steady 15.6v dc, peaks to 19v very briefly at start.
Could people recommend what regulators they use?

Re: Regulator recommendations

PostPosted: Sun May 29, 2016 4:35 am
by lethe
With such a high input voltage, you should definitely use a switch mode (buck) regulator. A linear regulator will get quite toasty and may overload...
If you search for "mini step down regulator" on ebay or aliexpress, you should get plenty of hits. Pretty much any of them will do (as long as they have an inductor and are not mislabled 1117 LDOs). You may want to avoid the LM2596 ones though, as they are larger & less efficient.

Re: Regulator recommendations

PostPosted: Sun May 29, 2016 1:48 pm
by coldpenguin
Thank you for the response. I found in my arsenal some mp1584 boards to test with. I had wanted to use something with less components as I am already running a little low on space on the top layer of my board (didn't particularly want to populate much on the second layer).
I have set the voltage right at the maximum I dare. 3.56V min, 3.44V as measured by my DSO. Unfortunately although my chip reports boot mode 1,7 I am not able to flash, I am getting an error during the first stages I think, sync mode works, I get the macs, but little else.
I wonder whether I am drawing too much current, but the voltage doesn't drop.