Voltlog #280 – TPS62840 olmBoard Ultra Low Power Step Down Converter

Welcome to a new Voltlog, in this video we are taking a look at the TPS62840 ultra low power step down converter from Texas Instruments. It’s basically a buck converter with an input voltage of 1.8-6.5V, 750mA output current, with a quiescent current of just 60nA and active current of just 120nA. It also features very good efficiency at light loads of just 1uA it can offer 80 percent efficiency.

Other features include 16 selectable output voltages through an external resistor and a stop pin which when activated will completely stop any switching to eliminate any switching noise for a short moment, allowing you to take for example an ultra low noise measurement during that time. During that take power will be sourced from the output capacitors. So it looks like this is a pretty interesting dc-dc converter, with really nice features and it’s optimized for ultra low power devices.

Voltlog #131 – Measuring The Efficiency Of The Ruideng Kis3r33S DC-DC Converter

You might remember this small module from the previous InTheMail, this is the Ruideng dc-dc converter with a claimed efficiency of 95%. Now a figure of 95% efficiency is not unheard of these days, many dc-dc converters can achieve this with proper circuit design.

This particular model uses the MP2307 converter chip manufactured by Monolithic Power and if we take a look at their datasheet we can immediately see where they got the 95% efficiency figure they advertise.

If you own fancy equipment like a source/measure unit than one instrument can do all the measurements and data log the results as well but a source/measure is out of our budget so we will be using multimeters for this test.

Here are links where you can find the equipment used in this video:

Voltlog #77 – InTheMail

Here is a list with the items shown in this video:

  • USB Drive Spy Camera
  • 35W Radar Motion Sensor Switch
  • 4 Channel Wireless Remote Control Switch
  • 64 LED 20W 2835 Horizontal Led Light
  • 64 LED 60W E27 5730 Light Bulb
  • 21 LED 15W E27 Globe Light Bulb
  • 21 LED 15W E27 Energy Saving Light Bulb

Links for all of these will be in the video description on youtube.

Voltlog #76 – InTheMail

This what happens when I left myself on a shopping spree, you get a month’s worth of InTheMail episodes. So let’s get started on the 4th episode in a row showing the stuff I get from China.

Here is a list with the items shown in this video:

  • Brushless Blower Fan 12V 5015S
  • Brushless Blower Fan 5V 6015S
  • Cooling Fan 5V 2 Pin 50x50x10mm
  • Fan Grill Guard 50mm
  • Aluminium Heatsink 150x60x25mm
  • TO-220 Aluminum Heatsink 34x12x30mm
  • 100W Wire Wound Aluminium Housing Resistor
  • 200x175x70mm Plastic Enclosure For Instrument
  • 170x130x75mm Metal Enclosure For Instrument
  • Rubber Feet Self Adhesive 15mm
  • LM2596 DC-DC Step-Down Converter Module
  • XL6009 Buck-Boost DC-DC Converter
  • 10A BMS 3S Battery Protection Module
  • Zener Diode Assortment – Through Hole
  • Zener Diode Assortment – SMD
  • PT4115 LED Driver IC

Links for all of the items will be in the video description on youtube.