ESP8266 Community Forum

- Tue Jun 09, 2015 2:44 pm #19960

For anything above ~100 mA I'd recommend a buck converter instead of a lineair regulator. They're dead cheap now and very small as well. They generally can convert from ~30 V to ~2.5 V on 2000-3000 mA without getting quite warm, so that means they're much more efficient. Converting from 12 V to 3.3 V using a lineair regulator is like inserting a big resistor and a small transistor to handle the transients, and this big resistor is going to burn a lot of power continuously.

On my test bench I use a 2596-type switching regulator to step down a 10v wall wart to 5v, then a linear SOT type regulator for 5 to 3.3v.

- Tue Jun 09, 2015 2:50 pm #19962

...
Can you recommend one? If possible one that is available in Europe. I was looking for an efficient regulator but wasn't able to find a small and relatively cheap one...
...

Not Europe, but I just ordered some of these because they were mentioned on this board...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/310788623921?rmvSB=true

- Wed Jun 10, 2015 6:07 am #20024 Yes, that's true.

Can you get your hands on for instance the xl semi 2576?

- Wed Jun 10, 2015 4:32 pm #20089 I found some rather small LM2596 buck converter modules I had flying 'round here. I will try to use them.

When I find the time I'll clean up my first post and collect all tips there. Perhaps if someone else adds information for other modules (I only have 01 and 12) this could become a good place for newbies to start with. I think it might help quite a lot of people.