I don't know what i love more, your videos or power converters :) I bought one after i saw this review hehe. To other D3806 users, DO NOT LEAVE LOAD CONNECTED TO CONVERTER WHEN YOU DISCONNECT POWER, it will send voltage spike to output and fry load. I plan to add few components to pull FB pin of buck section to GND when power is disconnected to avoid voltage spikes on output.
Mine gives a large high current 5V-10V spike/surge when DC input is first connected (even when output is configured to be off on startup). Also spikes when DC input disconnected. Anyone have a fix (apart from using a large 10A toggle switch on the DC output and having to remember to always use it when powering low voltage devices)?
A word of caution about the D3806, don't undervolt the input. I got one after this video and was using it to discharge a 7p3s lithium ion pack by transferring the energy to a 20s NiMH pack. When they say 10v minimum input they aren't kidding, once the voltage sagged below 10 the boost converter section went nuts and overvolted the intermediate bus which blew the buck converter chip.
I bought one of these and I do not regret it at all. This is a great power supply, and I'm currently powering it with a 7.4V 1500 mAh LiPo with balance low voltage cutoff to avoid over discharge. Since it senses cell balance, it can cut power when either cell reaches 3 volts. Works wonders, I will be using it to power projects and prototypes. I'm also using those same terminal to barrel jack thingys, both male and female.
I never knew about the options you can access by holding the 'OK' button, it works with a smaller Ming He 3A buck version that ive got.. these little PSUs are so versatile!
In case anyone is interested, I downloaded the user manual for this converter and used google to translate it to English. (Note that in the manual it states it can only do 5A in natural cooling.) Orginal - drive.google.com/open?id=0B7w1odapcBUhUmlKVWZkbm1uLXc Translated - drive.google.com/open?id=0B7w1odapcBUhdDJtTFZ5LXV6Mmc Side note, just so you know, I did the bare minimum required to make it more legible such as adding tables, so I have added very few corrections on spelling/grammar mistakes.
I got one of those about a week ago to make a proof of concept setup for a PC UPS with li-ion batteries inside an old PC PSU with optional external battery packs that will also supply the monitor (19V input) and the modem/router). Anyway, I decided to get a D3806 so once i test my setup i can them replace it with a simpler more permanent converter and use D3806 as a bech PSU... At first all was excellent and worked like a charm.... i did some more tests last night, again, no problems.... today tried to use it to charge some LI-Ion cells on a BT-C3100 charger... As Power supply i used a 12,6V 3S/3P Li-Ion pack which i wanted to discharge anyway so, 12V/3A set, i connect the charger and before i even activate the output.. It started working.... i did some tests and voltage measurements and i found out that the Input went straight to the output... I was lucky i used a 12,6V input which was fine for the charger i powered. But i also noticed that Vin went straight to Vout no matter what Vin would be or the module being turnded on or off.... lowering the Vout setting made no change... funny though, increasing Vout above Vin made no change with the module turned off, it gave about 4V over Vin with module turned on.... I am trying to figure this out with the aliexpress seller and will probably post a video sometime soon..... what is pissing me off though, besides the failure of this much expected module is that i do have another, D3603 a much simpler back only module.... I used it extensively as bench psu and battery charger for months now... today i noticed it starts limiting the output but.... I power it with a 15V laptop brick, output is set to 12V current is set to 2A yet, CC limiter kicks in even at 1A draw...... Ok, some will say "you get what you pay" others "shit happens" but... two MingHe modules failing the same day??
Great stuff Julian. I was fascinated by your demo of the buck/boost unit. I wish they had been out a few years ago while I had still been serving in the Royal Signals. I could have carried a magicians wand round with me and baffled the gunners, infantry and tankies more than I use to do with electronic tricks. "Now for my next trick". I use to use a small fluorescent tube and put it near to the antenna base of my HF radio. With a remote CW key (ptt) to switch the TX on I would demonstrate why it was not very safe to walk close to my vehicle whilst I was sending messages etc., and other such daft tricks. On the serious side these would have been very handy for power for all kinds of things taken from 24/30 volts of the radio supply. They would have saved me one hell of a lot of time making up boosted, zener regulated units for "Phillips" battery shavers, Transistor radios and later battery operated portable TV's etc.
I'd be interested in seeing the output using an oscilloscope as I imagine that going through the boost - buck process is likely to add a fair amount of ripple. You can remove the clear plastic film over the LED display to improve contrast and reduce reflection.
Another great presentation. I watched about 2 1/2 hours after posting and you already had nearly 20 commentators. Not sure I could come up with a better measure of success for a You Tube channel. Well done you!
I'm sure you caught this already, but the intermediate voltage stops at ~13 volts because the boost converter can't lower voltage (of course). Whatever the input voltage is will be the intermediate voltage, as long as you are using a lower output.
My motto is 'you can never have too many sources of power on your workbench.' So based on that I have ordered one of these as I have hacked an old ATX power supply to give me 12V on my bench and this will make the perfect front end for it. I had intended to build a PSU based on GreatScott's video using the LTC3780 board (I've collected most of the parts but a suitable enclosure for the project still eludes me) but this will make a much neater option.
Really interesting video, I purchased one of these about a year ago on a whim of rebuilding my bench PSU but never got around to it, totally forgot about it till I found it this evening as I was going through some bags of 'bits', it was still boxed and wrapped!. I'm not worried about 80%, pfft!... Hmmmm, me thinks I'll be building this into a new bench PSU when I've finished having a tidy up!...
t is most likely SEPIC (single ended primary inductor converter), It starts with a Boost stage, then decoupling capacitor, then a diode to output and second inductor to GND. The two inductors could be on the same core. SEPIC topology is driven by Boost driver (low side switch). You appear to have two switches. Had it been 4 it could have been a real 4 switch Buck-Boost.
perfect timing on this vid, Ive got one of these units waiting at the post office parcels place for me to collect. cant wait for saturday so I can grab it and have a play
So I have now killed 3 power converters lol. So I thought I would get this one. I like the way it is setup and with any luck the one I get will be close enough to the real one or better yet the real deal and it will give me better service. The last one I blew up was based on the XL4016 chip did great work for a month even with some abuse on my part. Went to connect a Volt/Amp meter and just stopped working. I know it was connected right because I connected it to another unit with wires connected same way seeing they were soldered together and it worked just fine on that one. I bought it from a person you seem to get a lot of Post bag items from so I felt it maybe safe to order from her/him as you even have said not sure. I think it is just a name with many people working the system.
As always, another great video. But please, can you make more videos about pic programming, rgb led strips with controller in each LED and solar charging etc.? You are one of my favouritests youtuber which are into electronics. I am 14 and I am from Czech republic and because of you now i knew more words than my english teacher. Thank you a lot, keep rolling!
Thanks Marek. Actually, I'm planning to use a PIC to control WS2812 addressable RGB LED strips. So after a few PIC programming tutorials, I'll bring in the RGB LED strips. Cheers :)
I got one of these a couple of weeks ago and has been great so far - Also, I just tested the intermediate voltage and mines showing 18.4v, which makes sense as I'm using a laptop power supply to power it rated at 18.5v.
0:05 and I enjoy your vids. If somebody doesn't like it, they should just go search smth they like, it's damn awful to see people complaining in the comments. TH-cam gives them an opportunity to find a content they like, but instead, they rant in the comments.
"but instead, they rant in the comments." Hmm... Kind of like what you're doing right now perhaps? If somebody doesn't like reading rants in the youtube comments then they should just move on to the next comment and find ones they do like, it's damn awful to see people complaining about other people complaining in the comments. TH-cam gives them the opportunity to find comments they like but instead choose to rant about other comments. Have you gotten the point yet? They have every right to complain about something just as much as you have the right to complain about them, which by the way if you weren't aware there IS a difference between a worthless complaint (this sucks) and valid criticism (I think this could be better if____).
EECatblog So you are complaining about me complaining about other people complaining :) Maybe I wasn't clear enough in the original comment, I wanted to say that if somebody has a channel where he uploads what HE (or she) likes, it's kinda pointless to bitch about the content. Constructive criticism is for sure the GOOD thing, but there will inevitably be smb yapping "this sucks". Hope it's clear now. Because I like this channel for it is now, and I'll be sad seeing it change because of the POINTLESS complaints.
Julian has enough followers that make me think it is unlikely he would change his way of doing things. I enjoy all his content even when it is on aspects of electronics that don't particularly interest me (I have no garden so solar power is not something I can have, much as I would like it.) It is all about his relaxed and often humorous presentation and the fact he shares my fascination with dc-dc converters. :D
if somebody is going to give a thumbs down then they should give a reason for it. keep up the good work, funny how it seems we are both going down the same track and buying banggood stuff to play with
Digitally control it with digital potentiometers. But you also have to monitor it feeding voltage and current data back to the display. It's difficult!
Julian Ilett You can use op amp and dac, comparing dac value and resistor divider value from output, out of amp must be connected to feedback of converter
I got this unit myself (what a great find Julian). Two things are rather a mystery to me still. 1) when in advanced mode (flag "1" set to Y) there is an additional, non permanently saved setting called Lo, followed by SA. They seem to be the same setting: if you change one, the other changes too. I suspect it is a minimum current percentage. If the load goes under that, it will switch off, but I am still testing if this is true. Would be very useful for charging Lithium cells. 2) when booting while holding SET, it goes into a a weird mode displaying -F1-. Very stange things happpen. Do NOT try this with a load attached. I haven't figured this one out. Probably a reset to factory and/or test mode.
Cancel comment on F1 mode. this is indeed calibration and reset. Description to be found here: www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/b3603-dcdc-buck-converter-mini-review-and-how-the-set-key-could-be-fatal/ LoSA seems NOT to be a cutoff current. Baffled by that one.
@@steve6375 A bit of a necro-comment in the current fast-moving times ;-) The other "solution" of course is to only use the on-off toggles on the PCB. By coincidence, this is what I always do.
I was trying to find the model number so I could calibrat mine and couldn't be bothered to pick mine up yet and I found it and it's better but at some point the read out has just been off by like 2 v but it's still around right like if I'm trying to charge a lithium battery and have it set to like 4.1v that's about where it would go but it would read like 6 or 7 volts it might be time to look at a new one and there are some nice looking ones out these days
I wonder why they aren't just switching the switching of the first stage off and leave it on the input voltage when in buck only mode and the other way 'round when in boost mode. Would raise the efficiency quite a bit. But it would have been even better if the'd just short the input directly to the input of the buck regulator when in buck only mode with a MOSFET.
At about timestamp you start a very interesting subject...The XL4016 is rated at 8A, but the board only 6A--also you mention that probably it is because the heatsink would have to be larger for 8A. SO...could the heatsink be replaced with a larger one (or maybe cooled by making use of that fan plug! Well, another question is will the digital aspects of the board support the 0-8A range?
hey.. thx for video.. i have problem and searching for help.. my d3806's out is always open and it is not working as buck module anymore it is only boosting.. what could be caused by?
the output precision is good? I wanna use solar input to sharge 18650 and they don't like more than 4.2VDC each. solar pannel around max 20VDC 5A to 7s 18650's with max 28VDC to get more cycles life. efficiency is not a problem here because I have sun all the year.
Excellent! I'm going to use something like this to use a constant 12v to LED grow lights and fans, using my two 80w solar panels. I only just found out that I can power things through the day without using the battery. Hmmmmmm *scratches chin*
Julian, you mentioned efficiency quite a bit here. So I would have liked you to actually measure/calculate it. (BTW the DS for the buck chip did say "up to 96%", so may have been better than 80% overall)
The most interesting part is that there is a TX and RX pins on the controller .... that means that Devices mcu must be programmable/controllable from a uart !!! If only someone placed the specs to control the thing with a external mcu (arduino/D1 mini etc) ... that would be a Wonderful way to have a very nice power supply that could be controlled from almost everything anywhere.
Yes. That didn't really occur to me while filming this video. Had I fed the minimum input voltage of 10V into this device, the 'after boost' voltage would probably drop to about 9.5V - that's 10V minus the diode drop.
Hello, I got one of these but mine got damaged during the shipping. Toroidal core of the inductor on the buck converter is shattered in pieces(right one). Can you please help me find out what are the characteristics of that inductor? I want to change it and I have some salvaged inductors, but how can I find the suitable one If I cannot measure the original one, because of the shattered toroidal core and following changed characteristics? Please advice. Thanks in advance.
I just started getting into these for driving single cob leds. I am under the impression that the amps are really what dictates what these boost/bucks can do? Is this logic correct? 100w 27v cob, 14.8v battery (idx 198) and a 3505 (35v5amp) I assume that because it would take 6.6amp on the IN side that I've already exceeded the converter's 5amp capacity? Even if the OUT is 3.7a at 27v?
38V*6A=228W? This thing is 228W at max? If you put them in parallel would they increase their efficiency (because when you put stuff in parallel they decrease their resistance) and increase their rated power to more than 228W?
Does Ming He have more than one product with the same Model # of D3806, with one being a Boost/Buck and the other being a Buck only regulator? I've seen D3806,s for sale that appear to have identical board layout but are listed differently as Boost/Buck or Buck only/ Any help would be appreciated.
Solar chargers tend to need feedback from a battery before supplying an output voltage. I have a 24v (2ea 12v batteries in series) battery bank that I wish to charge using a 12v Solar panel source. any ideas if this Boost converter will work to charge a 24v system?
Think I would have left the power meter installed, what the heck... Also a top to pull that power might be nice, be able to use both the boost power and the buck power at the same time for different devices????? No porbably drive the little controller chip nuts adjusting for amp and voltage fluxuation.
I´d think, the boost-stage just simply doesn´t drive the FET, if the Output is turned off. So the intermediate Voltage is just the input-voltage minus the losses in the components.
Hi Julian, first thanks awesome videos. Just want to ask what boost buck converter you recommanded now a days. I just building quite simple adjustable power supply with voltage and current adjustment. Inside my diy powersupply case is old atx pc power supply what can handle 30A current on 12voltage line. This video module is ok with all specs, but can you recommemnded something better now a days, or do i just buy this module.
I've had this one for months, works brilliantly only issue with it is after a drop it seems to pulse the output when I give it power even though its set to Off at boot. The pulse is only tiny but could possibly kill some low-power device if I forgot to detach it before plugging the unit it :(
it would be cool of they could install a relay or something i guess mosfet would be good but to switch between boost and buck if it needed more it could boost straight to the output and just buck if you needed lower but you would probably loose a couple of volts near your input voltage
if I want to use a led driver with led specifications 24V - 2.4A or 12V - 4.8A and 15V - 4A for use on motorcycles with input voltage 10V - 18V it is recommended to use D3806 buck boost or LTC3780 buck boost?
I bought a couple of converters, because of you, and your videos, where do you buy those adapters you use to plug into your converters, and what does buck mean, I have one now just don't no that word buck
DC to DC BuckBoosters obviously will boost up volts and buck volts. But what seems to be rarely mentioned is what else is being effected? I'm guessing it's the amps? Am I currency?
EECatblog just meaning to say that so far it seems that when DC to DC BuckBoosters are explained in videos usually nothing or not much is said about what you are losing or gaining with the colts are being boosted or bucked. Thank for the reply. So as volts get boosted amps get bucked. And of course as volts get bucked amps get boosted. Which means that there are applications out there that need high volts but low amps and vice versa.
Adventureinlife Uhh, that isn't quite how it works... You see it all depends on your load, if you have a 10W LED for example then it will only ever draw a max of 10W basically 0.083A at 120V or 0.042A at 240V so either way you're drawing 10W of power (assuming 100% efficiency). However, something resistive such as a heater or a motor the more volts you give it the more current it can draw, so for example a US 1500W hair dryer if it didn't have any sort of transformer would use double that power (3000W) in a country with 240V mains.
Ah... I see. Now it makes sense. Too bad we have yet to figure out Superconducting components at room temperature. That would probably be the only way we could actually hit 100% efficiency. Which thanks to you helping me understand this I can see how the decision as to what buck/booster to pick heavily comes down to how efficient it is.
IF 80% is TRUE then it is pretty damn good. even though it has two stages. thats an average of 89.4% for each stage!!! thanks for sharing. you did a good test. I subscribed and "Liked".
DAMN I love your videos. I am so happy that I am leaving for Arizona next month, and I don't have time for one of those to reach me here in South Dakota, otherwise I would have one in my arsanal of power supplies.
Love the channel and I am learning a lot from you. Thanks. Quick question: . I will be utilizing one of these off of a 12 volt power source. I have the 12 volt power source fused protected but whenever I energize the 12 volt supply into Vin of the converter it will pop any fuse that I have. There appears to be a momentary short between Vin+ and Vin- until the circuit energizes. Any ideas?
On power up, the output is turned on for less than 1 second and this is at high current. On mine I get 10V spike\surge on power up. Bad design! rmprepusb.blogspot.com/2019/11/is-d3806-boostbuck-dc-dc-power-supply.html See other comments from other people who have blown up their circuits due to power on or power off surges like this.
I watched this video and had to get me one. Unfortunately the second time I tried to use it, I was trying to float charge a bike battery with CV set at 14v with CC set to 1 amp from a car battery. Everything was wired correctly and I am still not sure what happened but I let the magic smoke out. Has anyone come across a circuit diagram, I really would like to have a go at repairing It. Thanks for your very interesting videos Julian!
Hi, thanks great video, I have a question you suggestion would be great, I have, Solar panel open-circuit Voltage: 40V Battery 12 V (AGM Controller : PWM controller max input voltage 28V Can I use D3806 to step down from 40V to 25V and connect to solar charge controller to charge the battery? Will I lose energy in this converter in step down mode? Or the module will convert in to Amps from Voltage while step down? Thanks ,
This thing also has a Serial conneciton, maybe You can make a video about Hacking this thing? Maybe You can control the output voltage and current via pc. Would be awesome if that would work
Only one part should be active at a time. If boosting the buck MOSFET should just stay on, if the buck converter is running the boost MOSFET should just stay off.
Could you use a Buck Boost Converter in place of a solar charge controller? I have a 100 watt solar panel hooked to a 12v deep cycle lead acid battery. My charge controller now has a linear voltage converter and it cuts off charging at 14.2 v. I would like it to stop charging when it hits 15.1 v. Any suggestions?
mppforall No. Solar needs a converter that regulates based on the input not just on the output. At minimum you need it to regulate at the maximum power point voltage of the panel, but since this changes with the panel temperature you ideally want a true MPPT unit. Also be careful about overvolting lead-acid. At the very least you will electrolyze away the water in the electrolyte, possibly cause positive plate grid corrosion, and at worst send the battery into thermal runaway.
I've this very model and had to replace the mosfet on it twice now as it failed and ended up causing a short heating the tracks up on the back so had to repair them too. When it's working it's excellent though. Should add it was the mosfet in the boost part of the circuit that blew a few times. Oh and the closer to 10v you get as an input the noisier it gets :-)
No was way off the limit, sure it was just 18v i was outputting. I'm guessing I made a mistake and shorted something accidentally though. I ended up buying 10 spare mosfets for any further such accidents fr.aliexpress.com/item/SSF7509-80A-TO-220/32216810192.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.0.8YyRVl I could have swore you had one of these as i thought i bought it after seeing one of your videos, it must have been another ming he converter.
I've reached that point as well but more with smaller stuff, buy them in and go to put away and find identical ones there lol. Really enjoy your videos, would love a series on doing a mppt controller, i know you had a series last time but was a tad hard to follow and i don't think it was complete in the end.
What about current? Did you drive it over 5A? Because the manual says it needs added cooling for anything over that, although I personally probably wouldn't take it much higher than 4.5A without a fan, but yeah agree with simontay if it's a recurring issue I suggested a bigger mosfet and/or heatsink rather than replacing it every failure.
I think you should have a 3 stage review process for power supplies, introductory post bag type then a video similar to this showing a unique thing about it then scope time! Showing efficiency accuracy and regulation ripple. Anyway I love your videos I just think a little more structure would be nice
Maybe a matte screen protector could help? I find they do wonders to cut down on reflections on phones, as well as not show fingerprints as much as shiny glass or protectors do.
Wonder if that would run my mobile Ham radio here in the house? OH well, that would be a great reason for ordering it were we going to be here long enough....
I like to use my 18 Volt Li-on batteries for my old Bosch 14,4 V screwdriver. Is it possible to use a buck converter. Do anyone know wat the maximum current is in the motor?
How stable are the currents in something like this? What is a good way to test that? I want to buy one of these to put in my car for powering a laptop. one of two, a 12 volt eee pc that uses 3 Amps and a 19.5 volt Dell that uses 4.64 amps. but I worry about how unstable the voltage is in an automobile is. Edit: One at a time but I want to be able to use both laptops at various times.
Jessica Myer I would not use this in a car unless it will be disconnected from power while cranking. See my previous comment about it going unstable with an input voltage under 10v which will happen every time a vehicle with a conventional 12v starter motor is cranked. In a BEV or HEV that doesn't crank the engine with a 12v starter it should be just fine. Also there are already buck-boost converters designed for exactly this, I have an HP branded one that was for the HP/Compaq TC1100 tablet.
buck boost converters by the nature of how they work will always be inefficient. If you want efficiency, use either a boost converter or a buck converter
I don't have a great deal of experience with enough models to give a recommendation. Though in general, if you're stepping up voltage, get a boost converter, and if you're stepping down voltage, get a buck converter. Buck converters are usually more efficient (iirc). Wherever you buy them usually has the ratings on it, which usually includes efficiency.
I have one. I am an absolute beginner to electronics and notice it isn't fused. Should it be and if so how's the best way to do it? (I'm bound to connect it reverse polarity to my 12v solar system at some stage!) Thanks for any advice.
Julian Ilett . Was thinking of soldering in a 10a fuse on the bottom of the circuit board and cutting the positive track in between? Is cutting the track easy or is it all embedded in the plastic? Once again thanks for any help.
Cutting the track should be quite easy - it's just a copper strip glued onto the surface of the fibre-glass PCB. You may want to wick up some of the solder first with some solder braid.
Just tack a fuse between your input cable and the converter, then to protect from reverse polarity find a 5A diode and place it over the input, I believe it should be connected Cathode to Vin+ and Anode to Vin- although I'm not very experienced myself so feel free to correct me on that.
Julian Ilett . Thanks Julien. I really appreciate all your videos and you've got me hooked on electronics! I'm even starting to learn Arduino programming and have already got a home made 13 led meteor light working!!!
Personally, I think the price is just right for what you're getting, but you can get them a bit cheaper on aliexpress (down to $15) by searching for "38v 6a". Here's a link to the one I bought a few months ago. www.aliexpress.com/item/38V-6A-DC-DC-Digital-Boost-Buck-Step-up-Step-down-Module-LED-Driver-Solar-Charging/32699655308.html Also, I have to agree with Julian for example, the DSO138 kit you can find as low as about $16 but for just $4 more you can get them pre-soldered, so you really aren't saving much out of kits.
I knw this video is old, bt the information is invaluable. Pls how does this work for a solar charge controller application? If it's minimum input is 10v, what happens when the pv modules go to sleep at night?
I don't know, but I need to find out, too. I was just looking for someone who knows what they're talking about. The 3v thing sounds like arduino. I use esp8266. When b3806 buttons are pressed, assuming a usb serial port will connect, the arduino ide serial monitor might show something if say pin 2 is monitoring the txd line,.
To play with it, talking to it directly with a PC would be the easiest route, put aside the arduino/esp and use something like eBay item 272519856405 to talk to it. Reverse engineering the protocol would be very time consuming/impossible without source or documentation. I plan on trying replacement firmware from Github baruch/b3603 which has explicit provisions for serial control.
A PC serial connection is the next try. I plugged the B3806 into my Comtest and V+ and TD leds are on 5v, to RD is 1.5v, S.GND is 2.5v, GND is 5v and all the rest are 1v
I don't know what i love more, your videos or power converters :) I bought one after i saw this review hehe. To other D3806 users, DO NOT LEAVE LOAD CONNECTED TO CONVERTER WHEN YOU DISCONNECT POWER, it will send voltage spike to output and fry load. I plan to add few components to pull FB pin of buck section to GND when power is disconnected to avoid voltage spikes on output.
I wish I read you comment before, I fried an Orange Pi PC in this way.
Mine gives a large high current 5V-10V spike/surge when DC input is first connected (even when output is configured to be off on startup). Also spikes when DC input disconnected. Anyone have a fix (apart from using a large 10A toggle switch on the DC output and having to remember to always use it when powering low voltage devices)?
A word of caution about the D3806, don't undervolt the input. I got one after this video and was using it to discharge a 7p3s lithium ion pack by transferring the energy to a 20s NiMH pack. When they say 10v minimum input they aren't kidding, once the voltage sagged below 10 the boost converter section went nuts and overvolted the intermediate bus which blew the buck converter chip.
Thanks for the advice !
I bought one of these and I do not regret it at all. This is a great power supply, and I'm currently powering it with a 7.4V 1500 mAh LiPo with balance low voltage cutoff to avoid over discharge. Since it senses cell balance, it can cut power when either cell reaches 3 volts. Works wonders, I will be using it to power projects and prototypes. I'm also using those same terminal to barrel jack thingys, both male and female.
I never knew about the options you can access by holding the 'OK' button, it works with a smaller Ming He 3A buck version that ive got.. these little PSUs are so versatile!
I've had this D3806 for a long while. I use it regularly. Never knew it had a power and charge meter though! Thanks as ever Julian. Great insight.
In case anyone is interested, I downloaded the user manual for this converter and used google to translate it to English.
(Note that in the manual it states it can only do 5A in natural cooling.)
Orginal - drive.google.com/open?id=0B7w1odapcBUhUmlKVWZkbm1uLXc
Translated - drive.google.com/open?id=0B7w1odapcBUhdDJtTFZ5LXV6Mmc
Side note, just so you know, I did the bare minimum required to make it more legible such as adding tables, so I have added very few corrections on spelling/grammar mistakes.
Excellent, very helpful - thanks.
Julian Ilett Glad to help out.
By the way that "minimum voltage" that you saw when the output was off, is your input voltage minus little drop across the choke and diode.
Yeah, that only dawned on me when I was editing the video
Julian Ilett Yup, it's easy to mess up when you are filming the video :)
I got one of those about a week ago to make a proof of concept setup for a PC UPS with li-ion batteries inside an old PC PSU with optional external battery packs that will also supply the monitor (19V input) and the modem/router). Anyway, I decided to get a D3806 so once i test my setup i can them replace it with a simpler more permanent converter and use D3806 as a bech PSU... At first all was excellent and worked like a charm.... i did some more tests last night, again, no problems.... today tried to use it to charge some LI-Ion cells on a BT-C3100 charger... As Power supply i used a 12,6V 3S/3P Li-Ion pack which i wanted to discharge anyway so, 12V/3A set, i connect the charger and before i even activate the output.. It started working.... i did some tests and voltage measurements and i found out that the Input went straight to the output... I was lucky i used a 12,6V input which was fine for the charger i powered. But i also noticed that Vin went straight to Vout no matter what Vin would be or the module being turnded on or off.... lowering the Vout setting made no change... funny though, increasing Vout above Vin made no change with the module turned off, it gave about 4V over Vin with module turned on.... I am trying to figure this out with the aliexpress seller and will probably post a video sometime soon..... what is pissing me off though, besides the failure of this much expected module is that i do have another, D3603 a much simpler back only module.... I used it extensively as bench psu and battery charger for months now... today i noticed it starts limiting the output but.... I power it with a 15V laptop brick, output is set to 12V current is set to 2A yet, CC limiter kicks in even at 1A draw......
Ok, some will say "you get what you pay" others "shit happens" but... two MingHe modules failing the same day??
th-cam.com/video/6he7Cq3xzIg/w-d-xo.html this is the problem with my D3806
Great stuff Julian. I was fascinated by your demo of the buck/boost unit. I wish they had been out a few years ago while I had still been serving in the Royal Signals. I could have carried a magicians wand round with me and baffled the gunners, infantry and tankies more than I use to do with electronic tricks. "Now for my next trick". I use to use a small fluorescent tube and put it near to the antenna base of my HF radio. With a remote CW key (ptt) to switch the TX on I would demonstrate why it was not very safe to walk close to my vehicle whilst I was sending messages etc., and other such daft tricks. On the serious side these would have been very handy for power for all kinds of things taken from 24/30 volts of the radio supply. They would have saved me one hell of a lot of
time making up boosted, zener regulated units for "Phillips" battery shavers, Transistor radios and later battery operated portable TV's etc.
I'd be interested in seeing the output using an oscilloscope as I imagine that going through the boost - buck process is likely to add a fair amount of ripple. You can remove the clear plastic film over the LED display to improve contrast and reduce reflection.
another great video Julian, between you and big Clive I've learned a lot and much better than the TV.
Thanks. TH-cam IS the TV!!
@@JulianIlett TH-cam is what the TV should be !
Best peace of converter I ever bought for such a price!
Off is really off and the display auto off/on programmability - just awesome!
Another great presentation. I watched about 2 1/2 hours after posting and you already had nearly 20 commentators. Not sure I could come up with a better measure of success for a You Tube channel. Well done you!
I'm sure you caught this already, but the intermediate voltage stops at ~13 volts because the boost converter can't lower voltage (of course). Whatever the input voltage is will be the intermediate voltage, as long as you are using a lower output.
My motto is 'you can never have too many sources of power on your workbench.' So based on that I have ordered one of these as I have hacked an old ATX power supply to give me 12V on my bench and this will make the perfect front end for it. I had intended to build a PSU based on GreatScott's video using the LTC3780 board (I've collected most of the parts but a suitable enclosure for the project still eludes me) but this will make a much neater option.
i love how nicely and smoothly u explain and break down ur approach :D i get to learn a lot
Damn you, Julian! Now I have to order this one too. You are the best salesperson of MingHe Corporation, I must say :)
Really interesting video, I purchased one of these about a year ago on a whim of rebuilding my bench PSU but never got around to it, totally forgot about it till I found it this evening as I was going through some bags of 'bits', it was still boxed and wrapped!. I'm not worried about 80%, pfft!... Hmmmm, me thinks I'll be building this into a new bench PSU when I've finished having a tidy up!...
This actually is the first time I bought an item while watching your video about it :-).
Thanks Julian, you are really digging the interesting stuff!
I think you are a bit harsh calling it inefficient. Remember, this is a two-stage converter. Given that, 80% is pretty good in my book.
t is most likely SEPIC (single ended primary inductor converter), It starts with a Boost stage, then decoupling capacitor, then a diode to output and second inductor to GND. The two inductors could be on the same core. SEPIC topology is driven by Boost driver (low side switch). You appear to have two switches. Had it been 4 it could have been a real 4 switch Buck-Boost.
perfect timing on this vid, Ive got one of these units waiting at the post office parcels place for me to collect. cant wait for saturday so I can grab it and have a play
So I have now killed 3 power converters lol. So I thought I would get this one. I like the way it is setup and with any luck the one I get will be close enough to the real one or better yet the real deal and it will give me better service. The last one I blew up was based on the XL4016 chip did great work for a month even with some abuse on my part. Went to connect a Volt/Amp meter and just stopped working. I know it was connected right because I connected it to another unit with wires connected same way seeing they were soldered together and it worked just fine on that one. I bought it from a person you seem to get a lot of Post bag items from so I felt it maybe safe to order from her/him as you even have said not sure. I think it is just a name with many people working the system.
As always, another great video. But please, can you make more videos about pic programming, rgb led strips with controller in each LED and solar charging etc.? You are one of my favouritests youtuber which are into electronics. I am 14 and I am from Czech republic and because of you now i knew more words than my english teacher. Thank you a lot, keep rolling!
Thanks Marek. Actually, I'm planning to use a PIC to control WS2812 addressable RGB LED strips. So after a few PIC programming tutorials, I'll bring in the RGB LED strips. Cheers :)
Julian Ilett oh mean! I am looking forward for it!
Great story, thanks for sharing
I got one of these a couple of weeks ago and has been great so far - Also, I just tested the intermediate voltage and mines showing 18.4v, which makes sense as I'm using a laptop power supply to power it rated at 18.5v.
0:05 and I enjoy your vids. If somebody doesn't like it, they should just go search smth they like, it's damn awful to see people complaining in the comments. TH-cam gives them an opportunity to find a content they like, but instead, they rant in the comments.
"but instead, they rant in the comments." Hmm... Kind of like what you're doing right now perhaps?
If somebody doesn't like reading rants in the youtube comments then they should just move on to the next comment and find ones they do like, it's damn awful to see people complaining about other people complaining in the comments. TH-cam gives them the opportunity to find comments they like but instead choose to rant about other comments.
Have you gotten the point yet? They have every right to complain about something just as much as you have the right to complain about them, which by the way if you weren't aware there IS a difference between a worthless complaint (this sucks) and valid criticism (I think this could be better if____).
EECatblog So you are complaining about me complaining about other people complaining :) Maybe I wasn't clear enough in the original comment, I wanted to say that if somebody has a channel where he uploads what HE (or she) likes, it's kinda pointless to bitch about the content. Constructive criticism is for sure the GOOD thing, but there will inevitably be smb yapping "this sucks". Hope it's clear now. Because I like this channel for it is now, and I'll be sad seeing it change because of the POINTLESS complaints.
Julian has enough followers that make me think it is unlikely he would change his way of doing things. I enjoy all his content even when it is on aspects of electronics that don't particularly interest me (I have no garden so solar power is not something I can have, much as I would like it.) It is all about his relaxed and often humorous presentation and the fact he shares my fascination with dc-dc converters. :D
I like that too. I don't have a solar setup, yet sometimes I find those vids very interesting.
if somebody is going to give a thumbs down then they should give a reason for it.
keep up the good work, funny how it seems we are both going down the same track and buying banggood stuff to play with
Excellent video my friend!!! but isn´t the LTC3780 module much better?
Thanks amigo! Yeah, LTC3780 is much more efficient. I'd love to see Ming He design a digitally controlled PSU using that chip :)
Digitally control it with digital potentiometers. But you also have to monitor it feeding voltage and current data back to the display. It's difficult!
Julian Ilett You can use op amp and dac, comparing dac value and resistor divider value from output, out of amp must be connected to feedback of converter
LTC3780 is more efficient but this one is rated for higher power?
Renxula thanks for the info,it's great when someone takes the time to help someone
I gotta admit - I too have a huge fascination with these voltage converter devices - tho I am not entirely sure why - laugh !!!
I got this unit myself (what a great find Julian). Two things are rather a mystery to me still.
1) when in advanced mode (flag "1" set to Y) there is an additional, non permanently saved setting called Lo, followed by SA. They seem to be the same setting: if you change one, the other changes too. I suspect it is a minimum current percentage. If the load goes under that, it will switch off, but I am still testing if this is true. Would be very useful for charging Lithium cells.
2) when booting while holding SET, it goes into a a weird mode displaying -F1-. Very stange things happpen. Do NOT try this with a load attached. I haven't figured this one out. Probably a reset to factory and/or test mode.
Cancel comment on F1 mode. this is indeed calibration and reset. Description to be found here: www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/b3603-dcdc-buck-converter-mini-review-and-how-the-set-key-could-be-fatal/
LoSA seems NOT to be a cutoff current. Baffled by that one.
Lo = Load one of 10 (0-9) memory positions, SA = ditto. Normal save is always done in position 0. Solved!
@@JWM-Meijer rmprepusb.blogspot.com/2019/11/is-d3806-boostbuck-dc-dc-power-supply.html
@@steve6375 A bit of a necro-comment in the current fast-moving times ;-) The other "solution" of course is to only use the on-off toggles on the PCB. By coincidence, this is what I always do.
i wonder how much more efficient it would be to bypass the shunt resistors and just use as a voltage boost/buck negating amperage
I was trying to find the model number so I could calibrat mine and couldn't be bothered to pick mine up yet and I found it and it's better but at some point the read out has just been off by like 2 v but it's still around right like if I'm trying to charge a lithium battery and have it set to like 4.1v that's about where it would go but it would read like 6 or 7 volts it might be time to look at a new one and there are some nice looking ones out these days
I wonder why they aren't just switching the switching of the first stage off and leave it on the input voltage when in buck only mode and the other way 'round when in boost mode. Would raise the efficiency quite a bit. But it would have been even better if the'd just short the input directly to the input of the buck regulator when in buck only mode with a MOSFET.
Transient response perhaps.
At about timestamp you start a very interesting subject...The XL4016 is rated at 8A, but the board only 6A--also you mention that probably it is because the heatsink would have to be larger for 8A. SO...could the heatsink be replaced with a larger one (or maybe cooled by making use of that fan plug! Well, another question is will the digital aspects of the board support the 0-8A range?
hey.. thx for video.. i have problem and searching for help.. my d3806's out is always open and it is not working as buck module anymore it is only boosting.. what could be caused by?
the output precision is good? I wanna use solar input to sharge 18650 and they don't like more than 4.2VDC each. solar pannel around max 20VDC 5A to 7s 18650's with max 28VDC to get more cycles life. efficiency is not a problem here because I have sun all the year.
Yes the output precision is very good. I have 5 now and they work perfectly!
Excellent!
I'm going to use something like this to use a constant 12v to LED grow lights and fans, using my two 80w solar panels. I only just found out that I can power things through the day without using the battery. Hmmmmmm *scratches chin*
Julian, you mentioned efficiency quite a bit here. So I would have liked you to actually measure/calculate it.
(BTW the DS for the buck chip did say "up to 96%", so may have been better than 80% overall)
The most interesting part is that there is a TX and RX pins on the controller .... that means that Devices mcu must be programmable/controllable from a uart !!! If only someone placed the specs to control the thing with a external mcu (arduino/D1 mini etc) ... that would be a Wonderful way to have a very nice power supply that could be controlled from almost everything anywhere.
Does the 12-13V after the boost match your solar supply in?
Yes. That didn't really occur to me while filming this video. Had I fed the minimum input voltage of 10V into this device, the 'after boost' voltage would probably drop to about 9.5V - that's 10V minus the diode drop.
Hello, I got one of these but mine got damaged during the shipping.
Toroidal core of the inductor on the buck converter is shattered in pieces(right one). Can you please help me find out what are the characteristics of that inductor? I want to change it and I have some salvaged inductors, but how can I find the suitable one If I cannot measure the original one, because of the shattered toroidal core and following changed characteristics?
Please advice. Thanks in advance.
I just started getting into these for driving single cob leds. I am under the impression that the amps are really what dictates what these boost/bucks can do? Is this logic correct? 100w 27v cob, 14.8v battery (idx 198) and a 3505 (35v5amp) I assume that because it would take 6.6amp on the IN side that I've already exceeded the converter's 5amp capacity? Even if the OUT is 3.7a at 27v?
38V*6A=228W?
This thing is 228W at max?
If you put them in parallel would they increase their efficiency (because when you put stuff in parallel they decrease their resistance) and increase their rated power to more than 228W?
Any chance you could put your 'proper' multi-meter across the terminals of your 'LED Voltmeter'? It would be great to know how accurate it is. Thanks.
Does Ming He have more than one product with the same Model # of D3806, with one being a Boost/Buck and the other being a Buck only regulator? I've seen D3806,s for sale that appear to have identical board layout but are listed differently as Boost/Buck or Buck only/ Any help would be appreciated.
Solar chargers tend to need feedback from a battery before supplying an output voltage. I have a 24v (2ea 12v batteries in series) battery bank that I wish to charge using a 12v Solar panel source. any ideas if this Boost converter will work to charge a 24v system?
thanks for this video but since this is now old, is there anything newer to this (new version)?
Think I would have left the power meter installed, what the heck... Also a top to pull that power might be nice, be able to use both the boost power and the buck power at the same time for different devices????? No porbably drive the little controller chip nuts adjusting for amp and voltage fluxuation.
I´d think, the boost-stage just simply doesn´t drive the FET, if the Output is turned off. So the intermediate Voltage is just the input-voltage minus the losses in the components.
Yep, that seems plausible.
Does this PSU use a MCU? Perhaps the STM32? If it does, does it include the 4-pin SWD programming connector?
Hi Julian, first thanks awesome videos.
Just want to ask what boost buck converter you recommanded now a days. I just building quite simple adjustable power supply with voltage and current adjustment. Inside my diy powersupply case is old atx pc power supply what can handle 30A current on 12voltage line.
This video module is ok with all specs, but can you recommemnded something better now a days, or do i just buy this module.
I've had this one for months, works brilliantly
only issue with it is after a drop it seems to pulse the output when I give it power even though its set to Off at boot. The pulse is only tiny but could possibly kill some low-power device if I forgot to detach it before plugging the unit it :(
it would be cool of they could install a relay or something i guess mosfet would be good but to switch between boost and buck if it needed more it could boost straight to the output and just buck if you needed lower but you would probably loose a couple of volts near your input voltage
help.i burnt the 5 pin buck thing in my cheap 24vdc to 12vdc step down converter. they had removed the numbers on it.any idea where i can get one?
if I want to use a led driver with led specifications 24V - 2.4A or 12V - 4.8A and 15V - 4A for use on motorcycles with input voltage 10V - 18V it is recommended to use D3806 buck boost or LTC3780 buck boost?
I wonder is it possible to make such converter with an Arduino...
I bought a couple of converters, because of you, and your videos, where do you buy those adapters you use to plug into your converters, and what does buck mean, I have one now just don't no that word buck
Buck means to lower, somehow.
DC to DC BuckBoosters obviously will boost up volts and buck volts. But what seems to be rarely mentioned is what else is being effected? I'm guessing it's the amps? Am I currency?
I'm not really sure what you mean but yes, you are currency.
EECatblog just meaning to say that so far it seems that when DC to DC BuckBoosters are explained in videos usually nothing or not much is said about what you are losing or gaining with the colts are being boosted or bucked. Thank for the reply. So as volts get boosted amps get bucked. And of course as volts get bucked amps get boosted. Which means that there are applications out there that need high volts but low amps and vice versa.
Adventureinlife Uhh, that isn't quite how it works... You see it all depends on your load, if you have a 10W LED for example then it will only ever draw a max of 10W basically 0.083A at 120V or 0.042A at 240V so either way you're drawing 10W of power (assuming 100% efficiency).
However, something resistive such as a heater or a motor the more volts you give it the more current it can draw, so for example a US 1500W hair dryer if it didn't have any sort of transformer would use double that power (3000W) in a country with 240V mains.
Ah... I see. Now it makes sense. Too bad we have yet to figure out Superconducting components at room temperature. That would probably be the only way we could actually hit 100% efficiency. Which thanks to you helping me understand this I can see how the decision as to what buck/booster to pick heavily comes down to how efficient it is.
Wont it be only using one of the circuits at a time boost or drop??
Do you think this can endure 40-41v?
Thinking of using this as a solar charge controller
IF 80% is TRUE then it is pretty damn good. even though it has two stages. thats an average of 89.4% for each stage!!! thanks for sharing. you did a good test. I subscribed and "Liked".
how many electrons are in 1 amp?
and how fast is an electron at 1 volt?
DAMN I love your videos. I am so happy that I am leaving for Arizona next month, and I don't have time for one of those to reach me here in South Dakota, otherwise I would have one in my arsanal of power supplies.
Thanks Jerry :)
god bless buck converters !!!!!!!
nice unit, could you or how would you connect 2 or 3 in series to get a higher voltage, like 100 volts
Love the channel and I am learning a lot from you. Thanks. Quick question: . I will be utilizing one of these off of a 12 volt power source. I have the 12 volt power source fused protected but whenever I energize the 12 volt supply into Vin of the converter it will pop any fuse that I have. There appears to be a momentary short between Vin+ and Vin- until the circuit energizes. Any ideas?
On power up, the output is turned on for less than 1 second and this is at high current. On mine I get 10V spike\surge on power up. Bad design! rmprepusb.blogspot.com/2019/11/is-d3806-boostbuck-dc-dc-power-supply.html
See other comments from other people who have blown up their circuits due to power on or power off surges like this.
I watched this video and had to get me one. Unfortunately the second time I tried to use it, I was trying to float charge a bike battery with CV set at 14v with CC set to 1 amp from a car battery. Everything was wired correctly and I am still not sure what happened but I let the magic smoke out. Has anyone come across a circuit diagram, I really would like to have a go at repairing It. Thanks for your very interesting videos Julian!
Hi, thanks great video, I have a question you suggestion would be great,
I have,
Solar panel open-circuit Voltage: 40V
Battery 12 V (AGM
Controller : PWM controller max input voltage 28V
Can I use D3806 to step down from 40V to 25V and connect to
solar charge controller to charge the battery? Will I lose energy in this converter
in step down mode? Or the module will convert in to Amps from Voltage while step
down?
Thanks ,
Not a good idea
You boost doesn't kick in till your past your input. that's clever.
What kind of isolation does it have between input and output? Is the negative connected straight through except for the current sense resistor?
Yes, the negative passes straight through (with just the output current sense resistor inline). Most of these DC/DC converters are non-isolated.
This thing also has a Serial conneciton, maybe You can make a video about Hacking this thing? Maybe You can control the output voltage and current via pc. Would be awesome if that would work
Only one part should be active at a time. If boosting the buck MOSFET should just stay on, if the buck converter is running the boost MOSFET should just stay off.
Could you use a Buck Boost Converter in place of a solar charge controller? I have a 100 watt solar panel hooked to a 12v deep cycle lead acid battery. My charge controller now has a linear voltage converter and it cuts off charging at 14.2 v. I would like it to stop charging when it hits 15.1 v. Any suggestions?
mppforall No. Solar needs a converter that regulates based on the input not just on the output. At minimum you need it to regulate at the maximum power point voltage of the panel, but since this changes with the panel temperature you ideally want a true MPPT unit.
Also be careful about overvolting lead-acid. At the very least you will electrolyze away the water in the electrolyte, possibly cause positive plate grid corrosion, and at worst send the battery into thermal runaway.
Is there a listing of all the button functions? thx
I've this very model and had to replace the mosfet on it twice now as it failed and ended up causing a short heating the tracks up on the back so had to repair them too. When it's working it's excellent though. Should add it was the mosfet in the boost part of the circuit that blew a few times. Oh and the closer to 10v you get as an input the noisier it gets :-)
Did you drive anywhere near it's maximum ratings? They're always way too optimistic!
No was way off the limit, sure it was just 18v i was outputting. I'm guessing I made a mistake and shorted something accidentally though. I ended up buying 10 spare mosfets for any further such accidents fr.aliexpress.com/item/SSF7509-80A-TO-220/32216810192.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.0.8YyRVl I could have swore you had one of these as i thought i bought it after seeing one of your videos, it must have been another ming he converter.
You may be right - I seem to have two now!
I've reached that point as well but more with smaller stuff, buy them in and go to put away and find identical ones there lol. Really enjoy your videos, would love a series on doing a mppt controller, i know you had a series last time but was a tad hard to follow and i don't think it was complete in the end.
What about current? Did you drive it over 5A?
Because the manual says it needs added cooling for anything over that, although I personally probably wouldn't take it much higher than 4.5A without a fan, but yeah agree with simontay if it's a recurring issue I suggested a bigger mosfet and/or heatsink rather than replacing it every failure.
I think you should have a 3 stage review process for power supplies, introductory post bag type then a video similar to this showing a unique thing about it then scope time! Showing efficiency accuracy and regulation ripple. Anyway I love your videos I just think a little more structure would be nice
I'm planning to scope a number of these things in one video. Problem is my scope doesn't video well - the screen is very reflective :(
Maybe a matte screen protector could help? I find they do wonders to cut down on reflections on phones, as well as not show fingerprints as much as shiny glass or protectors do.
awesome cant wait to see! hey seeing a semi bad scope video is better than having no clue at all!
I want to make a grid tie exercise bike using this converter before the inverter itself.
just ordered one of these units to go with the bst900
Anyone else notice the fan connection on the board?
Gooberslot and the fact there is only one fan connector
Wonder if that would run my mobile Ham radio here in the house? OH well, that would be a great reason for ordering it were we going to be here long enough....
I like to use my 18 Volt Li-on batteries for my old Bosch 14,4 V screwdriver. Is it possible to use a buck converter. Do anyone know wat the maximum current is in the motor?
How many buck converts do you own?
How stable are the currents in something like this? What is a good way to test that? I want to buy one of these to put in my car for powering a laptop. one of two, a 12 volt eee pc that uses 3 Amps and a 19.5 volt Dell that uses 4.64 amps. but I worry about how unstable the voltage is in an automobile is.
Edit: One at a time but I want to be able to use both laptops at various times.
Jessica Myer I would not use this in a car unless it will be disconnected from power while cranking. See my previous comment about it going unstable with an input voltage under 10v which will happen every time a vehicle with a conventional 12v starter motor is cranked. In a BEV or HEV that doesn't crank the engine with a 12v starter it should be just fine.
Also there are already buck-boost converters designed for exactly this, I have an HP branded one that was for the HP/Compaq TC1100 tablet.
I saw the RxD and TxD pins. Does anyone know, if the parameters are programmable via UART?
Could you recommend an efficient buck boost converter that is similar.
buck boost converters by the nature of how they work will always be inefficient. If you want efficiency, use either a boost converter or a buck converter
DaffyDaffyDaffy33322 Thank you. Is there one you would recommend?
I don't have a great deal of experience with enough models to give a recommendation. Though in general, if you're stepping up voltage, get a boost converter, and if you're stepping down voltage, get a buck converter. Buck converters are usually more efficient (iirc). Wherever you buy them usually has the ratings on it, which usually includes efficiency.
The one i bought can save different modes.
Nice work Julian
SOLD need a couple of these...
Thanks for tutorial.
Great help but more on motorhome battery charging
I have one. I am an absolute beginner to electronics and notice it isn't fused. Should it be and if so how's the best way to do it? (I'm bound to connect it reverse polarity to my 12v solar system at some stage!) Thanks for any advice.
Yes, you should really have a fuse. Mine is in the cigar lighter plug on the other end of my input cable.
Julian Ilett . Was thinking of soldering in a 10a fuse on the bottom of the circuit board and cutting the positive track in between? Is cutting the track easy or is it all embedded in the plastic? Once again thanks for any help.
Cutting the track should be quite easy - it's just a copper strip glued onto the surface of the fibre-glass PCB. You may want to wick up some of the solder first with some solder braid.
Just tack a fuse between your input cable and the converter, then to protect from reverse polarity find a 5A diode and place it over the input, I believe it should be connected Cathode to Vin+ and Anode to Vin- although I'm not very experienced myself so feel free to correct me on that.
Julian Ilett . Thanks Julien. I really appreciate all your videos and you've got me hooked on electronics! I'm even starting to learn Arduino programming and have already got a home made 13 led meteor light working!!!
The display will be out about 2 volts.
What application is this used for
Only limited by your imagination!
Thank you sharing.
Big thanks for this video..
how about your Microduinos? i almost can wait to see more about ´em :)
love your videos - thanks for sharing :)
I'll get back to that when I'm in the mood for some programming :)
Does anyone happen to no where one migh get t some of those ada¡ptes he use on the power converters for hook up,s.power ,
This is kind of pricey, they should issue this in a kit form. Nice video.
It wouldn't be much cheaper as a kit - the cost of assembly by Chinese workers is very low.
Personally, I think the price is just right for what you're getting, but you can get them a bit cheaper on aliexpress (down to $15) by searching for "38v 6a".
Here's a link to the one I bought a few months ago.
www.aliexpress.com/item/38V-6A-DC-DC-Digital-Boost-Buck-Step-up-Step-down-Module-LED-Driver-Solar-Charging/32699655308.html
Also, I have to agree with Julian for example, the DSO138 kit you can find as low as about $16 but for just $4 more you can get them pre-soldered, so you really aren't saving much out of kits.
It looks like the smd's are the big one, its the traces on the power trances that would require a high wattage soldering iron.
I knw this video is old, bt the information is invaluable. Pls how does this work for a solar charge controller application? If it's minimum input is 10v, what happens when the pv modules go to sleep at night?
What are the RxD and TxD serial pins for?
ftdi ttl-232r-3v3 cai 3461 ah ?
3v UART, what does ithe firmware allow you to do smartypants
I don't know, but I need to find out, too. I was just looking for someone who knows what they're talking about. The 3v thing sounds like arduino. I use esp8266. When b3806 buttons are pressed, assuming a usb serial port will connect, the arduino ide serial monitor might show something if say pin 2 is monitoring the txd line,.
To play with it, talking to it directly with a PC would be the easiest route, put aside the arduino/esp and use something like eBay item 272519856405 to talk to it. Reverse engineering the protocol would be very time consuming/impossible without source or documentation. I plan on trying replacement firmware from Github baruch/b3603 which has explicit provisions for serial control.
A PC serial connection is the next try. I plugged the B3806 into my Comtest and V+ and TD leds are on 5v, to RD is 1.5v, S.GND is 2.5v, GND is 5v and all the rest are 1v
those converter are rated for the input .. so .. it's 6A .. at the input.. do your math.
cool, let's continue !!!!