Buck Converter Feeler?

Hey everyone - I am just throwing this thread together to see if there would be enough interest for me to start modifying and current-setting these amazing little boards.

The boards I am talking about are these:
3.6V~9V 800mA Regulated IC Circuit Board for Cree and SSC LEDs (4-pack) - Free Shipping - DealExtreme

I have been playing with these boards for a while now and they are great for driving out isolated-case diodes.

The idea is that I would replace the SS14 diode on it with an SS34 diode (capable of handling 3A), and I would change out the current-setting resistor on it with one or two other resistors for the buyer's choice. Further, I would change out the positive and negative lead wires that come stock to be silicon, Mohrenberg wire

I have come up with a scheme of resistors that could yield these currents:
115mA <-- PHR
230mA <-- 6x/Pointer-power 445
378mA <-- conservative 12x/smaller 445
500mA <-- 12x/445
1.13A <-- roughly 1W 445
1.5A <-- higher powered 445
1.85A <-- Near upper limit of 445 current handling abilities

I figure that those currents will cater to a lot of different settings for a lot of different diodes that come now or in the future.

Since everything would be so damn cheap, I figured that I would end up charging about $3 or $3.50 or so + shipping. That way, the drivers come in a couple of days instead of from China, taking multiple weeks.

Does that sound reasonable to anyone?

These little drivers even come with a built in filter cap on the output (have tested it myself) and they are extraordinarily stable, and rather efficient - somewhere around 85% efficiency, last time I did the math.

Anyway, if anyone has any more questions or thinks this is a stupid idea, now is the time to say so!

EDIT: So after doing some price checks, I would have to charge $4.25 + shipping for each one of these drivers. Still a steal, though!

I guess it kind of depends on the size. But, if it would be a fit for most or at least a number of builds, I would be interested.

I'm somewhat interested. Especially in the pointer-powered 445s.

I also might be interested

mark-in-dallas said:

I guess it kind of depends on the size. But, if it would be a fit for most or at least a number of builds, I would be interested.

Click to expand...

From the specs. (Assuming you can trust anything on DX)
Of course the mods being made might change the max height. I have no idea.

- 16mm base board with 6mm max height
- C310 chip
- 800mA Regulated Output for Cree and SSC 3.7V emitters
- Accepts 3.6V ~ 9V input power
- Lead wires already soldered on the board
- 4 circuits per board

Click to expand...

I might be interested in a few at that price. Depends on when you get them and get them modified.

EDIT: Crud, just noticed your location. Shipping to the US may make this less of a bargain.

Yeah - I have used these in almost all of my DIY builds, and the mods that I make to it not effecting size at all. It's the perfect size to fit in the Aurora C6 pill, which I assume is a very common pill size.

So far, I am hearing that this would be a good idea. I'll see if I get any more feedback, but other than that, I may dive into it and buy the materials.

So - after doing some math, I would probably have to end up charging around $4.25 per, because some of the parts I need are going to be far more expensive than I expected. Would it still have the same draw? Of course, for US shipping it would only be a single stamp for shipping, because these boards are small enough to fit in normal envelopes. So we are looking at like $4.75 for a US shipped buck driver set to your current. Sound good?

I don't have any need for one of those at the moment, but for $3.5 + shipping at that range of mA I would be very interested in one. Especially for cheap builds for friends.
I am sure others would be interested as well.
$10.60 for C6 from DX
$~5-6 for your driver
$~3 for battery
=Less than $20 for everything but a diode and heatsink in a very nice host.
That's what I'm talking about!

Yeah, did some math though, and it turns out I will need to charge $4.25 + shipping because of part cost.

If the package/letter weights less than 13 ounces, you could ship it First-Class mail for less than $2, less if it's a large letter.
Alot of people forget about that service and instead ship parcel, where the same package would cost $3-4

Or I could literally just stuck it in a letter and mail it for a single stamp

Wolfman29 said:

Or I could literally just stuck it in a letter and mail it for a single stamp

Click to expand...

And that works too! haha

This does actually seem like a great idea

If you can pull it off I will most likely buy a few off you for some c6 builds

For 4.75 shipped I'll buy one!

Id buy one lol.

Hmm. Sounds like I may have struck gold =p To everyone that will be interested in this - I am moving to college soon, so there is that whole delay thing. But in a couple of days, I can order parts!

Bump :bumpit:

I am actually interested in these for a few budget builds