Very small voltage regulator

Bill Barnwell

Bill Barnwell

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Very small voltage regulator that I have used before which came back into stock, great for smoke units. You can cut the voltage down to the popular 5 volts and attach your smoke unit and also by adding a 200 ohm resistor to another circuit add a 3 volt led for the head light. Works great and will fit just about anywhere, I've also put a couple of flickering led's in the circuit with the head light and had a firebox look, Bill comes from eBay sell is gfhappyboy, very helpful seller
 
Updated design and even cheaper now.
£1.90 for 5 including delivery!
 
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They actually look very similar to the ones that PhilP (with his RC Trains hat on) supplies in pre-wired form....

Just a quick technical question to Those Wot Know Electrickery Stuff....... when I used some larger voltage regulators that included an electrolytic capacitor for running the lights in my multi-power BoBo, I was advised by a former member of this forum to fit a pair of Schottky diodes to the input wires of the regulator, to prevent any risk of power discharge from the capacitor feeding back into the lighting control output of the DCC decoder..... with these much smaller regulator boards, do they have any capacitive components at all, and would the Schottkys still be a good idea to avoid any risk of fried decoder outputs.....?

Jon.
 
John S said:
Jon, have found these particular converters (as in post 1) somewhat flaky, manged to destroy two Massoth M decoders when used via the Function Outputs, they have been fine when connected via DEK+ & GND, I'd err on the side of caution and would if I ever used them again for regulating a Function Output would certainly fit a Schottky Diode.

The description for the newer versions has changed, they may well behave better, but on past experiences with Function Outputs I think I'd still fit a diode.

As Brucie would say in this game Go Lower! 5pcs/set Mini 3A DC Adjustable Converter Step Down Power Supply Replace LM2596By | eBay
Click to expand...

Thanks John - yes, for the sake of the small cost of the Schottkys, I think I will fit them just to be sure..... do you actually NEED a pair (one on each wire), as I've used before, or will just one suffice?
I use them on the lighting outputs of the decoder, to give me a regulated 5volts for the loco lights irrespective of whether the loco is running on DCC track power at 22v, or the Li-Ion battery pack at 14.8v.

Jon.
 
Cheap adjustable regulators are just that, cheap and adjustable

If they go haywire, good bye regulation.

Besides, LEDs should be run at constant current. You can buy constant current regulatory for 50 cents.

Really the wrong way to do it... and of course several people will come out and say they have been using regulated voltage for LEDs for years.

Greg
 
Well that's what happens when you're old and unedgemacated! So tell me about constant regulatories and where to purchase them? Bill
 
Without endorsing these little fellows for any particular application (I agree with Greg's current advice), what I do like about these in the LED application for carriage illumination is that you can adjust the brightness of each carriage on the fly. And change if necessary without re-wiring.

Need a Current Regulator? Use a Voltage Regulator!
 
I appreciate your time and patience, grew up in the wrong time era, it will take me a while to digest this info, but I will. Should I still use the adjustable one for a smoke unit, Many thanks again, Bill
 
none of the circuits on the link are presented as adjustable... with the danger of overcurrent damaging LEDs I would pick my current to set the desired brightness and leave it.

Using pots outdoors in the elements can lead to erratic results.

Greg

p.s. I wasn't whining Bill, just wanted to explain. Some people interpret it as rude not to give a long explanation, and just post a link.
 
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Greg Elmassian said:
none of the circuits on the link are presented as adjustable... with the danger of overcurrent damaging LEDs I would pick my current to set the desired brightness and leave it.

Using pots outdoors in the elements can lead to erratic results.

Greg

p.s. I wasn't whining Bill, just wanted to explain. Some people interpret it as rude not to give a long explanation, and just post a link.
Click to expand...

I can confirm I have already blown one sent of LEDS (Not setting the pot on the board BEFORE connecting them up). I have wired up around ten of my carriages using these little buck converters so will see how they go over time. I also like the integrity of the approach you take on your webpage and will buy a few of those CL2 components to play with.
 
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