Arduino Uno Voltage Regulator

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davidp20
 
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Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2013 10:20 am

Arduino Uno Voltage Regulator

Post by davidp20 »

Hello,
I have read about how inefficient the arduino uno(5V) voltage regulator is with an input voltage greater than 7 Volts.
It just burns the excess voltage as heat. If I am supplying the board with a 6 AA batteries to give a 9V supply, there will be
a lot of power wasted through heat.
Can I swap the voltage regulator with the Mini DC/DC Step-Down (Buck) Converter - 5V @ 1A output - TSR12450?
Is there room for it on the board?
If you have any better ideas, please let me know.

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Arduino Uno Voltage Regulator

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

If you have regulated 5v (as from the buck converter) you can run the Arduino by feeding that to the 5v pin - bypassing the internal linear regulator. The catch is, this also bypasses the power source detection circuit that automatically switches between USB and the DC power jack. For this reason, you should disconnect your 5v supply when connected to USB.

There are also lots of 7.2v rechargeable battery packs out there. Not quite as efficient as a buck converter, but still better than 9v (or higher).

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