Driver board list / regulator board list.

TorchBoy

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This list is now maintained at http://www.videofoundry.co.nz/ianman/laboratory/research/driverlist.php. Enjoy.

The list below was Last edited by TorchBoy; 09-13-2008 at 11:04 PM.


We'll see how this goes, shall we? This is in roughly increasing input voltage order, with regulators that can boost the voltage split out. All boards linked may also be available in other quantities or from other suppliers. The ones linked may not be the best prices but are in stock at time of writing. All prices in US$.

Is there any point in being exhaustive with the links? Suggestions please.


Boost and Boost/Buck Regulators

Joule Thief 1x AA. Make your own. 0.35-1.5 V in. For driving a single 5mm LED from an alkaline AA (do not use with NiMH). There's a handy instruction video on YouTube.

"3W/5W" 1x AA. $3.96. Boost board; output voltage and current not constant, approximately 0.8-1.5 V in. 1.0 V in gives 0.3A out, 1.4 V in gives 0.7 A out. Run on two fresh NiMH it gets very hot - not advised. 20 modes in three groups.

5-Mode 1-2x AA. $3.00. Boost board; output voltage and current not constant, approximately 0.8-3 V in, almost 700 mA output with two fresh AAs. Modes are high, low, and three different strobes! :ohgeez:

Madmax. $13. Boost regulator, 0.8-5 V in. Unknown output regulation. Two flavours, Lite and Plus. Maximum power output ~0.75 W (Lite) or ~1.5 W (Plus). Maximum current output ~700 mA (Plus). Efficiency 76-88%. 14 mm diameter.

"2.5W" 2x AA. $10.66 for 5. 100~700 mA out. 15mm diameter. Test data discussion (in which someone points out the test data is wrong).

20 mode, 1x AA and AAA. $3.96 (AA), $4.50 (AAA). Boost boards; output voltage and current not constant, 0.8-7 V in. I believe these are identical in operation but the AAA board is narrower and taller.

19 mode 1-2x AA. $4.26. User-adjustable output voltage (not current) up to 7 V. Capable of ~700 mA output from a single AA NiMH cell, or ~1000 mA from two. Efficiency 60-91%. 17 mm diameter. To disable user modes (so many strobes and SOSes!) see this post.

Badboy. Mostly $13, but $16.50 for 750 mA & 1 A versions. Boost regulator, 1.5-9 V in. Vin must be less than Vout. Maximum Iin 1.5 A. Constant current output, board available as a "blank" (add set resistor), or preset to 300 mA, 400 mA, 500 mA, 750 mA, or 1000 mA. Efficiency 82-90%. 14 mm diameter. Must always have a load connected.

GD. $18-20. Buck/boost regulator, 1.8-5.4 V in. Constant current output, board available as a "blank" (add one or two SMT set resistors), or preset to 500 mA, 750 mA, or 1000 mA. Maximum output voltage 5.4 V. Efficiency: 85-93%. 14mm diameter. Must always have a load connected.

BB Nexgen. $20-21. Boost regulator, 2-6 V in, but apparently needs to be started with Vin between 3.4 V and Vf to start the full current regulation mode, otherwise it starts in semi-regulated mode, whatever that is. Constant current output, maximum 1 A. Board available as a "blank" (add set resistor), or preset to 400 mA, 500 mA, 750 mA and 1000 mA. Efficiency 80-91%. 14mm diameter. Must always have a load connected.

Fatman. $22. Boost regulator, 2.7-12 V in. Vin must be less than Vout. User adjustable constant current at 3-16 V, up to 1000 mA. Optional external adjustment. Efficiency 80-96%. 20 mm diameter. Must always have a load connected.

MaxFlex. $32. Boost regulator, 2.5-20 V in. Vin must be less than Vout. User configurable constant current, 350-1200 mA at up to 24 V. Efficiency 83-93%, uController UI, status LED. 23 mm diameter. Open circuit protected.

Shark. $20. Boost regulator, 2.7-20 V in, although Wayne says "The Shark has a hard time at voltages below ~4V". Vin must be less than Vout, and should be >1/3 Vout (preferably >1/2 Vout). Maximum input current 4 A. Regulates on voltage or current, output current adjustable from 50-980 mA (or greater by changing set resistor, although that would remove load protection) at maximum 26 V. Open circuit protected. 19.1 mm diameter. Some questions are answered in this CPF thread.

Remora. $9. User interface board for Shark driver. Available in two flavours - Plain (Low, Medium, High) and Special (Low, Medium, High, SOS).​

Assembled Shark with Remora UI. $50. Multimode boost regulator, 19.1 mm diameter, two boards in double layer.​

Shark vs MaxFlex CPF thread.

Blue Shark. $25. Boost regulator, 2.7-25 V in. Maximum input current 4 A. Regulates on voltage or current, output current adjustable from 50-980 mA (or greater by changing set resistor, although that would remove load protection) at maximum 32 V. 19.1 mm diameter. Includes copper heatsink; improved thermal performance and higher output voltage over standard Shark.

Assembled BLUE Shark with Remora UI. $55. Multimode boost regulator, 19.1 mm diameter, two boards in double layer.​

CCHIPO. $45. Boost regulator, 4-30 V in. Vin must be less than Vout. User adjustable constant current output up to 2 A or 39 V (45 W max). Optional external adjustment. Efficiency 84-92%. Open circuit protected, but if doing so, LED(s) must not be connected until output has discharged from 39 V.


Buck and Linear Regulators

AMC7135 1x Li-ion/3x NiMH/4x alkaline (datasheet). $varies. Linear regulator, 2.7-6 V in; Vin must be at least 0.12 V above Vf of LED to stay in regulation. Each AMC7135 outputs constant current, about 1/3 amp (~330 mA). Boards come with one to four AMC7135s, and single mode up to 19 mode. Boards can be paralleled to give greater output. Very efficient when input voltage close to output voltage but drops a bit when input voltage is higher; average efficiency for 3x NiMH or 1x Li-ion can be over 90%. Test results and discussion for 3 and 4 chip boards. The AMC7135 has built-in thermal protection but the multi-mode control chips used on the multi-mode boards are much less rugged. Tip: If input voltage is too high you may be able to use another LED in series with the board to drop the voltage. (The set current is <1 mA so both LEDs will get practically identical current. Diagrams and much discussion of use with multiple Seoul P7s and multi-mode boards.) More than one extra LED appears to be not a good idea for use with the lower modes of multi-mode boards since the Vf of the extra LEDs decreases too much at the low current to protect the driver from the battery voltage. Flashing modes appear unsuited to this technique.
Example boards:
Etc.

3.6-9 V. $6.97 for four-pack. Buck regulator, 800-1000 mA output dependant on input voltage, although a hack for lower output is explained here. 16mm diameter. Efficiency 76%-91%, test data graph.

8 mode 3.7-8.4 V. $7.35 for two-pack. Buck regulator based on Zetex C310 chip. Output 800-1000 mA on high. Modes 100%, 50%, 30%, 20%, 10%, SOS, strobe, fade in & out. With 4 x NiMH cells ability to select modes is lost about when the cells need to be recharged. No reverse polarity protection.

SOB. $18-$20. Buck regulator, 3-16 V in. Constant current output, board available as a "blank" (add one or two SMT set resistors), or preset to 400 mA, 500 mA, 750 mA, 917 mA, or 1000 mA. DD when Vin less than Vf. Efficiency 75-85%. 14 mm diameter, has thermal protection.

Kennan. $3.10 (sold out). Buck regulator based on PT4105 chip, 5-18 V in. Constant current output. Off the shelf it's set to 750 mA, but this can be changed by using a different set resistor (original is soldered surface mount). Input voltage needs to be 1-3 V above output. Efficiency 79-91%. Can output 1 A with more than 9 V in.

Kennan 2. $3.43. Buck regulator based on PT4105 chip, 5-18 V in. Constant current output. Off the shelf it's set to 1000mA (even though that's out of spec for the regulator chip below 9V in) but this can be changed by using a different set resistor (original is soldered surface mount). This thread discusses the control features of this new version. Input voltage needs to be 1-3V above output, but the new components will shut the board down under 6.2V. Efficiency perhaps as low as 60% thanks to running it out of spec and it also runs quite hot because of it. In summary, more versatile but not as useful.

A Kennan variant (PT4105 chip) is available as part of a drop-in assembly with a Cree LED: P4 $10.14, Q5 $12.42, and R2 $12.40. They work out cost effective for an LED, reflector and driver board.

bFlexV2. $30. Buck regulator, 4-20 V in. Constant current out 1000 mA (adjustable) at up to 20 V, uController UI.

CCxW. $15 (350 mA), $18 (700 mA or 1 A). Buck regulator, 4-30 V in. Constant current out 350/700/1000 mA at up to 16 V. 3 models to choose from.

nFlex. $30. Buck regulator, 4-30 V in. Constant current out 1000mA (adjustable) at up to 25 V, uController UI.

P7 "3 amp" 3-mode driver. $12.01. Buck regulator, 5.5-15.5 V in. Constant current out claimed to be 2.8 A high, 1.38 A medium, 0.25 A low. Note that KD's runtime figures don't stack up, and their specs show some confusion about whether high is 2.8 A or 3.0 A. StefanFS here says it gets really hot with 8 AA cells. Efficiency and output current graphs.

12V Ludde. $2.53. Buck regulator, approx 10-14 V in (designed for car lighter socket). Constant voltage output 5.5 V (which is not quite within USB spec). Can do somewhere around 700-1000 mA before dropping out of regulation. Cute little red LED to show it's working.

MR16-base drivers: 1*1 W, 3*1 W, 1*3 W. $2.53 ea. Buck regulator based on PT4105 chip, claimed 12-16 V AC in, although anything over about 13 V AC would be outside the PT4105 spec. Will also work with DC - PT4105 can handle 5-18 V DC in; you wouldn't need the rectifier so you could short that out, but it will still work (slightly less efficiently) with it. Constant current out 320-350 mA for 1 W versions, 650-700 mA for 3W version (not 320-350 mA as stated). There's also a socket available for them.

AC mains-voltage single LED drivers:
  • 1 * 1 W, 1 * 3 W. $3.32. Buck regulator, 85-265 V AC in. Constant current out 320-350 mA for 1W versions, and a probable 650-700mA for the 1*3W. Reported to not be very efficient (not normally a major problem for mains power). These are called GU10 drivers but do not themselves have the bayonet pins of the GU10 connector.
  • 1 * 7 W. $7.99. Buck regulator, 110-240 V AC in. 2A constant current output, although one buyer claims it's only 1.2A.

AC mains-voltage multiple LED drivers:
Buck regulator, 85-265 V AC in. Constant current out 320 mA.
  • 3 * 1 W. $3.32. Approx. 9-10 V out. Called a GU10 driver but does not itself have the bayonet pins of the GU10 connector.
  • 5-7 * 1 W. $5.99. 16-26 V out.
  • 9-12 * 1 W. $8.28. 27-42 V out.
Buck regulator, 100-240 V AC in. 3-12 V out.
  • 1-3 W. $9.15. Constant current out 350 mA.
  • 3-6 W. $10.85. Constant current out 700 mA.


Other Boards and Information

D2DIM. $20. PWM dimming only, 3-16 V in. Out <16 V, 3.4 A. This board does no current limiting.

Drop-in Module List (part 2).
 
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TorchBoy

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Re: Driver board list / regulator board list

Need tech specs

Flupic and Piglet regulators as per this post. Tech specs unknown.

How does this DX board work? (5 modes, 3 of which are strobes or SOS.) Is it a linear regulator or just by PWM?


Other boards to add

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4451 1.5 V. ~300 mA.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4735 1.5-4.2 V. Test results here - it's not particularly efficient or well regulated. Discussion thread here. It seems that modifying the set resistor to give a lower output current (max 500 mA) is a good idea. 17 mm diameter.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.7302 1.5 V. ~500 mA.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.7425 3.6-8.4 V. 5 mode, high is 700-1000 mA.

Various micropucks, powerpucks, boostpucks, etc. For example, LEDsupply's list.

Sure Electronics 1 W and 3 W boards.

Best Hong Kong's driver boards.

Led-Tech constant current 30 V board.
 
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gunga

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Re: Driver board list / regulator board list

Wow, this is a GREAT idea! I may start building some lights in the future and appreciate this listing.


:thumbsup:

So is that the only 1 AAA boost board? It's really tall...
 

TorchBoy

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Re: Driver board list / regulator board list

So is that the only 1 AAA boost board? It's really tall...
:shrug: It's the only one I've listed so far as I can't think of any others off the top of my head. Its height is thanks to its narrow width so it will fit in a tube the width of an AAA cell - gotta fit the components in somehow. You could use any AA driver board if you didn't mind the width.
 

greenLED

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Re: Driver board list / regulator board list

TB - Bernie has some nifty tables of The Shoppe's converters and battery configurations somewhere in the Aleph FAQ threads.
 

NateTheGreat

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Re: Driver board list / regulator board list

Has anybody tried these ebay buck regulators from Sureelectronics?

Some are up to 1000mA and can handle high input voltages.

They are very cheap, but probably not as fancy as TaskLED or nFlex types.
 

Amonra

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Re: Driver board list / regulator board list

any drivers that can drive the new SSC P7 LED ?
 

linterno

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Re: Driver board list / regulator board list

This thread should be included in the Threads of Interest. This could save searches.
 

Stereodude

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Re: Driver board list / regulator board list

Fatman. $22. Boost regulator, 2.7-12V in. User adjustable constant current at 3-16V. Optional external adjustment. Efficiency 80-96%. Must always have a load connected.

MaxFlex. $32. Boost regulator, 2.5-20V in. User configurable constant current, 350-1200mA at up to 24V. >85% efficient, uController UI, status LED. 23mm diameter. Efficiency 83-93%.

Shark. $20. Boost regulator, 2.7-20V in. Regulates on voltage or current, output current adjustable from 50-980mA. Maximum input current 4A. Some questions are answered in this CPF thread.
If these are really just Boost regulators then your description are misleading (not your fault). The product descriptions on their website are also misleading / unclear. For a boost regulator the Vout has to be higher than the Vin. Conversely the Vin can't be higher than Vout. So, for example, you can't use these drivers with say 4 D cells 6.0V (4.8V on NiMH) and a single Q5 Cree because Vin is higher than Vout. IMHO, that's makes them not very useful for single LED applications.
 
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TorchBoy

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Re: Driver board list / regulator board list

If that is the case (that they only boost) then three D cells would still be too much, while two would be too few when they're half flat.

Edit: According to their specs the Fatman and MaxFlex boards definitely only boost, not sure about the Shark.
 
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Stereodude

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Re: Driver board list / regulator board list

A Single Li-Ion can't use a pure boost, or a pure buck driver. If you stick with 1AA or 2AA's you can get away with a boost regulator. However, it would seem that boost/buck-boost regulators are the sweet spot for single LED applications (for Li-Ion and lights with more than 2 1.2-1.5V cells). But, there seem to be very few of them that have a true constant current output with good efficiency. The DX and KD drivers are an unknown quantity on both constant current and efficiency so it hard to pick one of them.
 
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Stereodude

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Re: Driver board list / regulator board list

If that is the case (that they only boost) then three D cells would still be too much, while two would be too few when they're half flat.
Exactly my point. They're "terrible" drivers for single LED applications. :eek:oo:
 
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