12v step-up

Robotics and electronics discussion Electronics
1

I have a receiver that requires 12v and wondering if a step-up regulator like U3V12F12 could be used to allow 9.6v of rechargable nimh battery pack?

In this case the receiver is very sensitive to low voltage, as I assume was designed only for 12v. When power is too low it will power off, so even a set of fully charged rechargeable batteries will not last long.

Can a very small step-up, which will fit in battery compartment, provide a low noise source of power? Since this is an rf receiver, may be sensitive to any noise in the power supply.

Is there an addition of a few capacitors that will give a sufficient filtering of noise, as well as possible other components? Or is this something requiring a scope and trial and error on the device?

How do the step-up react as battery is close to drained? As they try to maintain 12v output will the voltage still drop off at end of life, or will current only be limited? Could there be any damage to a device that is expecting a voltage drop, such as from draining alkaline batteries?

I guess I am wondering if this is a good idea. A sort-of general purpose low noise 12v step-up (from 9.6v) that can replace alkaline batteries.

(I see something similar in usb power packs, stepping up a li-ion cell to 5v, but these are used for charging, i think, and not powering devices)

thanks for any input on this
zip

2

Hello, Zip.

Using a step-up regulator to power your receiver would probably work. You will want to choose a regulator that can at least provide the current draw of your receiver . You can get a rough idea of the maximum current our regulators can output by looking at the graphs under the “Typical Efficiency and Output Current” section on our regulators product page. I have attached the efficiency graph for the U3V12F12 step-up regulator below.

As you can see from the graph, the amount of current the regulator can output is dependent on the input voltage, so as your battery discharges, the batteries voltage will drop causing the amount of current the regulator can supply to also go down. Please note, you will probably want to monitor the batteries to protect them from being over discharged.

I am not sure how much noise you can expect from your setup, but in general, adding a few capacitors on the input and output of the regulator will help against noise.

- Jeremy