5 replies to this topic

[BitFlipper]

I have a situation where the supply voltage of an existing system is 16V. I'm replacing the circuit board with my own one that contains a Netduino Mini. Would I need to add an additional regulator, or should it be able to handle it? I ask because I notice that the Mini's regulator can handle up to 20V (but of course it depends on the current draw, which isn't specified for the Mini).

[Chris Seto]

I wouldn't push quite that much voltage in. Can you regulate it down to 5V and push it through the 5V pin?

[Chris Walker]

Hi BitFlipper, I'd highly recommend staying within the 7.5-12.0VDC range (and preferably at the lower end of that range). There's no room for heatsinking on the Mini--and a higher input voltage like 16VDC will just mean more heat. All the Minis we've built to date use power regulators which are technically rated to 20VDC. That's a bit of overengineering, but it's not something that we test for--and not something that's always guaranteed to be poopulated that way. Chris

[BitFlipper]

OK fair enough. I'll just stick an LM7805 in front of it and feed that into the 5V pin. Thanks for the help.

[Fred]

You've basically got two options - add a very cheap 7805 or risk it and see if you overheat the onboard regulator and destroy the Mini. I know what I'd pick.

[Chris Seto]

You may want to try a SMPS depending on how much current you need to source.... A 7805 will heat up quite a lot under such conditions...