Gerrit Niezen's Compact 5V Boost Regulator Offers 800mA at 5V, Sub-1µA "True Shutdown"
Designed around a readily-available part, this handy board drains neither your wallet nor your battery.
Wales-based maker Gerrit Niezen has released a compact 5V step-up converter board with true shutdown, deliberately picking a readily-available chip to avoid issues caused by ongoing component shortages throughout the industry.
"I'm working on an open source solar-powered air quality monitor and needed a 5V supply for the PMS7003 air quality sensor," Niezen explains of the project's origins. "I also needed to be able to switch the sensor off, as it draws a significant amount of current (around 60mA) for a battery-powered project."
The result is a compact 17×12mm (around 0.67×0.47") board designed around the Feeling Technology FP6277 synchronous boost converter. "With supply chain shortages making it difficult to get hold of even simple components like DC-DC converters, I wanted to design a breakout board around a chip that's easy to source from suppliers like LCSC," says Niezen. "At the time of writing (2021-01-07) there are still more than 28 thousand FP6277 chips in stock at LCSC."
The board accepts a 2.4V-5V input and outputs a stable 5V at up to 800mA with short-circuit and thermal protections in place. A key feature: True shutdown, in which the converter draws less than 1µA — making it ideal for battery-powered projects where other alternatives may sap power even when the device is switched off.
Neizen is selling the board through his Tindie store at $7; design files and schematics, meanwhile, have been published to OSHW Lab under the CERN Open Hardware License.