What You Need To Know Before Buying A Boost/Buck Converter

In this video I go over some basics when dealing with Boost or Buck converters (also called step up, step down converters) These types of converters are very useful for increasing or decreasing DC voltage.

Information provided in this video is for educational purposes only.
If you attempt to recreate/replicate anything you’ve seen in this Or any other video, you’re doing so at your own risk.

- Schematix -

[mikeyotero]

If you got a boost converter that could handle that 11.33 amps, how much amperage would be on the power supply. Like if the power supply were only rated for 6 amps would it burn up

[FijiLaw]

I am a highly certified electronic technician and i have to say that is a very nice shirt

[MrBanzoid]

I'm an amateur radio operator in the UK. My shack laptop charger (cheap Chinese replacement) was spewing rf harmonics up to 144 MHz. I replaced it with one of the first boost converters you showed to raise the 13.8V shack supply to 19V to run my laptop and all the rf interference disappeared. The laptop takes less than 5A to charge. I stuck the converter with suitable fuses in a die cast box with a small fan and it's been happily working for nearly a year now.

[WatchedZ]

I don’t comment often, but this video was HUGELY helpful in understanding both types. Looking to power a dc laser pointer with a 4s Lipo battery and this is probably the only clear explanation as to what I could use to potentially accomplish this. Thank you!!

[bobcatt]

The lesson illustrates that buck as the default and preferred method as for efficiency not boost. Thumbs up and subscribed.

[Mailmartinviljoen]

Very good explanation thanks. The same principle applies to solar with inverter installations. 12v vs 24v vs 36v vs 48v . 12v setups are usually cheaper and easy to find but is limited do to high current draw. Where as 48v setups need less current and helps reducing cable thickness.

[gmcjetpilot]

Thank you for the video. I know the principles but always nice to see the Demo. I just got a DC-DC boost converter in my life as a needed device. I bought solar panels to charge a portable power station (all in one battery, charge controller, inverter, USB ports and display). The Solar Panels full available output was not being accepted by Power Station (74 watts and should or could be double over 100-120 watts of panel). The boost took panel volts of 19.3 to 27.3 (adjustable). The power station is now taking 133 watts! The power station accepts up to 30 volts. It appears to charge efficiently or faster the Power stations likes 24 volts. With the supplied AC power brick to charge from wall outlet, it provides 24 volts and chargers at 118 volts. I tried this booster and was rewarded with more power than I can use. I need about 600 watts a day, to charge my 500 watt power station and keep a small 12v portable frig freezer running. The battery from 6pm to 8am uses about 36% of the power station (when there is low or no sun). Now I am fully charged by noon and it stays that way until sunset. I have sustabable power for the frig/freeze thanks to the boost converter. Before with 79% less charging rate I was in a deficit by about 35%. Excellent.

[expertssay]

Hello from the UK 👍 Thought you'd like this: I got a boost buck converter and 'tested' it on the multimeter and the onboard fuse popped!!! Poop!
The fuse had no base/cup/saddle or whatever it was supposed to sit in....it was soldered directly into the board. It was okay to get at with some pin nose pliers but very busy and crammed with parts to see that I had to put my spectacles on 🤓 I pulled at the fuse and the blue plastic came off, leaving the metal behind. On closer inspection of the blue bit...there it was...the burn mark. So my best, after failing to release the legs from the board with the soldering iron I resorted to soldering a new fuse on top of the legs;bridging the gap again with another 15amp fuse. Yes I did that and I completed my project for my OWN use to power my laptop with a car battery.

[gralnrath]

This video prevented me from buying the wrong converter! Thanks!

[jzanick]

super helpful, I use an Inverter for work and it has always bothered me jumping from DC to AC back to DC for the sake of charging small batteries. looks like i can buy a few boost converters and let my 12v batteries do the charging directly. The converter in my laptop charger will especially appreciate this, it audibly hates the back and forth. I dont think amperage will be a problem in my case as the voltage jump will be minimal.

[Nbody]

Wow.. where have i been.. i didnt even know theses existed until a week ago watching another youtuber use one.. im like what the hell is that. Thanks for the explanation..

[riobravo]

Very helpful, great explanation 👍 but I was wondering if you also could regulate / optimize the power output from a solar panel with a boost-buck mppt power supply module. I've installed 2 dc 500W 48V 10Amp heating rods in my 120 liter water heater. They both have their own 550W 44V 13Amp solar panel directly connected to them. On a sunny day (Oktober) between 10:00-16:00 (6 hours total) it increases the temperature with 20C°. So nothing else in between. Just a solar panel, 2 wires and a heating rod. In my case, would a boost-buck mppt module improve the overall performance? Thanks, greetings John, Netherlands

[computerjantje]

I just ordered a few step-up converters for the first time becasue My microphone receiver needs 13 to 15 volts but my lead acid battery goes under that. I think the voltage getting low is the reason I get drop outs with my receiver so I like to experiment with stepping up a tiny bit. thank you very much for this really helping video.

[ErikPryor-zn]

Appreciate the info. I converted my f150 blower motor to PWM and im trying to boost it to 19v. This helps a lot.

[RandallDibble]

You answered my questions about these devices in a very straight forward manner !

[RobertDickens]

I see this is a very old video but let me just say this is the best video ive seen on these what converter do you recommended to run a 100 watt class d amp board in a car environment which would be 14.4v

[sir.benzerlot]

What would happen if you lowered the power supply voltage with the buck boost converter, would it continue to hold 24V (that’s what it was set to at the end) or would the V drop? Also if the voltage dropped below the required operating voltage and then came back up into the operating voltage woukd it just go back to working like it never turned off? I want this for a solar panel to provide a steady 24V even when the solar panel drops lower in low light and I want it to turn back on once the voltage comes back up

[CollinBaillie]

Always interested to know how things work when use doesn't matched designed intention.

Eg if I want to output 16v from a boost converter but it's supplied from a battery which can be 16.8v fully charged, will it simply output battery voltage until the charge is low enough to require actual boosting? Will this have any detrimental affect on the boost converter?

99% of the time it (battery voltage) will probably be below the desired 16v output but there may be times when it's higher.

[PetterBruland]

Thanks for a great video. It's people like yourself who makes YouTube such an amazing wealth of information. Subscribed.

[TassyDeval]

Is it possible to mod the buck/boost trimpots to external rotary trimpots that are easier access outside a power supply case to make it adjustable variable