DR-07-SiC3A 5V/3A DC/DC Converter

The Raspberry Pi, while a very capable and useful single-board computer, is often used with less than ideal power supplies. The Raspberry Pi monitors the incoming power and can both warn the user and slow down the system (clock throttling) to reduce power consumption. It is very common to have issues with SD Card corruption that can be traced back to power input issues as well. The simple solution presented by many kit vendors is to supply a power supply that provides 5.1V rather than the 5.0V nominal, in hopes that the extra voltage compensates for resistive losses in the cabling and by providing additional headroom over the 4.63V undervoltage warning level. However, a large contingent of would-be makers simply use a cellular phone charger and hope for the best. On older models, the power draw was somewhat lower but as of the latest 3B and 4 models the recommended supply current has risen to 3A.1 Additionally, most USB chargers perform poorly at higher loads and may even drop out, hiccupping power to the SBC. 

With this in mind, we’ve designed a DC/DC converter using the Vishay SiC-468 that can use common higher voltage power supplies such as a laptop “brick”, converting a 10-28V supply voltage to a very dependable 5V/3A output. The efficiency is typically above 92%, which is not only good for the environment but also keeps heat buildup to a minimum.