{"id":161,"date":"2016-06-22T01:36:40","date_gmt":"2016-06-22T08:36:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.falatic.com\/?p=161"},"modified":"2019-12-02T14:27:48","modified_gmt":"2019-12-02T22:27:48","slug":"minghe-buckboost-converters-handy-if-youre-careful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.falatic.com\/index.php\/161\/minghe-buckboost-converters-handy-if-youre-careful","title":{"rendered":"MingHe buck\/boost converters – handy, if you’re careful!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following information seems to\u00a0generalize to any of MingHe’s buck\/boost converter designs with the\u00a08x2pin daughter board with display and buttons).<\/em><\/p>\n

There’s a good writeup about this device<\/a> submitted by a reader. I’m not really a fan of this device as it seems the quality varies widely (and voltage overshoots are never a good thing), so be careful if you get one.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Though most of this info is for the more common MingHe buck or<\/em>\u00a0boost\u00a0converters, I happen to have the\u00a0MingHe D3806 Buck+Boost converter:<\/p>\n

\"MingHe<\/a>
MingHe D3806<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Many reviews are out there for the B3603 and some for the BST400. They all\u00a0seem to have the same basic functionality on the control board, though the calibration points will differ depending on available output ranges.<\/p>\n

My experience with this device seems to be in line with that of other reviewers – namely, it works well with no major issues. However, there are two things to keep in mind:<\/p>\n

I’ve noticed that light loads (e.g., 5V < 200 mA) tend to cause momentary voltage overshoots on power down<\/strong> (the lower the load, the more the overshoot)! even a short burst of 12V into a 3.3V or 5V circuit can kill a device, so beware. Might want to add a small (say 2W) load resistor for safety for small loads (if not in CC mode).<\/p>\n

As others have noted, if you press and hold “Set”, you enter calibration mode<\/strong> (you’ll see something like “–F1–” on the display). If you didn’t mean to enter cal mode just power it off right now, then back on, to ensure you’re out of that mode! See the EEVBlog review below for how this can otherwise quickly lead to electronic sadness if you accidentally step into the higher voltage cal settings unwittingly.<\/p>\n

Notes on the Function Menu settings (AKA the “secret” menu since it’s not exactly obvious):<\/p>\n

Hold OK on power-up and wait for the display to cycle -0-, -1-, -2-, -0-… Release OK to toggle and then view that setting. Power down and repeat the process as necessary.<\/p>\n