Giorgos over at PCBheaven made a MCP1640 boost converter for his camping LED light project. It’s designed to squeeze every last bit of energy from the batteries.
What i want now, is something to spice up this hack. So here is what – I used the MCP1640 boost converter to drain the last electron from the batteries. This chip can work with a ridiculous low voltage and provide enough power to drive a couple LEDs. Which means the 2 AA batteries will operate even longer and the LEDs will be much brighter.
With so many dedicated LED drivers (constant current) on the market today, why would you want to go with a generic voltage regulator?
because this seams like it could be used with other projects without hassle, if its geared at LEDs only, then that speaks for itself, this looks like a “proof of concept” display of the circuit working in action [at least to me]
The MCP1640 is a great little switching regulator and I have used it to power circuits in the past, but I would never choose it as an LED driver.
Why not?
Because LEDs should always be driven constant current, not constant voltage.