Hi Everyone!!
Alright quick question. I have a 6V battery and a uC that can only handle 5.5 volts max AKA ATTiny2313.
Is the best way to drop the volt down is by using a diode to eat the 0.7V and bring it to a save value or just use a resistor. The diode would at least provide for reverse terminal protection if connected backwards..
What is more efficient?

http://www.mouser.com/ds/2/389/CD00000444-249828.pdf
I was going to use this because I had one on my work bench but I saw the Dropout was set to 2 volts bringing it down to 4V and I need 5 for my LCD screen :-\.
Thanks!!
Sorry for the lame question I would use a regulator if it was any more

 

Use the stabilizer on 5 volts. There is much miscellaneouses stabilizer with small fall of the voltage (LowDrop).

 

Hi Everyone!!
Alright quick question. I have a 6V battery and a uC that can only handle 5.5 volts max AKA ATTiny2313.
Is the best way to drop the volt down is by using a DIODE to eat the .07 and bring it to a save value or just use a resistor. The DIODE would at least provide for reverse terminal protection if connected backwards..
What is more efficient?

http://www.mouser.com/ds/2/389/CD00000444-249828.pdf
I was going to use this because I had one on my work bench but I saw the Dropout was set to 2 volts bringing it down to 4V and I need 5 for my LCD screen :-\.
Thanks!!

Sorry for the lame question I would use a regulator if it was any more

How much current are you taking about? Only mA? Then a diode works. More current, less than 100 mA? LM78L05. Up to 1 Amp LM7805.
Don't fret that "5.5 V" limit so much. The chips will run okay at 6 Volts. You just can't rely on the same specs for performance. Play with them. If you run them on 6 Volts, run them all on the same 6 Volts. What you want to avoid is driving from a 6 V system to a 5 V system.

I have ran TTL chips at 12 V briefly (by accident) with no harm, but I wouldn't recommend it.

 

Two diodes might be ok. In general, it is not a good idea to run semiconductors at the maximum ratings. Be careful of charge current into bypass capacitors damaging the diodes.

If this is going to power an ATTIN2313, then you are looking at a load of less than 10 ma, so efficiency is probably not a concern.

 

This datasheet shows that a 1N4000 series diode will use up 0.6 volts at 10 ma., less if the load is less. That's why you can get away with using 2 diodes to get rid of 1.2 volts like DickCappels said to do. You will get 4.8 volts at 10 ma and more voltage if the load is less than 10 ma. If the load is higher, just use one diode. They can survive a 30 amp start surge, so that seems safe to me. Measure the actual voltage when you hook this up to be sure 10 ma is the right range of current for your ATTiny.

Those regulators you named use up about 1.3 volts minimum at 10 ma, so a 5 volt regulator won't be regulating at 5 volts. They will knock 6 volts down to 4.7 with a fresh battery, and the won't be regulating, they will be starving. That's why Bordodynov was talking about low drop out regulators.

If you want to be precise, go with Bordodynov. If you can get in the right range with diodes and the fact that battery voltages decline as they get used up, the diodes might work.

Here are some LDO regulators:
http://www.mouser.com/Semiconductor...0srsdZ1z0w7feZ1z0wa4oZ1yx5k7vZ1z0shyuZ1yoii43

 

Keep in mind that there is no such thing as a 6 volt battery.

As soon as you connect a load and use the battery for a while its voltage will drop. How quickly the voltage drops depends a huge amount on the battery and the load.

 

Hi Everyone!!
Alright quick question. I have a 6V battery and a uC that can only handle 5.5 volts max AKA ATTiny2313.
Is the best way to drop the volt down is by using a diode to eat the .07 and bring it to a save value or just use a resistor. The diode would at least provide for reverse terminal protection if connected backwards..
What is more efficient?

http://www.mouser.com/ds/2/389/CD00000444-249828.pdf
I was going to use this because I had one on my work bench but I saw the Dropout was set to 2 volts bringing it down to 4V and I need 5 for my LCD screen :-\.
Thanks!!
Sorry for the lame question I would use a regulator if it was any more

The de-luxe solution is to use a buck-boost converter. It drops the voltage down when the battery is fresh and switches to boost mode as the battery comes down. The design isn't trivial, but the likes of Maxim & LT etc do off the shelf chips that do most of the hard bit.

If its an ultra low power micro, you can get away with a diode Vf - but you have to watch out for "nominal" voltage ratings, if you charge a 6V lead-acid battery in situ the terminal voltage can go up to 7.5V. It'll be nearly 7V fresh off charge.

Using a series pair of lithium cells for 7.2V would require only a simpler buck converter - or a 7805 if the current draw is so low that wasted power is irrelevant.

The downside of lithium is the critical terminal voltage and ensuring cell balancing.

 

I am no big fan of using a diode as the voltage it drops (and hence your supply voltage) can and will vary with load and thus is both unstable and noisy. Adding caps can help with the noise, but a low voltage dropout (LDO) regulator is a better choice.

*Which* one I recommend depends on the total current draw, and if you can use SMD or just thru hole.

 

I am no big fan of using a diode as the voltage it drops (and hence your supply voltage) can and will vary with load and thus is both unstable and noisy. Adding caps can help with the noise, but a low voltage dropout (LDO) regulator is a better choice.

*Which* one I recommend depends on the total current draw, and if you can use SMD or just thru hole.

A diode shouldn't be too noisy for the decoupling caps the TS should be using anyway. Its always an option to search datasheets for diodes with the sharpest knee curve, that will at least limit the damage of Vf varying with current. In any event - a little "give" is beneficial. With such a small margin, you actually want the diode to drop more when the battery is fresh.

A typical LDO regulator should work with input/output differential as low as 0.5V, so far; I haven't found any mention of battery chemistry - I'm thinking the flat discharge curve of nickel chemistry might be best as the TS seems to be cutting it a bit fine.

A hurdle for the switchmode (buck/boost) route; is quiescent current draw. If the TS is doing the coding, a spare port pin can be used for power management. A series pass PNP (non regulating) transistor feeds Vdd and is activated by a pull down pushbutton, once started - the MCU pulls the port pin low which takes the place of the pushbutton. Inside the MCU; an activity monitor detects when nothing happened for a while and releases the port pin.

 

A diode shouldn't be too noisy for the decoupling caps the TS should be using anyway. Its always an option to search datasheets for diodes with the sharpest knee curve, that will at least limit the damage of Vf varying with current. In any event - a little "give" is beneficial. With such a small margin, you actually want the diode to drop more when the battery is fresh.

A typical LDO regulator should work with input/output differential as low as 0.5V, so far; I haven't found any mention of battery chemistry - I'm thinking the flat discharge curve of nickel chemistry might be best as the TS seems to be cutting it a bit fine.

A hurdle for the switchmode (buck/boost) route; is quiescent current draw. If the TS is doing the coding, a spare port pin can be used for power management. A series pass PNP (non regulating) transistor feeds Vdd and is activated by a pull down pushbutton, once started - the MCU pulls the port pin low which takes the place of the pushbutton. Inside the MCU; an activity monitor detects when nothing happened for a while and releases the port pin.

A diode solution is at best a kludge which may work for a bit. It is in no sense a proven dependable solution worthy of a production unit. A cap can at best reduce the noise intrinsic in this scheme that is due to fast switched currents. If I was to use this on a breadboard it would only be there until better parts arrive.

An LDO is a better part. For low currents you can find them with dropouts as low as 0.03 volts, they are quiet and dependable. And fairy inexpensive to boot. Plus many have an enable pin.

If the battery starts to go a LDO will keep on outputting whatever voltage it can, riding down with the battery.

Using a switcher to boost up a dead battery may extend your runtime for a short time, but once a battery starts to drop off it is no longer reliable.

 

A diode solution is at best a kludge which may work for a bit. It is in no sense a proven dependable solution worthy of a production unit.
.

I guess it all depends on what you call it - loads of manufacturers put series reverse polarity protection diodes in production units. At some point; the Vf has to be included in the design calculations. Maybe they moved something else around to accommodate the Vf - or maybe the Vf killed two birds with one stone.....................

 

I was going to use this because I had one on my work bench but I saw the Dropout was set to 2 volts bringing it down to 4V and I need 5 for my LCD screen :-\.
Thanks!!

The Dropout = 2V that it was when the current = 1A, so normally we will treat the Dropout as 2.5V.

ATtiny2313 datasheet --
Operating Voltages
– 2.7 – 5.5V (ATtiny2313)
Speed Grades
– ATtiny2313: 0 – 10 MHz @ 2.7 - 5.5V, 0 – 20 MHz @ 4.5 – 5.5

 

...loads of manufacturers put series reverse polarity protection diodes in production units.

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, or as they say on Wikipedia "citation needed."

 

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, or as they say on Wikipedia "citation needed."

"Extraordinary claim"?!!!!! its fairly common practice on items that people like you might stick the battery on the wrong way round.

If you're [Moderator's note: mild insult removed -please play nice] to see what's out there on the market right now - I'm not going to bother leading you by the hand............

 

Thank you to everyone that chimed in. I appreciate it!

 

"Extraordinary claim"?!!!!! its fairly common practice on items that people like you might stick the battery on the wrong way round.

If you're [Moderator's note: mild insult removed -please play nice] to see what's out there on the market right now - I'm not going to bother leading you by the hand............

Not a single solitary example. I thought so.

(Pssst... next time try a FET for low voltage reverse bias protection. Wastes near zero power, an important consideration when using batteries.)

 

Not a single solitary example. I thought so.

The list is so long. it'd be easier to list equipments without series reverse protection diode.

The MOSFET trick is gaining ground - but I still find a lot more diodes in stuff I reverse engineer.

You're trying to rubbish someone who's been taking stuff apart and hand tracing circuits for decades.