Valefod 6 Pack LM2596 DC to DC High Efficiency Voltage Regulator 3.2-35V to 1.25-30V Buck Converter DIY Power Supply Step-Down Module

So far, so good. I bought a six pack of these voltage regulators. The first one I hooked up I messed up and reversed the input voltage. This immediately smoked the regulator; so beware that there is no reverse voltage protection on the input. This was completely my mistake, and not an issue with the product. I hooked the second voltage regulator up to my test setup, and it worked great. I used a 32VDC power supply salvaged from an old HP printer as the input supply. I tested the output with a high power 2kohm resistor. I was able to adjust the output voltage to a steady 12.00 volts according to my digital multimeter. The input voltage remained approximately the same as before I connected the output load. Then I switched the load to a small DC motor with a gear train attached. The voltage output remained very stable at +/- 0.01 volts from the 12.00 volts I had set with the resister test. Overall I'd say these are inexpensive and very nice little voltage regulators, and a good value for the money. I intend to add a little voltage meter and build a little benchtop power supply with this one.

These work great and I'll probably buy more eventually for other DIY projects

I purchased this 10-pack of Valefod 10 Pack DC to DC High Efficiency Voltage Regulator 3.0-40V to 1.5-35V Buck Converter to use in converting emergency light / exit signs to use low voltage DC. The converters do what they are supposed to, largely. They are easy to use - power in, power out - not much more to it than that. They are compact. Voltage stays where you set it and doesn't drift (except when overloaded, of course). With 12 V input well regulated, output voltage stayed fairly constant from no load to a 500 mA test load - within 40 mV of the 5.4 V output to which I had set it. One drawback, and as mentioned by others, is a relatively high defect rate, that is, in my very limited sample of just 10 pieces. One of 10 was defective - the output voltage stayed same as the input voltage no matter the setting of the buck module's adjustment pot. A moment's inspection revealed that one pin of the LM2596 switching regulator chip was bent and touching an adjacent pin, creating a solder bridge. In less time than it took to write this review, I warmed the soldering iron and fixed it. Efficiency of these buckers (Valefod) isn't quite as high as I would have expected. At 12 V in and 5.4 V out, with 200 mA load, I measured 125 mA at the input for an efficiency of about 72% - the buck module was slightly warm to the touch. Perhaps the effciency would be better at greater load. However, it still easily beats an LM317 or other linear regulator. Regarding RFI generation by these Valefod buck modules, there are essentially no measures incorporated in the module's design to suppress same. There is just an electrolytic on the input and another on the output. However, with 2 of these buckers running, fed by 12 V through about 200 ft. of twisted bell wire, and each in turn feeding its 200 mA load through about 2 ft. of same twisted bell wire, interference was inaudible. This was checked using an on-premises HF radio transceiver on the 80, 60, and 40 meter bands and with a crummy end-fed antenna which invariably gets noise from being inevitably coupled to the AC power lines via power line ground. If I put a finger on one of the bucker's input leads or output leads, then RFI became audible but not strong. If your application demands low RFI and your setup is not at least somewhat balanced with respect to ground as was mine, then you may need to add some bypass caps and series chokes.

Did what they were supposed to do, but they do have to be adjusted with a load attached. I wasn't able to fine tune the voltage until after I put a load on it, but after that I found it easy to adjust. Though it took a lot of turns until I saw a change. Just use a bench power supply set right above your target voltage and adjust the buck converter down until you see the output voltage drop, then raise your bench supply to your target input voltage and readjust for your target output voltage. These do automatically handle changes in input voltage while maintaining a stable output voltage. Used approx 11mA @ 12v input w/ no output load. Tested with a 0.5 steady, 2A periodically spiked load and maintains a stable voltage without getting too hot to touch. I did install thermal tape connecting it to the chassis for extended operation.

Not what is shown in the picture

Shipping was extremely fast and the product works perfectly.

Very handy for down converting 3.7v lipo to 3.0 or lower to replace AA’s. I used one with a 500mah lipo bag to convert a Quasar headlight used on high quality head band type Donegan magnifiers from dual AA’s. The battery, regulator, on/off switch and pigtail for recharging wound up 4” long and all fit on one side.

Another foreign made P.O.S. that has to be returned . The unit simply does not operate . it sends the high input voltage straight to the output without any sort of step down . This happens no matter where the adjustment screw is set at . This occurs regardless if the "regulator" has a load attached at startup or not . In short its an expensive piece of wire ....not a voltage regulator !

I built a Max97220 headphone amplifier/line driver/preamplifier and to prevent it ever being destroyed by overpowering the 5 volts DC limit, I used this power supply regulator. I blew up the first one with reverse polarity so I added two 1N4004 diodes to the front to prevent reverse polarity destruction. The diodes drop a few millivolts but better safe than sorry. Works like a charm. The resistor in the photo was just a dummy load for test and setup but I ended up leaving a 10k ohm resistor in parallel with the MAX97220 supply VCC to maintain an idle current of 0.5mA on the 2596 board. It also has an LED in series with a 1k ohm resistor drawing another 3mA. The 1N4004s turned the LM2596/Max97220 combination into a radio receiver so I connected the audio ground on the negative terminal of the LM2596 PCB and it ran 100% perfect and silent. Great little board!

Perfect item for my project...fast delivery

The 10 units arrived inside of a box, sealed individually inside anti-electrostatic packaging. I hooked up each individual buck regulator and it's a 10/10 for me as far as getting working units goes. The potentiometer needs a solid 5 or 6 turns counter-clockwise for the voltage to come down, but I got all of them down to 5v from a 12v source. Did some quick load-testing by connecting power resistors to see if the voltage would drop, it did not. Unfortunately I don't have a scope handy so I can't comment on the output noise. I think as a simple power supply for home crafts and DIY projects these will suffice just fine. Build quality is perfectly reasonable, if anything I wish the through-holes were a bit bigger as well as the soldering pads, but it's still workable if one doesn't try to connect a 14G wire.

I originally bought these for a home solar project as I needed to convert 6V to 3.3V. I then used another from 12V to 5V conversion. Then I used another to fix a charging problem in another device. There working well so far and I am chuffed that I am using them up and they are not languishing in a storage box. Is this a "Right place Right time" purchase or a product that fits well, at a good price, nice delivery and my gadgets are working. Yay!

I used this converter to drop the voltage from a USB charger to power the string lights. It successfully dropped the voltage from 5v to 3v. It took 13 full counterclockwise turns on a screw to drop to 3v where the first 12 turns made no change. The lights are pulling 0.3 amp and the IC is running cool.