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Celebrating the independent kiwi spirit of invention.

Original list by Ian Mander started 1 February 2008. Added to this site (Aqualab) 26 November 2008. Database released 27 May 2009.
Please note that the date mentioned below that the database code was last updated is not the date the data itself was last updated.

Driver List
Database code 16 December 2019
Footnotes 10 August 2016

• Step-up drivers
• Low voltage step-down drivers

• Mains drivers
• User interface & PWM drivers

Drivers not yet added
3 March 2012
Links
28 February 2012

Why use a driver?
20 February 2010

Driver types overview
15 September 2010

LED Driver List – step-up LED drivers (boost and boost/buck)

An O-ring, Tailcap & Silicone Grease List is also available.

Video Foundry/Aqualab does not sell any of these drivers. Links are provided to resellers. The short URL for this list is www.videofoundry.co.nz/driverlist. See the bottom of the page for my email address. If you're just a spam bot looking for fodder, spam the hell out of these spammers' addresses: spammer address 1, spammer address 2, spammer address 3. They deserve a taste of their own spam.

Note that some sellers are more reliable than others. Inclusion of particular resellers in this list is not an endorsement of them as businesses. Note that Fasttech closed in December 2022 but the drivers are still included for reference.

Jump to: Footnotes & Instructions | Schottky diodes.

3 drivers found. Listed by driver name.

Driver Name

SKU or catalogue #

Retailer

Price (US$)
(shipping incl unless
otherwise stated)

Driver Type

Driver Purpose

 Vin min-max
(DC except where noted)		 Number of LEDs (or LED dice) in series
min-max		 Battery Suitability Efficiency
min-max

Output Current
(off the shelf)

Max current (with just a resistor modification)

 Number of Modes Size
(diameter except where noted)

Notes

Show only SKUs containing
from $
to $

Stock level


from
to

Driver can power

LEDs incl with driver

    (instead of off-the-shelf current)
from
to

from
to
 

Madmax Lite

327

Sandwich Shoppe

$8.00 + shipping

Boost driver

0.8-4.5 V 1   76-88%

200 mA
constant current

 1 14 mm Boost regulator. Unknown output regulation. Maximum power output ~0.75 W.

Madmax Plus

181

Sandwich Shoppe

$8.00 + shipping

Boost driver

0.8-5.0 V 1   76-88%

700 mA
constant current

 1 14 mm Boost regulator. Unknown output regulation. Maximum power output ~1.5 W (Plus).

Nanjg 28

15880

DealExtreme

$4.99
(down from $5.35,
down from $5.50)

Boost driver and linear regulator

0.9-4.5 V 1 1-3x AA
(2x AA ideal),
1x Li-ion		 63-83%

1000 mA
constant current

 5 17 mm Recent buyers have reported problems with this driver. Buyer beware.

Boost driver, possibly Seiko S-8352D boost chip. Uses PIC12F629 microcontroller chip for modes, probably with an AMC7136 (sic) linear regulator (datasheet, PDF 954 KB) for dropping small excess voltage as well. 5 modes: High (1,000 mA), mid (350 mA), low (50 mA), strobe (1,000 mA), SOS (1,000 mA). Testing here and here shows that above 2.4 V input the output current is surprisingly regulated. Average efficiency 70%.

Notes

Footnotes & Instructions

  • Video Foundry/Aqualab does not sell any of these drivers. Links are provided to resellers.
  • Use the pop-up menus, check boxes, etc, in the second row of the table to filter the results.
  • Click on the links in the titles in the top row of the table to order the results by that information.
  • Results of searches can be bookmarked because all the search parameters are contained in the URL. (You can delete the parameters you don't want - for example, http://www.videofoundry.co.nz/ianman/laboratory/research/driverlist.php?sku=26110 brings up just that driver.)
  • All prices in US$ (except where dual prices are listed in US$ and € for some European retailers).
  • All driver boards from DealExtreme and KaiDomain include shipping.
  • Information is unfortunately not guaranteed to be correct. any updates, corrections, omissions, etc.
  • However, please don't bother sending me an email to tell me about your company's LED products. It will be treated as spam. I really don't like spam, and SpamCop is busy enough as it is without having to process your email as well. Putting "Re" in the front of your spam's subject does not make it any less likely your spam will be sent to SpamCop.
  • Recommended drivers highlighted in green. They have a good combination of price, features and efficiency.
  • Drivers no longer available (sold out or backordered) are highlighted in grey.
  • Recommended drivers no longer available are highlighted in a darker green.
  • Drivers listed at those resellers as "Backordered" etc for more than a month are deemed to be discontinued (although I'm happy to later be proven wrong).
  • Don't connect drivers that have capacitors across their outputs to LEDs while the driver is powered. An explanation (on CPF) why not.
  • No mains driver will be completely waterproof. Those that are water resistant mostly have an IP rating (eg, IP67).

Notes on Schottky diodes (click to expand/contract)

Schottky diodes are diodes that have a low voltage drop across them. 0.3 V is a typical figure, compared to around 0.60-0.65 V for a typical silicon diode. This makes Schottky diodes good for rectifiers and LED drivers where high efficiency is required. Drivers that use the AX2002 such as DX 3256 can easily be modified for higher output current but the Schottky diode needs to be replaced if the output current is to exceed 1 A.

Inexpensive Schottky diodes are available from these sources:


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