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anyway to build a regulator from roughly 9-15v input to 12v output?
You can try the this fixed voltage regulator 78T12 -> Vo=12V, Imax=3A. Input voltage requirement is at least 15V.
Have a nice day.
If you are getting the input source from AC, you will need a big transformer to get 3A (~8cm*8cm*8cm), you will need to give margin so you may need to get at least a 4A transformer. Current will determine the size of the transformer. On top of the transformer, drawing 3A will need a big heat sink for the IC chip. So the end result is not a small device but a big unit.
If you are getting the input source from DC, then why you need this circuit? The 12V battery will do the job.
actually, i wanted something to step up abit from the 11.1v 3 cell lipo pack. 3 cell would gif around 9v all the way to slightly below 12v. maybe get the lipo and try out without any step up first. if it works then all is fine, if doesn't might need a step up. actually was also considering a 2 cell pack that gif 7.4v instead, or even a 1 cell pack with a big ah rating.
and no, i dunno how these will fare. prolly nobody have tried them out due to unneccessary cost. might be interesting to gif it a go. who knows, it might just work out well. like i first mentioned, the lipo would be in the 0.5kg range, while the sla is in the 3kg range. weight saved could be used to carry other loads in backpack.
Regulator circuit always need higher input voltage to get the regulated output voltage. To step up a DC supply, you need a DC-DC converter/circuit. For this you will lost more power due to the efficiency of the circuit.
Yeap, you may want to try a 3 cells pack to see how it work. May be a 4 cells pack if yr equipment can handle 14.8V, otherwise, add with a simple 12V regulator circuit like the one mentioned by WeiXing to do the job.
