The Adafruit 12V Bias Voltage Boost Converter uses a popular mini-booster, the TI TPS61040, to generate a 12V DC from as little as 3V input. This chip is used in a ton in Adafruit OLED boards, to generate the 12V bias voltage needed for the displays to function. But there are probably many other times and reasons you may want a high-ish voltage, such as driving an LED string backlight or re-programming FLASH or EEPROM memories.
Note that this board isn't good for high-power driving, like solenoids or motors or long analog LED strips. You can get about 40mA out max. But easier than getting a separate 12V supply when just a small amount of current is needed and you've already got 3.3 or 5V on the board.
You get one fully assembled breakout with a TPS61040 and required passive components and a small bit of header. Give 2 to 6V DC on the IN and Ground pins. Then you'll have 12V on the 12V output pin. The Enable pin can be pulled low to disable the output.
TPS61040 Features:
- 1.8-V to 6-V Input Voltage Range
- Fixed Output Voltage 12V
- 400-mA (TPS61040) Internal Switch Current - this is not the same as the output current which is 40mA to 80mA
- Up to 1-MHz Switching Frequency
- 28-μA Typical No-Load Quiescent Current
- 1-μA Typical Shutdown Current
- Internal Soft Start
- PCB Files available on GitHub
- Product Dimensions: 15.2mm x 10.0mm x 2.9mm / 0.6" x 0.4" x 0.1"
- Product Weight: 0.1g / 0.0oz
- TPS6104x Datasheet