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Replacing regulator on sound card?

post #1 of 4
5/19/11 at 4:11pm
Thread Starter 

Ok, so I've got this idea to replace the voltage regulator on my ESI Juli@ (the chip labeled "U1" in this pic), which apparently regulates 5v to 3.3v, with one of better quality. I'm not exactly experienced in these matters though and will have someone else do the actual soldering. What I need to know though is what kind of regulator I should get. I've heard of the ones offered by Teddy Pardo and Burson, but will those work in this case? Any other suggestions? Also, any ideas what the thick pin to the left on the existing regulator does?

 

Would really appreciate all kinds of input.

 

I might also replace the capacitors with Elna Cerafine or Silmic caps, but I'm a bit confused about which capacitance/voltage to get. Any tips?


Edited by th0m - 5/19/11 at 4:14pm
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post #2 of 4
5/28/11 at 3:39am
Thread Starter 

No one? I'm pretty clueless here, so like I said, all input would be helpful.

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post #3 of 4
5/28/11 at 1:45pm

The original part (MT1117) is a LDO (low dropout) regulator. You can obviously not afford more voltage dropout than the difference between 5 and 3.3 V here, and the MT1117 fits the bill with a minimum 0.65 V typical. ("Normal" dropout, in case you're wondering, would be whatever your average LM317 or 78xx needs, typically a bit over 2 V.)

 

Teddy Pardo's regulator is specified with a minimum 5 V dropout, and given that Burson's one is marketed as a 78xx replacement, it isn't likely to have less than those. 'fraid those won't work.

 

So what you need is a low-noise LDO, possibly similar to this. Not sure how much current will be required, I'd assume the original type's 800 mA is generous but my Envy24 datasheet does not have values for current consumption, so I'd rather play it safe. And of course, you'd need to fit the thing somewhere, which may not be entirely trivial with hardware that is supposed to work within the constraints of a PCI slot. (Remember, the longer the connections, the better an antenna they are.)


Edited by sgrossklass - 5/28/11 at 1:56pm
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post #4 of 4
5/28/11 at 2:24pm
Thread Starter 

I see... thanks for enlightening me!

 

Now I know what I'm supposed to be looking for at least.

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