JBtek DC/DC 3.5-30V to 4.0-30V Booster Converter Step Up Voltage Regulator LM2587 Review

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this product for free so that I could provide product feedback to the company and post a product review. I was not required to write a positive review and I do not rate products higher than they should have been. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's requirements.

I recently received a JBtek DC/DC 3.5-30V to 4.0-30V Booster Converter Step Up Voltage Regulator LM2587 for a product review.  This device isn’t really something for the average consumer, it is really for things like custom setups / projects.

For my first test, I grabbed an old 12V power supply from an old wireless router, cut the plug off and stripped the wires.  Using my voltmeter, I actually read 17.67V from the adapter.  I connected that to the voltage in, and measured the voltage out - adjusting between 20V and 25V mainly to get familiar with the operation of the unit.

For my next two tests, I used a 5V 2A USB power supply as my voltage input, and adjusted the converter to output 12V.

I tested a computer case fan, measure 0.4A @ 5V input side and 0.12A @ 12V on the output side.  Doing some quick calculations, the efficiency for the converter was around 72%.

Next, I tested another fan ( an old CPU heatsink fan ) that measured 0.9A @ 5V on the input side and 0.31A @ 12V on the output side for an efficiency of almost 83%.

For a real world test, I had a remote control truck transmitter that uses 8 AA batteries ( 12V total assuming 1.5V per battery ) and I wanted to see if I could use a USB battery pack to power it.  I checked the converter to make sure it was outputting 12V, and did a quick mock-up of the wiring to the transmitter.  I took the remote control truck ( Traxxas Slash ) outside for a test run using a small USB battery pack and the converter to power the transmitter and it seemed to work fine.

Rough setup to use USB (5V) to power the transmitter (12V)

The black wires (output) go to the bottom where the batteries normally go

The rubber bands were a temporary, but useful, mount

The setup was just a quick test - I actually mounted the converter using rubber bands, and the wires were just tucked under the battery terminals so if I plan to make this permanent I will need to do a little more work.

Here are the main points I noticed about this product:

Easy to Wire: The terminals for voltage in and out were very easy to use for small wires and the probes of my volt meter.

Easy to Adjust: Using a small flat head screwdriver, you adjust the output voltage and once it is adjust it seems to stay stable even as you apply load.

Great for projects: This step up device is a great option for projects that require the ability to step up the voltage.  Personally the ability to use 5V USB battery packs to power other devices seems very useful.

Bottom line: This seems like a great option to consider if you need to step up DC voltage.

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