[Karl Lunt] is working to slim the Raspberry Pi present draw as much as possible. The very first step in his journey was to replace the linear voltage regulator with this switch mode version. It’s a step-down voltage regulator circuit with a small footprint as well as a matching cost label (about $10) made by Pololu. It’s little sufficient to be mounted in the empty area between the LCD ribbon connector as well as the primary processor.
The job was based on the hack we saw at the end of June. however we provide much much more credit rating to [Karl] for eliminating the old part in a safer way. He clipped the two little leads on the bottom of the old part, then utilized a beefy iron to sufficiently warm the big pad before eliminating the body of it. With the old part out of the method it’s just a matter of linking the three wires in the best configuration.
This cut usage by about 50 mA. He’s wishing to do much more by eliminating the on-board LEDs. His goal is a draw of under 250 mA in purchase to make it last a sensible amount of time when running from batteries.