SparkFun Breadboard Power Supply Stick - 5V/3.3V

The SparkFun Breadboard Power Supply Stick is a very simple board that takes a 6-12V input voltage and outputs a selectable 5V or 3.3V regulated voltage. All headers are 0.1" pitch for simple insertion into a breadboard.

Input power can be supplied to either the DC barrel jack or the two pin header labeled + and -. Output power is supplied to the pins labeled GND and VCC. Board has both an On/Off switch and a voltage select switch (3.3V/5V).

The two sets of four GND and VCC holes are spaced such that when connected to our Basic Breadboard both power busses will be powered.

Note: Headers are not supplied. You will need to supply your own headers to connect this board to a breadboard. Check below for some breakaway header strips.

  • 6-12V input voltage via barrel jack or 2-pin header
  • 3.3V or 5V regulated output voltage
  • 800mA Operating Current
  • ON/OFF switch
  • Output voltage select switch
  • Power status LED
  • PTC fuse protected power
  • 5.5x2.1mm center positive barrel jack
  • 2.15x0.65"

SparkFun Breadboard Power Supply Stick - 5V/3.3V Product Help and Resources

How to Use a Breadboard

May 14, 2013

Welcome to the wonderful world of breadboards. Here we will learn what a breadboard is and how to use one to build your very first circuit.

Core Skill: Soldering

This skill defines how difficult the soldering is on a particular product. It might be a couple simple solder joints, or require special reflow tools.

1 Soldering

Skill Level: Noob - Some basic soldering is required, but it is limited to a just a few pins, basic through-hole soldering, and couple (if any) polarized components. A basic soldering iron is all you should need.
See all skill levels


Core Skill: Electrical Prototyping

If it requires power, you need to know how much, what all the pins do, and how to hook it up. You may need to reference datasheets, schematics, and know the ins and outs of electronics.

2 Electrical Prototyping

Skill Level: Rookie - You may be required to know a bit more about the component, such as orientation, or how to hook it up, in addition to power requirements. You will need to understand polarized components.
See all skill levels


Comments

Looking for answers to technical questions?

We welcome your comments and suggestions below. However, if you are looking for solutions to technical questions please see our Technical Assistance page.

  • -------------------- Tech Support Tips/Troubleshooting/Common Issues --------------------

    Fritzing Part

    SparkFun's GitHub Repository for the Fritzing parts does not include the Breadboard Power Supply Stick. However, it is already included in the included in the Fritzing library. You just need to search for the term " Breadboard Power Supply Board SMD " and it should be the first part that shows up. You might need to make sure that you have the latest Fritizing software version and part library downloaded from Fritzing [ http://fritzing.org/download/ ].

  • Member #510572 / about 5 years ago / 1

    Sorry guys but I can't see the wiring diagram of this product instead of the other items yes. How is it possible?

    • santaimpersonator / about 5 years ago / 1

      If you are referring to the schematic... sorry, about that. There was a typo in the link; it is fixed now.

  • Member #355246 / about 7 years ago / 1

    I have the earlier version -- you should consider a version that has independently selectable voltages: so you can have, e.g., 3V3 on one side and 5V on the other.

  • Member #985321 / about 8 years ago / 1

    Can this provide power to charge a li-ion battery?

  • Member #691310 / about 8 years ago / 1

    NewEgg has something similar for $3.20. https://www.neweggbusiness.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIV0GP3AZ0151&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleBizMKPL-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleBizMKPL-PC--pla--Power+Strips+-+Inverters+and+Converters-_-9SIV0GP3AZ0151&gclid=CjwKEAjwhILABRDwo8mlqt6ug38SJACNSq_kKq9t4n25DnDNGHCGkum27fVuTXMeNstZMnYRQuCIYRoCkTfw_wcB

  • Gizmoguy / about 10 years ago / 3

    This is cool but I'd really like to see it with simultaneous dual voltage output. I often have breadboard projects where I have a 3.3v and a 5v rail at the same time.

  • Member #639560 / about 10 years ago / 1

    2 SMD switches - $2.00 or less 1 1206 SMD LED - $0.10 1 Voltage regulator - $2.00 or less PCB - $2.00 or less Others - $2.00 or less Total $5.10 ... buy it with sparkfun's logo $226 (Y)

  • lemgandi / about 10 years ago / 1

    Much the same as the breadboard power supply kit ( https://www.sparkfun.com/products/114 ), yes?

  • pcdangio / about 10 years ago / 1

    Awesome idea!

  • Current Rating? LM317 = 3A, 1N4001 = 1A, PTC = 0.5A? So, half an Amp?

Customer Reviews

4.3 out of 5

Based on 8 ratings:

Currently viewing all customer reviews.

1 of 1 found this helpful:

Great little supply for breadboarding

Having a few of these lying around makes it easy to quickly try something or leave something with a supply handy.

2 of 2 found this helpful:

Great!

This wonderful little board let's me choose 3.3V for a Particle board or 5V for an arduino and the extra header let's me pull off the source 12V.

1 of 1 found this helpful:

Very useful

This is a great little power supply. I'm using it regularly. The surface-mounted ON/OFF and voltage switches are convenient as is the generous supply of PCB holes for .1" pins.

My only complaint would be about the lack of mounting holes. From the name, I assume that the board is meant to be plugged into a solderless breadboard. But unless I missed something, the two sets of four GND and Vcc holes at either end of the power supply are not exactly on the standard 0.1" breadboard spacing. So if .1" male connectors are mounted at either end of the power supply, it won't quite fit into a breadboard.

1 of 1 found this helpful:

Not quite right

The description says the headers are all 0.1" which is true. However, the individual headers are not on a 0.1" grid relative to the rest of the board so mounting the power stick on a breadboard like PRT-13268 isn't really possible. Maybe the PRT-00112 type would be forgiving enough but I wanted to hard mount the stick into a prototype and that was not happening.

Super Useful to Simplify Power Management for Breadboards

This is a very useful product to more easily get power to your breadboards from a variety of power bricks. I like the fact that you can easily switch between different voltages, and you have a nice convenient power switch on the board.

One suggestion I would have that would make this product even more useful would be to somehow add a way to have a passthrough of the power supply's original voltage to the board. I have a 12V, 2.0A power supply that I would like to have power an LED light strip, but use this board to deliver the stepped down Voltage for a microcontroller. I know I could use a simple Voltage regulator to manage this myself, but having a switched passthrough of the unregulated power supply for other uses would be very convenient.

As an aside, I did notice that I could kinda get what I wanted by wiring the "+" and "-" connections which were intended as a supply input out to my board. I get an unregulated connection to my raw power supply, but it isn't tied to the "On/Off" switch.

Otherwise, thanks for this useful product!

0 of 1 found this helpful:

Very good power source for breadboard builds

I used it to build a stereo FM Receiver. No issues at all.

See this video: https://youtu.be/a82DHU4T_aY

  • 1 x SparkFun Breadboard Power Supply Stick - 5V/3.3V (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13032)

  • 2 x SparkFun Mono Audio Amp Breakout - TPA2005D1 (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11044)

  • 1 x SparkFun FM Tuner Basic Breakout - Si4703 (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11083)

  • 1 x Arduino Pro Mini 328 - 3.3V/8MHz (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11114)

Connections and firmware are here: https://github.com/mkhuthir/repo_SDR/tree/master/Si4703

Very Handy

I have only recently begun working on electronics projects. This power supply works well for my needs. I mostly need 5 volts, for my breadboard for small projects.

I soldered four header pins into the board and that was that. I pushed into the breadboard easily. There is an on-off switch and a switch to go from 3 volts to 5 volts.

Works great. Very happy with it for the price.

Breadboard Power Supply Stick

This is a great board, add on for using a breadboard. Especially when needing 5 or 3.3 volts. Easy to solder the pins. The only complaint that I might have is that the on/off switch is small. Great board. I love it.