Ok, i really don't know why i couldn't get this working in the past

Used a bit of a crude setup to do some testing

[attachment=0]photo(20) copy.jpg[/attachment]

I couldn't get exactly 2.85v, but i tried a couple of differen't setups with the lm317, one gave 3.03v and one gave 2.5v. Both worked successfully

Then i tried a 3.3v regulator i had previously tried and that had failed, that also worked

So from now on i will use voltage regulators in all new builds