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HowtoConnectaVoltageRegulatorinaCircuit
Inthisarticle,wegooverhowtoconnectavoltageregulatortoacircuittogetaspecificDCoutputregulatedvoltage.
Dependingonthevoltageregulatorinuse,wecangetaregulatedpositiveornegativevoltage,atwhichevervoltagewewant.
TheLM78XXvoltageregulatorsareapopularkindforregulatingandoutputtingpositivevoltage,whiletheLM79XXarea
popularseriesofregulatorsfornegativevoltage.Inthisarticle,weuseapositivevoltageregulator,whichoutputs5V,the
LM7805regulator.
Beforewecanhookupthecircuit,let'sfirstgooverthepinoutdiagramofthevoltageregulator,whichisvitalforhookingup
thecircuit.

Avoltageregulatorisa3terminaldevice.

Pin1istheInputPin.Theoutputvoltageofwhatevervoltagesourceyouwanttoregulatedown(whetherit'satransformer,
battery,etc.)isfedintothispin.Soforinstance,ifyouhave10voltscomingfromatransformerthatyouwantregulateddown
to5volts,theoutputofthetransformer(the10volts)isfedintotheregulatorinput(pin1)sothattheregulatorcanregulateit
downtoyourwantedvoltage(5volts).ThevoltageregulatorshouldalwaysbefedassmoothofaDCsignalaspossible(which
givesthebestregulatedoutput)soitcanregulateitdowntoitsspecifiedvoltage.Remember,theinputvoltagehastobelarger
thanthevoltagethattheregulatorregulatesout.Inthiscase,weareusingaLM7805,whichoutputs5volts.Inorderforthe
regulatortooutput5volts,thevoltageenteringhastobeatleast2voltshigher,soithastobeatleast7volts.7voltswould
workperfect.However,forexperimentalpurposesandeaseofgettingparts,wewillusea9voltbatteryasourinputvoltage.

Pin2isGround.Ithooksuptothegroundinourcircuit.Withoutground,thecircuitcouldn'tbecompletebecausethevoltage
wouldn'thaveelectricpotentialandthecircuitwouldn'thaveareturnpath.Groundisessential.
Pin3istheOutputPin.Thisisthepinthatgivesouttheregulatedvoltage,which,inthiscase,is5volts.Attheendofthis
experiment,whenourcircuitishookedup,we'regoingtoreadoutthevoltagewithamultimeteranditshouldgiveoutcloseto
5volts.
Okay,nowlet'sbuildthecircuit.
ComponentsNeeded
LM7805VoltageRegulatorChip
9voltBattery
0.33uFCeramicCapacitor
0.1uFCeramicCapacitor
1KResistor
LED
Ifyoudon'thavealltheparts,justfollowalong.Youcanbuythematanytimeandcomebacktothispageanddothe
experiment.
Let'sviewthecompletecircuitnowandexplanationswillensue.

Thefirstcapacitor,the0.33uFceramiccapacitor,ishookedupafterthevoltagesource,inthiscasethe9voltbattery,andbefore
theinputoftheLM7805regulator.Thiscapacitoristheretofilteroutanynoisecomingfromthevoltagesource(thebattery).
ThevoltageregulatorworksbestandwillbemostefficientwhenacleanDCsignalisfedintoit.Wedon'twantanyacnoise
(ripple)imposedontheDClinevoltage.Thecapacitor,inessence,actsasabypasscapacitor.ItshortstheACsignalofthe
voltagesignal(whichisnoiseonthevoltagesignal)togroundandonlytheDCportionofthesignalgoesintotheregulator.
Thesecondcapacitor,the0.1uFceramiccapacitor,ishookedupafterthevoltageregulator.Thiscapacitoristhereagaintofilter
outanynoiseorhighfrequency(ac)signalsthatmaybeontheDCvoltageline.Foracircuitlikethis,wherewe'relightingan
LED,itisn'texactlycrucialtohaveapureDCsignal,butinotherapplications,suchaswhenoutputtingvoltagetopoweralogic
chip,whichneedsaprecisevoltagefedintoitinordertogivethecorrectlogicoutput,itiscrucial.That'swhyit'sagoodideato
getintohookingupavoltageregulatorproperlyfromthesart.
Okay,solet'srecaponthecircuit.Thecircuitbeginsatthe9voltbattery.Thisproducesavoltageof9volts.Thefirstcapacitor,
theceramic0.33uF,cleansupthesignalifany(ac)noiseispresentonthis.ItshortsthisnoisetogroundandallowsthepureDC
signalintotheregulator.Theregulatorregulatesthisvoltagedownto5volts.Afteritcomesoutoftheregulator,theother
capacitor,the0.1uFceramic,cleansupanyhighfrequencyoracnoisethatmaycomeout,againtoproduceacleanDCsignal.
NowthisDCvoltage,cleanandcrisp,isreadytopowerwhateveryouwantitto,inthiscase,theloadisaresistorandaLED.

Keepinmindthatthedesignofavoltageregulatordependsonthevoltageregulatorbeingusedandtheintendeduseofacircuit.
AlwaysconsulttheManufacturer'sDatasheetforthevoltageregulatorinuseforacircuittoseehowtohookitupwiththe
necessaryrequiredexternalcomponents.Usuallytheonlyexternalcomponentsnecessaryarejustcapacitors,thoughheatsinks
mayalsoneedtobeaddedwhenheatdissipationisnecessary.TheDatasheetspecifieswhichvalueofcapacitorstouse,soit'sa
goodideatolearnfromthepeoplewhomanufactureredthechip.Also,designchangeswhendealingwiththeintendeduseof
thecircuit.Whentheloadofacircuitisstableandunchanging,asintheexampleabove,itisusuallynotnecessarytoadda
largeelectrolyticcapacitorontheoutputtoactasasmoothingcapacitor.Butifyou'regoingtohaveavaryingload,a
potentiometer,forinstance,ontheoutput,itiswelladvisedtoaddanelectrolyticcapacitorinparalleltotheceramiccapacitor.
Thiselectrolyticcapacitoractsasasmoothingcapacitor,whenloadresistancechangescauseabruptvoltagespikesanddrops,in
acircuit.Thiscapacitorchargesupwithvoltagewhenthecircuithasexcessspikesincurrentanddischargestosupplyvoltage
whenthecircuitislowoncurrent.Therefore,ithasasmoothingeffectandeventhingsout.Essentially,itactsasaloadbalancer.
Morewillbeonthisformoreadvancedprojects,butthispageisagoodstartforthosestartingoffinconnectingvoltage

regulatorsforbasiccircuits.

RelatedResources
HowtoTestaVoltageRegulator
WhatisanAdjustableVoltageRegulator?
HowtoConnectanAdjustableVoltageRegulator
HowtoBuildaZenerDiodeVoltageRegulator

Comments
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(July17,2016)Oogletoffsaid:
I'mjustcommentingbecauseIlikethefactthatIdon'thavetosignuptosomerandomsitetocommentorupvote.Anyway,
nicetutorial.

(July10,2016)anuranjankerkettasaid:
mybestsitebecaurethisfildintrest

(July9,2016)Kiransaid:
Ifitistoohottohandleyoushouldtryboltingaheatsinktoit.Anything...likeapieceofaluminumwithaholetobolttothe
regulator.HopeithelpsRajib!

(June24,2016)Anonymoussaid:
Thankyouuuu

(June18,2016)dggfsaid:
whatifitissourcevoltage12v

(May20,2016)SAMsaid:
verygoodanddetailedexplanations...Thanks.

(Apr24,2016)rajibsaid:
iuse7805icinmypowerbankasaninputvoltage4+4=8volt..buttheicgettingtoomuchhottohandle.canusuggestme
thoovercomethisproblem?

(Mar30,2016)Zionsaid:
Hi,isthereawayIcandothisfor5V,usinga9Vbattery?

(Mar3,2016)Davidsaid:
Yes,Luis,it'scalledaboostconverter.Youcanseethiscircuitatthefollowinglink:
www.learningaboutelectronics.com/Articles/DCtoDCboostconvertercircuit.php

(Mar3,2016)Luissaid:
Mightbeadumbquestion,butisthereanythingthatdoestheoppositeofthis?BythatImean,ifIhavea1.8Vsignalcoming
incanIsomehowamplifyitto5V?

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