Introduction
The voltage regulators have a critical role in the electronic circuits. The voltage regulators provide the stable voltage and the current to the electronics circuits. The LM317 IC is a widely used voltage regulator IC. in this blog post I would like to share the information related to the LM317 IC and explore its principle operations, applications and its working to achieve the stability and precision to achieve while building an electronic circuit.
What is LM317?
THe LM317 is a three terminal IC, which is used to control the output voltage as the voltage regulator. This IC is a positive voltage adjustable integrated circuit. The Ic is introduced by the national semiconductor company and now this company is part of Texas instruments. The most common in several electronic circuits like pre amplifiers and audio power amplifiers, because of the simplicity, flexibility and reliability of this circuit.
Principle of Operation
The operation of LM317 is like a feedback control system. The output voltage from the IC is compared with the reference voltage such as 1.25V, and the internal circuit adjusts the output voltage to maintain the reference voltage. The IC is using a variable resistor to adjust the output voltage.
Applications of LM317
Power Supply design
The lm317 IC is commonly used to achieve the fixed output voltage, and adjustable voltage in a circuit. By the help of other electronics components connected with the circuit is helped to control the output voltage.
Battery Chargers
The lm317 ic is also used for building battery charger circuits. The ic provides the stable output voltage and current to charge your batteries effectively. Another important feature is adjustable voltage, the required voltage to charge batteries can be adjusted.
Variable voltage Regulator
The adjustable voltage , this IC is perfect to build a variable voltage bench power supply circuit. This feature is very important when some time the fixed voltage is not enough to power the electronic circuits.
Tips for Stability and Precision using in circuit
| Tips | Description |
|---|---|
| Output Capacitor | To enhance the output voltage you need to add a output capacitors. |
| Adjustment pin Capacitor | Adding a capacitor in the voltage adjustment pin to improve its stability and reducinthe input voltage variations. |
| Heat dissipation | While working LM3117 producing heat. To solve this problem add a big heat sink on it. |
Conclusion
The LM317 IC is avery useful voltage regulator IC. The IC has the ability to provide adequate voltage and current to work with any kind of general electronic circuits. By understanding its working principle of operation and application it helps you to build a good adjustable voltage regulator circuit for any electronic circuits.
