Home Building a Regulated 5V DC power supply Building a Regulated 5V DC power supply Monday, 28th of September, 2009 Electronics A regulated

d 5 volt DC supply is essential for powering micro-controller and TTL based circuits. The output of most wall-warts and adapters is to rippled and imp ure for use in digital circuits. Lets build an inexpensive power supply using so me discrete components and a fixed voltage regulator IC. You will need: a step down transformer [12V] four silicon diodes [1N4007] a resistor [47?] capacitors [2 x 220 F, 0.3 F and 0.1 F] three terminal voltage regulator IC [LM7805] a small general propose PCB, some wires, and a suitable output port (I use a audio connector). The circuit consists of three main blocks, the rectifier, filter and regulator. The rectifier is used to transform the mains AC voltage to a suitable DC voltage . The output of the rectifier is however an impure DC signal so we use a filter to clean the signal and finally a regulator to deliver precisely 5 volts, irresp ective of the load connected to the output. Rectifier It consists of a transformer and a diode bridge. The diodes are standard silicon 1N4007 diodes. We have chosen a 12V transformer because the regulator IC needs at-least 7.5V of input voltage to function properly. Filter We use a pi-filter here. The two 220 F capacitors and resistor form the filter. Pi -filters are great for light load applications like digital circuits. Be sure to check the polarity of the capacitors before connecting them. The resistor shown above is one rated to dissipate up-to 5W of power across it. You may use smalle r 3W resistors, but availability may be an issue. Don't use the tiny 0.25 W or 0 .5W ones though. Regulator The voltage is regulated by three terminal voltage regulator IC LM7805. This reg ulator provides stable 5V DC output against large fluctuations in input voltage and load. It also has internal protection circuits which 'brownout' the device w hen overloaded. To decide the pin-outs, hold the regulator with its face towards you and legs pointing upward, the pin to the right is the input, middle pin is ground and left most pin is output. Construction Tips The transformer can be made to snugly fit onto the PCB by bending the screw moun ts under and around the board as shown in the picture below. A 6.3mm or 3.5mm female mono TRS connector (tip, ring, sleeve), also known as an 'audio jack' serves as a great output port. The power can then be delivered via standard audio cables. Since the power resistors is quite large, solder it vertically to save space on the board. Mount the entire board on thermocol when finished to prevent accidental short ci rcuits. The finished circuit fits neatly into a 2 by 1.5 PCB, excluding the output jack an d plug. You can also include a small switch at the out-put for easy operation. T he IC can be heatsink-ed on multiple layers of aluminum foil to dissipate the he at, or if you are enclosing this in a metal box, pin the IC to the sides of the box. This is not entirely necessary though.