MyExperienceWithThe723-OpenCircuits

http://www.opencircuits.com/My_Experience_With_The_723

FromOpenCircuits

Introduction: IcameacrossThe723VoltageRegulatorinthe1980sandthoughtitwasmuchtoo complicatedtouse.Ilikedthe3-terminalregulatorsandstayedwiththemuntilIhadtomake apowersupplythatwouldhandlemorecurrentthantheycouldsupply.Inthemid80sId comeacrossacopyofanarticlecalledTheManyTalented723"byGlenPrescott.Idont knowwherethiswaspublishedandIvebeenunabletolocateitthroughGoogle.HoweverI stillhavemycopyandIdecideditwasworthscanningandcleaningupthefigures,soIcan shareitwiththeworld. Thereareacoupleofcompanieswhomakethedevice,thatdescribeitintheirdatasheet titlesasaPrecisionVoltageRegulator.Thisiswhatitis.Ifyouweretodesignavoltage regulatorfromscratch,usingdiscretecomponents.Youdwanttoendupwithsomething likethe723.Imnotgoingtogointodetailaboutit,becausethedatasheetsandMr. Prescottsarticledothatverywellalready.Ijustwanttosharesomeofmyexperiencesin theuseofit. MyFirstMixerPowerSupply: IbuiltalittlemicrophonemixerwhileIwasinelectronicsschoolandIneededapowersupply forit.IhadapairofLM723ICsinadrawer,butIdneverworkedwiththechip.Idecidedthat Ishouldlearnaboutit.TheNationalSemiconductorLineardatabookshowedalotofdifferent waystouseitanddecidedtobuildaplusandminus15voltsupplywithexternalpassdevices. IincludedtrimmersforfinetuningtheoutputsandIhadalittlealuminumcasethatIcouldfit thetransformer,rectifier,filtercapacitors,andPCboardinto.Iusedasharpiepenanddrew thelayoutbyhandexceptfortheICpatterns.Ietchedtheboardandassembledit.Itpowered mymixerverynicelyandIgotanAinthatclass. LastyearIstartedexperimentingwithanAnalogDevicesAD7329a13-bit,8channelAtoD converterwhichrequires15Vaswellas5Vsupplies.Idustedmylittlepowersupplyoff(itis over20yearsoldnow)tuneditonandcheckedtheoutputs.IthoughtIdprobablyneedto adjustthetrimmerssome,butevenaftersittingforthelast20years,itwasmeasuring +14.998Vand-15.01V.Iwasveryimpressedanddecideditwastoonicetoleaveinabox.So itisoutofretirementandIuseitformyexperimentsonmybenchwheneverImworking withop-ampsthatneed15V. SecondMixerPowerSupply: IserviceseveralrecordingstudioshereinHonolulu.Oneofmyclientshasaconsolewhose

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powersupplyfailed.IthadfailedbeforeandIdreplacedtheregulators,whichwerehigh current(7amps)devicesinTO3packages.ButthelasttimeitfailedIcouldnotfind replacements.Iveforgottenthepartnumberofthedevice,butitdoesnotseemtobemade anymoreandnoonehasproducedasubstitute. Myclientwasunderstandablyupset.Recordingstudiosneedtohaveworkingequipment especiallythemixingconsole.ItoldhimIdneedatleast48hoursifnot72tobuild replacementregulators.Hesaidtohurry. Iusedthesamecircuitasinmylittlemixersupplyabove.Ihandwireditonpad-per-hole perfboardandhadtheregulatorcardscompletein30hours.Igotthepositiveregulator workingwitha2N3055transistorastheNPNseriespassdevice.ButwhenItriedtousethe PNPcompliment2N2955transistor,Icouldnotgetittoproduce15Vat7amps.Ifinally figuredoutthatthechip,sinceitusestheVzpininthenegativeconfiguration,justdoesnt havethesamedrivecapabilityasitdoeswhenusingtheoutputpininthepositive configuration. TheclockwastickingandIwassweating,whenIthoughtoftryingaDarlingtontransistor.I hadjustpurchasedsomeafewdaysbefore,soIhadthemonhand,atmidnightwithnoparts storesopen.ThatprovedtobethesolutionandsoIswitchedthe2N3055onthepositiveside fortheNPNDarlingtoncomplimentofthetransistorIhadonthenegativeside.Thedevices aresoldasacomplimentarypairatacoupleoflocalelectronicsstores.Thiswasoneofmy designobjectives,soincaseofemergency,thepartsareavailablelocally. TheTO3packagesoftheexternalseriespasstransistorswentintothesameholesonthe heat-sinkastheoriginalregulators.Acoupleofstand-offssupportthecardswiththe723s.I connectedtheregulatorinputstothefiltercapsandthetransistoroutputstothefuses,and thestudiowasbackinbusiness. CurrentLimiting: The723hasbuiltincurrentlimiting,butitisdesignedasapositiveregulator.Sothereisno provisionforcurrentlimitinginanegativeconfiguration.Alsocurrentlimitingisdependenton aresistorwhichmusthandlethemaximumcurrenttheregulatorisdesignedtosupply.Inthe caseoflargecurrents>1amp,thisproducessignificantheat.Ileftthecurrentlimitingoutof mydesigns.Ididntwanttohaveonlythepositivehalfofthesupplygettinglimitedwhile thenegativehalfoperatedwithnolimit.Ireasonedthatsincethesupplyoutputswerefused, therewasalreadyprotectioninplace. ThisisthecasewithalltheregulatordesignsIpresenthere.Ifyouneedcurrentlimitingand youjustneedapositiveregulator,the723caneasilyaccommodateyou.Justfigureouthow muchcurrentyouneedtosupplyandhowmuchoverthatyourewillingtotolerate,then calculateILimit=Vsense/RSC. Theregulatorisalsocapableoffoldbackcurrentlimitingwherethereisakneeregion beforefullshutdownoccurs.PersonallyIhaveneverusedthecurrentlimitingfeatures,soI cannotwritefromexperience.Ifthesupplyistobeusedinanapplicationwhereshortingor overcurrentsarepossible,Iusefuses.

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LowVoltageSupply: WhenIbeganexperimentingwithembeddedprocessors,Ifoundthatmanyneededsupplies inthe3Vto4Vrange.BythistimeIhadbecomefairlyadeptatusingthe723andsinceIhad somestill,Idecidedtouseone,ratherthaninvestinginafixedlowvoltageregulator.Hereis theschematic:Pos_723_PNP_Reg.jpgIwentwithapositiveoutputusinganexternalPNP transistor.Again,Iaddedatrimmerpot,soIcanadjustfromaround2.75Vto4.25V.Thislittle board(thetransistorhasaTO92package)measuresonly1"x2"andhasapoweronLED indicator,andtwo2-polescrewterminalblocks.Ithasbeenveryhandy. BigBerthaBenchSupply: Intheworldofprofessionalaudio,theJensen990discreteopampisafamousclassic. Designedtoworkwith24Vpowersupplies,itisconsideredtheholygrailofopamp designs.IhaveworkedonMCIsJH500seriesconsoleswhichhave36Vpowersupply railstheyuseahighvoltageopampliketheTIOPA544andaddaNPN/PNPoutputbufferto each.Thewholeconsoleisfilledwiththesetalkaboutanairconditioningbill.Buthaving thesehighvoltagerailsmeanstheaudiosignalcanreachlargelevelsofvoltageswingandgo ontothetapeashotasyoucanstandit.Ofcoursethisisanalog.Withdigitalthereisnoneed forthis.Butthereareaudiopeoplewhopreferanalog,andahighvoltageopampcanaddto thesoundoftheconsole. Ihaveanotherclientwhorecordstodigitalmedia,butmixesonananalogconsole.Hehad memodifytheconsolemasterstagewithdiscreteopampsrunningontheirownseparate 24Vpowersupply.Hefeltthatitmadethemixessoundbetter.Icantsayforsure,Iwas notexposedtolisteningtoiteveryday,butIhavenoreasontodoubtit.Hegetsalotofwork comingintohisstudio. ButthestoryhereisaboutBigBertha.IdecidedIwanttodesignamodernversionofthe Jensen990andImightaswellmakeitabletooperateat36V.TodothiseffectivelyIneeded asuitablepowersupply.Ibuiltoneusingtwo36Vtransformersinseries.Iregulateditwitha pairof723sand20ADarlingtontransistors.Hereistheschematic:Dual723Regulators7to22 V.jpgIdontplanondrawinganywherenearthatamountofcurrent,Ijusthadthemon hand.InfacteverythingIusedtobuildBigBerthawasresidingindrawersandboxesat myshop.(Oneofthedesigngoalswastomakeitwithoutspendinganymoney.) Actuallytheunregulatedsupplyisaround56V.Thisisbeyondthe723'sinputvoltagelimit.I couldhavemadefloatingregulators(moreonthoselater),butIdecidedtotryamplified zenersinstead.IcameacrosstheamplifiedzenerinThePowerSupplyHandbook bytheeditorsof73magazine.Iveuseditovertheyears,whenIdgetstuckforasolution. Ithasseveralcleverideasthathaveprovedveryuseful,theamplifiedzenerbeingoneof them.Basicallyyoutakeazenerdiodeandatransistorandconnectthemsothezeners cathodeisatthetransistorbase,andthetransistorcollectoristhezenersanode.Noresistor neededaslongasyouavoidthekneeregionofthezener.Hereistheschematic:Dual AmplifiedZeners.jpgIusedthistricktoknocktheunregulatedsupplydowntoaround38V (the723maxinputis40V).IhavethesesquarishheatsinksthatcanholdTO3devicesandI stacked4ofthemtogether;2ontopof2,somyamplifiedzenersandtheDarlingtonpass devicesarecontainedinanareathatistheperfectsizefora5"fan,shouldIeverneedto drawsomuchcurrentthatthingsgetwarm.Sofarthathasnthappened.Icanadjustthe outputfromaround12Vtojustover30V.Iknowitisntuptothe36VoftheMCIJH500,
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butIdecidedthatwasntreallyneeded.Ifsomeonewantsanopamptohandlethat,Illuse theOPA544. IhaventreallyhadachancetoputBigBerthatothetest.MostlyIveusedherto powerbreadboardcircuitsataround18V.ThisiswhatAmekandSSLconsolesoperateat andthosearewhatmyremainingclientshave.Thecomputerrevolutionputmostofthe recordingstudiosinHonoluluoutofbusiness. Still,Iliketheideaofhavingasupplythatcangivemethatkindofvoltagerangewitharock solidregulationthatdoesntdriftorsag. ClosingThoughts: The723isaversatilevoltageregulator.AccordingtoNationalSemiconductorsdatasheet: TheLM723/LM723Cisalsousefulinawiderangeofotherapplicationssuchasashunt regulator,acurrentregulatororatemperaturecontroller.AndCanbeusedaseithera linearoraswitchingregulator. IhaveonlyuseditasalinearseriesregulatorandIvebeenpleasedwiththeresults.Ihave juststartedexperimentingwithswitchingregulators.IbuiltmyfirstonewithaTL494PWM controller.Iwillprobablytryoutthe723inthatmodeofoperationwhenIhavesometimeon myhandsandnootherprojectswaiting.Butthatmaybeawhile,soifanyonehasactually doneit,Idappreciateitifyoudsharetheinfo. IhopethisarticleisusefulandIwelcomecommentsandideas. RAF19:04,23May2007(PDT) Retrievedfrom"http://www.opencircuits.com/My_Experience_With_The_723" Thispagewaslastmodifiedon20June2007,at06:59. ContentisavailableunderAttribution-ShareAlike2.5.

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