IC 7806 Voltage regulator Pin and Circuit Explained

IC 7806 is a 6V Voltage Regulator that restricts the output voltage to 6V output for various range of input voltages. So as the name suggests, the voltage regulator is a circuit that is used to regulate (fix) the voltage fluctuations in the input and therefore, makes the circuitry safer.

As this IC is easily available at a very economical cost so IC7806 along with a few capacitors can be used instantly to make a solid and reliable voltage regulator. Also, the IC has been provided with a provision for adding a heat sink.

More About 7806 Voltage regulator

7806 Voltage regulator is a type of self-contained fixed linear voltage regulator integrated circuit. The IC belongs to a 78xx voltage regulator family which is commonly used in electronic circuits. The 7806 voltage regulator IC is ease-of-use and available at a very low cost. The last two digits of 7806 indicate the output voltage of the chip.

The 7806 regulator line is a positive voltage regulator, i.e., the 7806 voltage regulator IC generates the voltage which is positive with respect to the common ground. In case if both the positive and negative voltage supply is needed in the same circuit. The voltage regulator 7806 is combined with its corresponding 79XX family IC. The voltage regulator 7806 is available most commonly in TO-220 package, moreover, the IC is also available in TO-3, TO-92, and surface mount Packages.

The 7806 Voltage regulators do operate at their optimal capability if the input voltage is at least 2.5 volts greater than the output voltage and the current is 1 or 1.5 Amperes more. Though the voltage and current are different for other IC Packages.

Pin and Circuit Diagram of IC 7806

The 7806 IC has 3 pins, Pin 1 is a positive input, Pin 3 is a positive output and pin 2 is a negative common ground between both input as well as output voltage. When using the voltage regulator setup, you need to take care of the current through the IC which should not exceed beyond the value which is mentioned in the datasheet or else it may blow off.

Also, we have to be careful while making a connection with the voltage supply. Reverse polarity would make the IC heat up quickly. So to avoid such a condition, we can make use of a PN junction diode.

As told above, we can use the capacitors in order to minimize the voltage fluctuations in the circuit and to maintain the constant voltage across the input as well as the output of the circuit.

Uses of IC 7806 Voltage regulator

Well after knowing the basics of the IC, it’s also important to know the use of the same. In practical life, we need DC supply to feed into our appliances.

As shown in the figure above, we convert the AC supply that comes to our home to DC supply. We do this with the help of rectifiers (Half Wave Rectifiers, Full Wave Rectifiers,etc.). The output of the rectifier is a pulsating DC. This goes to the filters (mostly capacitor filters) to make the DC output a bit smoother.

But still, the output from the capacitor is a bit fluctuating thus we cannot give that to the appliances directly. So, here we use the IC7806 to regulate the voltage at a certain (6 volts) value. Now, this is given for the required circuit (appliance).

Advantages

• 7806 voltage regulator ic does not require any component to balance or saturate their output voltage.
• The 7806 ic has built-in protection from the high current. There is a heat-sink connected with the common ground. This is helpful in order to prevent the regulator IC from overheating and short-circuits.
• This feature makes it uncompromising in most of the applications.

Disadvantages

• The voltage that is given at input of IC7806 must be greater than its output value (typically 2.5 volts).
• This makes the IC nonusable cases where a powering circuit requires 6 volts from a 10 volts battery or so.
• Also as it works on the linear model design, the input & output current will be nearly equal. But the output voltage is lower than the input thus making input power higher the output.
• This results in unnecessary input power loss.