About 7815 Voltage regulator
7815 Voltage regulator is a type of self-contained fixed linear voltage regulator integrated circuit. The IC belongs to 78xx voltage regulator family which is commonly used as the regulated power supply in electronic circuits. The 7815 voltage regulator IC is ease-of-use and available in very low cost. The last two digits of 7815 indicates the output voltage that is voltage.
The 7815 regulator line is a positive voltage regulator that is the 7815 voltage regulator ic generate 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 7815 is combined with its corresponding 79XX family IC. The voltage regulator 7815 is available most commonly in TO-220 package, more over the IC is also available in TO-3, TO-92 and surface mount Packages.
The 7815 Voltage regulators do operate at their optimal capability if the input voltage is at least 2.5 volt greater than the output voltage and the current is 1 or 1.5 Amperes more. Though the voltage and current different is different for other IC Packages.
How to use IC 7815
The 7815 ic have 3 pins, Pin 1 is a positive input, Pin 3 is a positive output and pin 2 is 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 voltage regulator ic do not exceed beyond the capacity which is mentioned in the datasheet or else it may blow off. You also have to be careful with the connection you are making with the voltage supply. Reverse polarity does get the ic heat up really quickly, you can also use a pn junction diode in order to prevent such a condition.
You can use the capacitors in order to minimize the voltage fluctuations in the circuit and maintains the constant voltage across the input as well as output of the circuit.
Advantages
- 7815 voltage regulator ic does not require any component to balance or saturate their output voltage.
- The 7815 ic has a built-in protection from the high current. There is a heat-sink with the common ground connected with which is helpful in order to prevent our regulator ic from overheating and short-circuits making it uncompromising in the most application.
9 thoughts on “IC 7815 Voltage regulator Pin and Circuit Explained”
what should be the input current to prevent the IC from over heating ?
I think you are asking “what is the maximum current it can deliver to avoid overheating?”
heat is a function of power. Power is current x voltage. Voltage is Vout – Vin. Current is whatever load you put on it. That load may be constant or it may vary.
These devices will handle ~ 1W without a heatsink and significantly more with one, depending on a) how big and b) how hot you can tolerate it becoming.
What would be the minimum input for the above ic ? would it be 15 + 2 = 17 V minimum to get the regulated 15 volt output ?
How to prevent my IC from the over heating due to 7A of current ? or is there any IC for that much current ? And please don’t tell me to use the resistance at pin 1 or something. 🙂
Read the datasheet, but these devices don’t handle 7A. For that you need a slightly different version non a TO-3 package, and mounted on a large heatsink. This article describes the most common TO-220 package and they typically work up to 1.5A, btu i admit i didn’t look it up. There are also more modern (+ only) devices for up to 8A. LM338 if memory serves.
Very helpful article. But i have a question regarding the pin out diagram. Is it the same as the rest IC 78XX family that’s why you’ve put it in there ?
The 78XX (+) and 79XX(-) families are all the same across voltages.
The 317/337 (adjustable) are NOT the same.
thank you eee and thank you for the great explanation
Hi Frank,
Nice to hear from you. Explore the website and surely, you would love other valuable content and the ease with which they have been explained.
Thanks & Regard
eeeproject Team