Monday, March 15, 2010
Homemade Power Supply This is also good for voltage regulation/stabilization of some "green energy" voltage sources that may fluctuate/vary a bit and you need a stable/steady voltage souce for a project. I will put more text here soon, and check often. The LM317 chip allows for a low number of parts (maby 7 parts, plus cords and.or boxs) to be required to make a fixed or variable voltage/power supply. There are similar chips and I will try to put some numbers up. The chip itself is fairly large - this is not a small IC chip that is difficult to handle , and there is only 3 large terminal pins that are easy to access and work with, and a hole for the screw/heatsink if used. For the power supplies in the video, the chip is rated at about 1.25V to about 25V and 1.5 Amps of Current. There are some LM317 versions that will allow more or less current also. You can get just about all the parts at Radio Shack, but their prices are high it seems. Radio Shack is good if you need something right away. You can order the LM317 IC chip from major suppliers, and on Ebay for a deal - some already heat-sinked on a board and ready to go. If you can pick up several at a time to save on shipping, etc. They are only about $1 US now. You can even use machine screws or speaker-jack screws for the input and output terminals. Radio-Shack also does have some nice electronic "kits" with easy hook up springs for the wires. These are the popular "100 in 1" or "200 in 1" , or "300 in 1" type kits ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-z-ap8gtyA&hl=en
