Simple, stand-alone 5-volt regulator

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Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. And he has a new best-of writing collection and “lazy man’s memoir,” called Borg Like Me.

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February 5th, 2009 8

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MAKE subscriber S1axter, of myBitBox, has put together details on building a basic, filtered 5v power regulation unit based on the ubiquitous LM7805 voltage regulator. You can either build it out of a handful of parts you can get at your local electronics shack, or buy a little kit he’s put together.

Standalone Voltage Regulator

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8 thoughts on “Simple, stand-alone 5-volt regulator”

Dave says:

February 5th, 2009 at 11:48 am

Not bad, but the 7805 regulator needs a penny heatsink. :*)

Dave
The Oracle says:

February 5th, 2009 at 11:53 am

Add a transformer and heatsink, put it in a nice box with 5-way posts, make a set of them at different voltages, and that’s what my dad made about 35 years ago and I still use sometimes to this day.
Rehab2021 says:

February 5th, 2009 at 8:03 pm

http://www.romanblack.com/smps/smps.htm
Kim says:

February 6th, 2009 at 2:00 am

and wants its 7805 back.

There are switching regulators out there, so use them.
e.g. LM2576 T-ADJ: 3A, 1,23 – 37V, 45Vs, TO-220-5
Additional external components needed are more or less 2 inductors. The datasheet has lots of suggestions on how to build different versions.