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Department of Physics

-University of Colombo-

Electronics and Computer Laboratory II


(2016)

ECL 209 – Regulated Power


Supply

Date of Practical :- 12th of May, 2016


Abstract

In this practical, we were given to experiment with the following.


 Fixed 12V voltage regulator using LM7812 IC
 Adjustable output voltage regulator using LM317 IC
 Current regulator using LM7812 IC
Three experiments were performed in order to observe the behaviour of the output
voltage/current in each case.
This report contains a detailed analysis of the results obtained.
Finally conclusions were made taking into account the observations and results.

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Contents
1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 3
2 Theory................................................................................................................................. 4
2.1 Step-down Transformer............................................................................................... 4
2.2 Rectifier Circuit ........................................................................................................... 4
2.3 Regulator ICs............................................................................................................... 5
3 Methodology....................................................................................................................... 6
3.1 Experiment 1 – Fixed 12V Voltage Regulator Using LM7812 .................................. 6
3.2 Experiment 2 – Adjustable Voltage Regulator Using LM317 .................................... 6
3.3 Experiment 3 – Current Regulator Using LM7812..................................................... 7
4 Results and Analysis ........................................................................................................... 8
5 Discussion........................................................................................................................... 9
6 Conclusions ...................................................................................................................... 10
References ................................................................................................................................ 11

-Table of Figures-
Figure 2.1-1 Step-down Transformer ........................................................................................ 4
Figure 2.2-1 Full-wave Diode Rectifier Circuit ......................................................................... 4
Figure 2.3-1 An LM 7815 IC ..................................................................................................... 5

-List of Tables-
Table 4-1 Theoretical Vout Values for Experiment 2 ............................................................... 8

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1 Introduction

The main power grid supplies houses with an alternating voltage, with a peak to peak voltage
of 230V (or 110V) and a frequency of 50Hz. However, virtually all the electronic devices are
operated with a constant direct voltage. It is possible to provide a direct voltage with a battery
but to be more sensible, there has to be a way of converting the alternating voltage to a constant
direct voltage. That is where regulated power supplies come into the picture. The task of such
a power supply in simple terms is to output a constant direct voltage signal when an alternating
voltage signal is input. The basic components of a regulated power supply are shown in Figure
1. The step down transformer decreases the peak to peak voltage of the input signal (i.e. the
power from the grid). The rectifier will convert the AC signal to a DC signal. That signal is
then sent through a filter to filter noise (i.e. unnecessary parts of the signal), and finally it is
sent to the regulator which will literally regulate the signal to a constant (or nearly constant
with a very small tolerance) DC output.
Nevertheless, there are certain practical scenarios these power supplies should deal with.
Sometimes the resistance in the load (i.e. the appliance which to which the power supply is
plugged) may slightly vary, or more commonly there may be slight variations in the input signal
(i.e. in the grid). For variations within a certain context, the power supply should be able to
counterweigh the variations and maintain the constant direct voltage output at the desired value.
A power supply that can withstand such variations within a wider range while maintaining the
same output is considered a good power supply.
Although the main task of such a power supply is to output a constant fixed direct voltage,
some power supplies known as power packs allow the user to change the value of the output
voltage accordingly, using the knobs on the power pack. Power packs are thus multipurpose.
Examples for regulated power supplies include laptop chargers, mobile phone chargers and
power supplying units in virtually all the electronic appliances.
An example for a power pack would be the power supply unit that is used to power up entry
level electronic keyboards (aka electronic organs). Although the main task of that power supply
is to power up the keyboard, it can also be used to supply power to a simple LED circuit, a
motor etc. by changing the output voltage as desired.
Depending on the internal architecture, there are different types of regulators such as series
regulator, shunt regulator and IC regulator.
This report extensively discusses the regulating properties and operation of the fixed output
regulator, adjustable output regulator and current regulator circuits, all of which use IC
regulators.

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2 Theory
2.1 Step-down Transformer

A transformer is a device that has two coils and that can transfer alternative electricity from
one circuit to another by means of electromagnetic induction. The two coils are primary and
secondary. Always the electricity is supplied to the primary coil. The current in the primary
coil that varies with the time creates a varying magnetic flux which reaches the secondary coil,
which induces a varying electromotive force in the secondary coil. Each coil has a particular
number of windings, and depending on which coil has the greater number of windings, the
transformer will be a step up or step down one. The voltage ratio between the two coils is equal
to the ratio between the number of windings in the respective coils. If the primary coil has more
windings than that of the secondary coil, it is a step down transformer and vice versa. A step
down transformer will decrease the voltage from primary to secondary coil. Step down
transformers are used when powering up appliances with the main grid. They will simply
decrease the voltage to the operating voltage range of that appliance, depending on the number
of windings.

Figure 2.1-1 Step-down Transformer

2.2 Rectifier Circuit

Figure 2.2-1 Full-wave Diode Rectifier Circuit

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Shown in Figure 2.2-1 is the schematic diagram of a full-wave diode rectifier circuit. The input
AC signal will be converted to a varying DC signal. It literally inverts the negative half cycle
of the AC signal.
Take +Y direction as the positive direction. During the positive half cycle, only the diodes D1
and D2 will be in forward biased mode. D1 and D2 will act as two diodes which are connected
in parallel, in between which the load resistor is placed. Note that the current through the load
resistor will be in -Y direction. During the negative half cycle, only the diodes D3 and D4 will
be in forward biased mode. Diodes D3 and D4 will act as two diodes connected in parallel, in
between which the load resistor is placed. It is obvious that even during the negative half cycle,
the direction of the flow of current through the load resistor is in –Y direction. That is, although
the direction of the current of the supply has changed, the direction of current in the output has
not changed. Thus the signal has been converted to a unidirectional signal using the diode
bridge (i.e. to a varying DC signal).

2.3 Regulator ICs

Due to low cost, small size and ease of use, regulator ICs have become quite popular as
regulators.
The regulator IC LM7815 is a three terminal IC that can regulate a varying input voltage and
output a constant DC voltage which is positive relative to the ground. The three terminals are
input, output and ground.
The regulator IC LM317 is a three terminal IC that can regulate a varying input voltage and
output a desired DC voltage. That is unlike in the LM7815, the output voltage is adjustable.
The three terminals are input, output and adjust.

Figure 2.3-1 An LM 7815 IC

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3 Methodology
3.1 Experiment 1 – Fixed 12V Voltage Regulator Using LM7812

 First, the circuit shown in Figure 7 was constructed on the module provided by making
necessary connections using provided wires.
 As the load, the provided resistor box was connected and initially the value was set to
1000kΩ (which can be considered as infinitely large that is open circuited)
 After having supplied power to the circuit using the provided power supply, the output
voltage of the rectifier was measured by connecting the terminals of the multi-meter (in
volts measuring mode) to the output of the “Transformer + Rectifier” unit in the module
and it was noted down.
 Then the output voltage of the regulator was measured with an infinite resistance (i.e.
1000kΩ) using the multi-meter in voltage measuring mode and that was noted down too.
 Thereafter, the corresponding output voltages for the RL values 500kΩ, 100kΩ, 50kΩ,
10kΩ, 1kΩ, 500Ω, 100Ω, 50Ω, 10Ω, 5Ω were measured.
 Finally, the graph of output voltage versus resistance was plotted.

3.2 Experiment 2 – Adjustable Voltage Regulator Using LM317

 First, the connections made for Experiment 1 were removed from the module and the
circuit shown in Figure 8 was constructed by making necessary connections.
 Like in the previous experiment, the resistor box was used as the load and its initial value
was set to 1000kΩ.
 After having supplied power to the circuit, the output voltage of the rectifier was
measured.
 Then the output voltages of the regulator for RL values 500kΩ, 100kΩ, 50kΩ, 10kΩ,
1kΩ, 500Ω, 100Ω, 50Ω, 10Ω, 5Ω for each of the R2 values 1kΩ, 3kΩ and 5kΩ were
measured.
 Subsequently, the graphs of output voltage versus resistance for each of the R2 values
were plotted on the same graph paper.
 Finally, the Vout of the regulator was theoretically calculated using the equation 𝑉 =
1.25(1 + ) where R1 is 240Ω, and it was compared with the results obtained
practically.

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3.3 Experiment 3 – Current Regulator Using LM7812

 First, the connections made for Experiment 2 were removed from the module and the
circuit shown in Figure 9 was constructed by making necessary connections.
 Like in the previous experiment, the resistor box was used as the load and its initial value
was set to 1000kΩ.
 After having supplied power to the circuit, the output voltage of the rectifier was
measured.
 Then the output voltage and the output current of the regulator was measured for the
infinitely large RL (i.e. 1000kΩ).
 After that, the value of RL was changed to 500kΩ, 100kΩ, 50kΩ, 10kΩ, 1kΩ, 500Ω,
100Ω, 50Ω, 10Ω, 5Ω and for each resistance value, the output current of the regulator
was measured.
 Finally, the graph of current versus resistance was plotted.

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4 Results and Analysis

Table 4-1 Theoretical Vout Values for Experiment 2

Value of R2 (Ω) Theoretical Vout (V)


1k 6.4583
3k 16.875
5k 27.292

All the readings and graphs are in the appendix attached herewith.

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5 Discussion

In experiment 1, it was observed that for very high resistance values of the load resistor, the
output of the regulator would vary very slightly. But after a particular point, that is after the
resistance was decreased passed 50Ω, the output voltage decreased drastically. That behaviour
can very clearly be seen in Graph 1 (attached in the appendix). An ideal regulator has to supply
a constant direct voltage under any circumstances, therefore this regulator has not shown an
ideal behaviour. But since the value of the output varies only from 11.94V to 11.84V when the
resistance of the load resistor is changed from 500kΩ to 100Ω it can be stated that this is a
good regulator. That is because for a variation of nearly 500kΩ in the load resistor, the variation
of the output voltage has only been 0.1V.
In experiment 2, it was observed that the output voltage could be adjusted using the resistor R2,
which was used to adjust the output voltage of the regulator IC. For R2=1kΩ, a maximum
output voltage of 6.9V was observed, and for R2=3kΩ and R2=5kΩ, maximum output voltages
of 15.26V and 15.41V respectively were obtained. As it can be seen in Graph 2, it is apparent
that the circuit with R2=1kΩ has been a better regulator, because its output has remained at a
constant voltage for a range of nearly 500kΩ. With the increase of R2 , the output voltage has
got increased (not a gradual increase), but at the same time the regulating property of the circuit
has got decreased. That is because, the output voltage has remained at the same level only for
a very limited range of the load resistor compared to that of the circuit with R2=1kΩ. As it can
be seen in Table 4-1, for R2=1kΩ the practical result has nearly tallied with the theoretical
result of 6.4583V. For R2 values of 3kΩ and 5kΩ, the theoretical results are 16.875V and
27.292V respectively. But from Table 2, it can be seen that the maximum output voltages for
those to R2 values have not gone beyond 15.41V. That is because the output voltage of the
rectifier (i.e. the input voltage of the regulator) was measured to be 16.55V and it is not possible
to obtain an output greater than the input of the regulator. It is apparent that even for the
theoretical value of 27.292V, the actual output has been 15.41V. That is due to internal leaking
in the IC and internal resistances of components etc. There was a choice to use either the
variable resistor built to the module or the external resistor box as R2. Upon checking the
resistor values using the resistor mode in the multi-meter, it was found out that the accuracy of
the resistor box was very high and also that the built in resistor of the module was somewhat
erroneous. Therefore the resistor box was used as R2.

In experiment 3, it was observed that the output current of the circuit would remain constant
only at very low resistance values of RL. After the value of RL was increased beyond 50Ω the
circuit has failed to be a regulator, since the output current has shown a gradual drop. It is very
clearly seen from Graph 3 that for the very limited range of 1Ω to 50Ω the circuit has shown a
very good regulating property, though it has failed to be a regulator afterwards.

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6 Conclusions
After having taken into account the observations and results obtained during this practical,
the following conclusions can be drawn.
 A regulated power supply constructed using ICs can provide a constant direct output
voltage within a particular range of the resistance of the load.
 A regulated power supply with a non-adjustable constant output value can be constructed
using the LM7812 IC.
 A regulated power supply with an adjustable output value can be constructed using the
LM317 IC.
 A current regulating circuit that will output a fixed current value at low load resistance
values can be constructed using the LM7812 IC.

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References
ECL 209 Lab Sheet – Department of Physics, University of Colombo
https://en.wikipedia.org/
www.electronics-tutorials.ws

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