This is a compact adjustable power supply that delivers a stable voltage and currents up to 3 amperes. The circuit is very conventional and its voltage output can be varied from 1.25 volts to 25 volts.
The main module is the LM350 IC which integrates a voltage regulator and a power stage. It also has a built-in overload protection which activates at 30 watts of power dissipation. The voltage output is set by connecting the “adj” pin of the IC to the voltage divider made of R1 and P1. The output voltage can be calculated using the following formula:
1.25V x (1 + P1/R1)
where the P1 value is between 0 and 2.5 K?. Capacitor C1 is a common ripple filter while capacitors C2 and C3 improves the regulation. The diodes D1 and D2 serves as protection for the regulator IC when the IC output is turned off. Resistor R1 is 120?. This ensures that the minimal load current for the IC (around 3.4mA) is high enough to maintain good performance.
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