I am using this voltage regulator.
Following this example:
For input power source, I am using old SATA convertor power adapter, which produces 12V 1.5A max (I tried various power supplies, all similar result).
With no load, everything works as expected, instead of R2
I have potentiometer 0 - 5k OHM. I can easily configure any voltage range from 1 to 10V using the potentiometer.
The problem happens when I connect any load. My understanding of voltage regulators is, that you can configure them to provide certain voltage, and they will hold it as long as you don't exceed the maximum current they can provide (3A in this case). But that isn't happening in my case.
I connected Vout to a simple (strong) LED light, that draws 0.2A at 4.5V just to test it out, and while the LED is working, the Vout
immediatelly dropped down to 3.3V (Vin
also dropped from 12V to 11.5V, but VR should provide same Vout
no matter of Vin according to manual, as long as Vin
is at least 1V higher than required output). Measured Il
was max 0.2A, never more than that.
Is this a normal behaviour? Why is VR not capable to provide stable voltage on output? I would like to use it to power some USB device, which expects stable 5V output, this doesn't seem very stable to me. My expectation is that it will provide stable Vout as long as I don't exceed 3A Il
.
Il
with my multimeter and it really never exceeds 0.2A. Even if it wanted to draw more, VR should be able to work until 3A? The thermal protection could be related on other hand, because the VR package is definitely very hot. \$\endgroup\$