flippityflop Posted August 29, 2013 Report Share Posted August 29, 2013 say i have a linear voltage regulator set at 9V, and current the and is 1A, which is constant and i can't change. and i'm using it to power a small device that runs at 9V, but on average only consumes 350mA.is there a good possibility that the linear regulator will overload the device with current and possibly even break it?the linear voltage regulator i'm talking about here isn't about the 0-30V, 0-3A power supply from the projects page, actually i've only barely started on that one yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hero999 Posted August 29, 2013 Report Share Posted August 29, 2013 No, look up Ohm's law.Hint: the voltage output is constant, the current is not & depends on the load. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flippityflop Posted August 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2013 the datasheet says it has an output of 1A, so i thought there might be a chance it'll try to compensate to maintain that current. though you are right, it'll violate ohm's law. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hero999 Posted August 29, 2013 Report Share Posted August 29, 2013 No it won't and can't violate Ohm's law.The only exception is if it had a minimum load current which means you need a load connected, in order to regulate properly, otherwise the output voltage would be higher than specified or be unstable but 350mA should be enough to satisfy that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jibby Posted September 12, 2013 Report Share Posted September 12, 2013 Never, rather it will work cooler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audioguru Posted September 12, 2013 Report Share Posted September 12, 2013 The 1A rating of the 9V voltage regulator is its MAXIMUM output current. If its load is 1k ohms then its output current is only 9v/1k= 9mA, not 1A. If its load draws 350mA then the output current of the regulator is 350mA, not 1A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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