SYED MASHHOOD HAFEEZ

LM723 LINEAR POWER SUPPLY

General Description

This is a very useful project for anyone working in electronics. It is a versatile power supply that will solve most of
the supply problems arising in the everyday work of any electronics work shop. It covers a wide range of voltages
being continuously variable from 30 V down to 3 V. The output current is 2.5 A maximum, more than enough for
most applications. The circuit is completely stabilised even at the extremes of its output range and is fully protected
against short-circuits and overloading.

How it Works

The power supply is using a well known and quite popular VOLTAGE STABILIZER IC the LM 723. The IC can be
adjusted for out put voltages that vary continuously between 2 and 37 VDC and has a current rating of 150 mA
which is of course too low for any serious use. In order to increase the current handling capacity of the circuit the
output of the IC is used to drive a darlington pair formed by two power transistors the BD 135 and the 2N 3055. The
use of the transistors to increase the maximum current output limits the range of output voltages somewhat and this
is why the circuit has been designed to operate from 3 to 30 VDC. The resistor R5 that you see connected in series
with the output of the supply is used for the protection of the circuit from overloading. If an excessively large current
flows through R5, the voltage across it increases and any voltage greater than 0.3 V across it has as a result to cut
the supply off, thus effectively protecting it from overloads. This protection feature is built in the LM 723 and the
voltage drop across R5 is sensed by the IC itself between pins 2 and 3. At the same time the IC is continuously
comparing the output voltage to its internal reference and if the difference exceeds the designers standards it
corrects it automatically. This ensures great stability under different loads. The potentiometer P1 is used to adjust
the out put voltage at the desired level. If the full range from 3 to 30 V is desired then you should use a mains
transformer with a secondary winding having a rating of at least 24 V/3 A. If the maxi mum voltage output is not
desired you can of course use a transformer with a lower secondary voltage output. (However, once rectified the
voltage across the capacitor C2 should exceed by 4-5 volts the maximum output expected from the circuit







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Design Specifications
The design for this power supply is actually made up of four sections, all of which provide equal importance to the function
ability of this linear power supply. The four sections include: Transformation,rectification, filtration and regulation.


Part List

R1 = 560R 1/4W
R2 = 1,2 K 1/4W
R3 = 3,9 K 1/4W
R4 = 15K 1/4W
R5 = 0,15R 5W
C4 = 100uF/ 35V
C1 = 100nF
C2 = 2200uF 35-40V
C3 = 100 pF
D = B40 C3300/2200, 3A rectifier bridge
P1 = 10K potesiometer
TR1 = BD 135
IC = LM723
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Transformation:
Transformer Wave result in secondary winding

The transformer is an amazing invention. It uses electromagnetic fields in order to reduce or increase
input voltages by specific ratios in its design. Transformers can either be referred to as step up or step down
transformers. In the case of this power supply, a step down transformer was used. This is because it was necessary
to reduce the AC input of 120v rms coming from hydro to allow the circuit to function. In this case, a step down
transformer with a 4.6:1 turns ratio was used. This essentially means that only a of the voltage is in the
secondary portion of the transformer from what was originally produced. So in actuality the voltage going into this
circuit was 120v AC, and after the voltage was brought to the secondary portion it was reduced to 26.09v. (This is if
the transformer was 100% efficient).

(This means that my circuit can vary from 0-27vrms)

v or
ratio
hydro
V
v
in
27 09 . 26
6 . 4
120
= = =
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Transformer Equations
1)
2)
3)
4)
Rectification:
Types of rectifiers Waves created form rectifier


The signal that first enters into the diode bridge is a full sine wave. The diodes are what divide the sine
wave into a half wave the signal delivered is only the top portion of the wave, thus cleaning up the signal. This
happens because D1 and D3 are reverse biased, this means that the voltage in the circuit is not able to flow down
through the diodes. The current on the other hand is able to flow through these two diodes. D2 and D4 are what
create the rectified wave necessary for the fully rectified wave. This step is done so that the AC voltage being
provided by hydro will be turned to DC. This is important because it would make the power supply useless, the
voltage would constantly be fluctuating while the system was in use. Its important to remember the 0.7v diode
drop across each diode in order to know your exact secondary voltage before regulation.
p
s
s
s
p
P
n
n
orV
n
V
n
V
=
0
..... 3 3 2 2 2 2
= + + V I V I V I
2
3
3
2
2
2
2
1
1
n
Z
n
Z
n
Z
= =
rms
avg
p
V
V
V 2
2
= =
t
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Rectification Equations

To find out the average value of a wave:
(The reason for the 0.636 is because only 63.6%
of the wave is used in rms).
To find out the Rms value of a wave:
Filtration:

Waves created


( ) 636 . 0 X A
vg
=
( )
2
X
R
ms
=
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This diagram indicates how the capacitor smoothes out the rectified wave in order to provide a cleaner
signal. This would be desirable in high quality products such as amplifiers.


This is a half rectified wave. This is a rectified wave that only involves one diode rather then four like in a
fully rectified wave. The advantage of this form of rectification is that there is only a loss of one diode drop.

The whole purpose of the filter is simply to smooth out the rectified wave that was produced by the diode
in the diode bridge. This filtration is all done with a simple capacitor. You can see in the diagram how at point V3
the wave turns much smoother then originally. The capacitor takes the useless parts of the wave produced from
the signal and reduces it to something that is almost flat, for easier use. You can also see how greatly the current is
affected by this capacitor, the current gets totally inverted in diagram (A3). Due to the capacitor. A2 is produced as
a result of the diodes pulsing from the AC current. A3 gets inverted because the diode bridge has surplus current.
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So when the bridge shuts down the regulator still demands current. So the current comes out of the capacitor
causing a current inversion. (The flat section of A3 is when the capacitor is supplying load current).

Regulation:
There are four sections, which make up the filtration portion of this power supply. These sections include:
Reference voltage, error amplifier, output sampling, control element and current limiting.
1) Reference Voltage:
The reference voltage in the Lm723 regulator was 7.1v. This is important aspect of the actual chip. Vref will tell you
whether your chip is functioning correctly or not. You can be certain that if your reference voltage has diminished,
that your chip has been destroyed and rendered useless. The Vref is actually a fixed voltage integrated into the
chip. This is used in order to vary Vout. Vref is what drives the error amplifier.
Equations

2) Error amplifier:
The error amplifier is another important part of the power supply circuit. This is pin 13 of the Lm723, but
it is in fact an amplifier that is built into the chip. This is necessary because it is used in the voltage regulator.
Essentially the error amplifier takes the sampling circuit and the reference voltage and uses these to allow the
circuits voltage to be adjusted. There is a resistor and a capacitor attached to this for stability or frequency
compensation. It should be noted that when testing your circuit, the error output should always remain the same
or close to it. This is so because the whole purpose of the error amplifier is to replace the missing voltage form the
reference voltage pin to produce the necessary 25v.
|
|
.
|

\
|
+
+
=
1
2
2 1
1
1
r
r
orV
r r
r
v V
ref out REF
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Ex. If vref were only producing 10v, then the error amplifier would produce the other 15v to bump the total
voltage to 25v.

3) Output Sampling:

The output of the circuit should be able to vary from 0-25v, depending on the turns ratio of your
transformer. This used to sample the difference between the actual voltage and the error amplifier.
4) Control element:
The control element is used to regulate the voltage to your desired level required. It can vary from 0 to
vref. This is so because if you look at the circuit below, the min of the potentiometer is connected to pin6 of the
chip, which is vref. Basically the way that the voltage regulator works is by adjusting the potentiometer in either a
positive or negative direction to increase or decrease voltage levels. The Darlington pair is part of what allows the
regulation to occur.
5) Current limiting:
The current regulator works along side with the voltage regulator. This works much differently from the
voltage adjustment. The current limiter is not connected directly to the voltage output, instead it is connected to
two transistors or a Darlington pair as well as the VC input of the adjustable voltage. regulator . This is important to
have because if the current rises higher then it is supposed to then the current limiter will shut down to prevent
damage

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