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IC LM338 Application Circuits

IC LM338 Application Circuits

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In this post we will try to analyze a few interesting IC LM338 based power supply circuits and related application circuits which can used by all hobbyists and professional for their day to day electronic circuits and experiments

Introduction

The IC LM338 by TEXAS INSTRUMENTS, is a versatile IC which can be wired in numerous different ways for obtaining high quality power supply circuit configurations.



The following circuit examples simply depict few of the very interesting useful power supply circuits using this IC.

Let's study each circuit diagram in details:

Simple Adjustable Voltage Power Supply Circuit

The first circuit shows the typical wiring format done around the IC. The circuit provides an adjustable output right from 1.25V to the maximum applied input voltage which shouldn't be more than 35 vots.

R2 is used for varying the output voltage continuously.

Simple 5 Amp Regulated Power Supply Circuit

This circuit produces an output that may be equal to the input supply voltage but the current is well regulated and can never exceed the 5 Amp mark. R1 is precisely selected so as to maintain a safe 5 amp maximum current limit that can be withdrawn from the circuit.

15 Amp, Variable Voltage Regulator Circuit

The IC LM 338 alone is specified for handling a maximum of 5 Amp of current, however if the IC is needed to handle higher currents, in the region of 15 amps, it can well be modified to produce that much of current with the appropriate modifications as shown below.

The circuit utilizes three IC LM338 for the intended implementations with output voltage that's adjustable as explained for the first circuit. R8 is used for the voltage adjustment operations.

Digitally Adjustable Power Supply Circuit:

In the above designs, the power supply utilized a pot for implementing the voltage adjustment procedure, the below given design incorporates discrete transistors which can be digitally triggered separately for obtaining the relevant voltage levels at the outputs.

The collector resistance values are chosen in an incremental order so that a correspondingly varying voltages can be selected and becomes available through the external triggers.

Light Controller Circuit

Other than power supplies, LM338 can also be used as a light controller. The circuit shows a very simple design where a phototransistor replaces the resistor which normally acts as the component for adjusting the output voltage.

The light which needs to be controlled is powered by the output of the IC and its light is allowed to fall on this phototransistor.
As the light increases the value of the photo-transistor decreases which in turn pulls the ADJ pin of the IC more toward the ground, forcing the output voltage to decrease which also decreases the light illumination, maintaining a constant glow on the lamp.

Current Controlled Power Supply Circuit:

The next circuit shows a super simple wiring with the IC LM338 whose ADJ pin is connected to the output after a current sensing preset. The value of the preset determines the maximum amount of current that becomes permissible through the IC at the output.

12V Current Controlled Battery Charger Circuit

The circuit below can be used to charge a 12 volt lead acid battery safely. The resistor Rs may be selected appropriately for determining the desired level of current for the connected battery. R2 can be adjusted for obtaining other voltages for charging other categories of batteris.

Slow Turn ON Output Power Supply

Some sensitive electronic circuits require a slow start rather than the usual instant start. The inclusion of C1 makes it sure that the output from the circuit rises gradually to the set maximum level ensuring the intended safety to the connected circuit.



Heater Controller Circuit

IC LM338 can also be configured for controlling temperature of a certain parameter like a heater. Another important IC LM334 is used as the sensor which is connected across the ADJ and ground of the IC LM338. If the heat from the source tends to increase above the predetermined threshold, the sensor lowers its resistance correspondingly, forcing the output voltage of LM338 to fall, subsequently decreasing the voltage to the heater element.

10 Amp Regulated Power Supply Circuit

The following circuit shows another circuit whose current is restricted to 10 amps, that means the output can be made suitable for high current rated loads, the voltage is adjustable as usual via the pot R2.

Adjusting Many LM338 modules via a Single Control

The given circuit shows a simple configuration which can be used for controlling the outputs of many LM338 power supply modules simultaneously though a single pot.

In the above section we learned a few of the important application circuits using the IC LM338, which were basically collected from the datasheet of the IC, if you have more clues regarding such LM338 based circuits, please let us know through the comments below.

SHARING IS CARING!

About the Author

I am an electronic engineer (dipIETE ), hobbyist, inventor, schematic/PCB designer, manufacturer. I am also the founder of the website: https://www.homemade-circuits.com/, where I love sharing my innovative circuit ideas and tutorials. If you have any circuit related query, you may interact through comments, I'll be most happy to help!



45 thoughts on “IC LM338 Application Circuits”



  2. I have 6 32 AH 12 VDC batteries in my 200 watt Solar array.

    I have set the charge voltage to 13.7 VDC
    But the amps is more than a LM338 can handle. it also passes through a 3 wire Volt/Apere meter 0-100VDC and 0-50 Amp which is via a shunt in the Negitive line.

    Can I put a transitor or MOsfet accross the LM338 of around 25 Amperes to increase the current.

    If so can you recomend types and circuit mods

  6. Hi Swagatam,
    Say we have a pc smps that supplies 15A at 12v rail,would lm338 current regulator work if a 10W LED requires 12v and I want to drive it at 700mA.Can current be fixed to 700mA using LM338 current regulator?
    If it can be used then R value would be R=(1.25/0.7A)=0.87ohm.Right?
    Whats the power dissipated by resistor and power rating of resistor should be used?

    Following the above can we cascade the above leds in parallel,say 7 (i.e 700mA x7=4.9A),
    so the ckt should pass on 4.9A to the led array.
    Hence R required would be R=1.25/4.9A=0.25 ohm.Am I right?What should be the power rating required by the resistor in that case?

    And if I want to work on above 5A,can LM 196 be used in similar fashion?
    Sorry for asking too many question,Just want to learn and experiment 🙂

    • Hi. I built the 15A voltage regulator circuit using LM338 (3) and LM307. This was connected to my power supply (home made from computer power supply). I also connected a 3 wire V/A meter.
      Everything seems fine when switched on, but there is no power output.
      What should I look for to find the fault?

      • Hi, without knowing about the schematic it can be difficult to understand what exactly you have made, and regarding a possible fault in the design.

  10. Hey sir.. Smit here
    Sir i m trying to make battery charger and for that I have used lm317 but using this circuit I can charge mobiles upto certain mAh. If I connect mobile which is having higher mAh than mobile is not charging.so give me solution how can I make it useful for all mobiles.
    In my circuit I have used lm317 and and one 10k potentiometer is connected with its adjustable leg and than other all of potentiometer is connected to 180 ohm resistor. Out terminal of lm 317 is connected with that resistor and one more resistor of value 4.7 ohm. And than I have connected one zener diode of 6.2v, 0.5 W,, after that I connect one diode 1 N4007. And this diode is connected to female USB connector help me pls..

    • Hi Smit,

      a good LM317 would be capable of generating in excess of 1amp which should be sufficient for most cellphones.

      I think the 4.7 ohm could be causing some significant drop in current…. try reducing its value and see the response…and also make sure the LM317 is mounted over a large heatsink and adequately cooled.

  12. HI SWAGATAM JI
    PLEASE HELP ME I HAVE REQUIRED A 24 VOLT 5 AMP CHARGING CIRCUIT FROM TRANSFORMER POWER SUPPLY WITH PROVISION OF PARALLEL LOAD 1.5A ,AUTO TURN ON BATTERY IN THE ABSENCE OF SUPPLY POWER

  14. Sir I want to make a mobile charger out of it can u pls help me by the spec if I want the output as 5v 1.5amp and it should be stable . the input is taken from a bike battery which is about 12v

  18. Hello sir, i want to build a 5A 12v battery charger, what value should i use for Rs, R1,R2 and what is the resistor watt preferable? Thank you

    • Hello Hardy, you can keep Rs and R1 as shown in the diagram, R2 can be replaced with a 10k pot and this pot could be adjusted to set 14.3V at the output, for the recommended 12V/5A battery charging

  20. For the 5amp power regulator you have a resistor set for 2W and .24ohms
    If we use I^2*R=(25amp)*(.24ohm)=6W, So wouldn't the resistor need to be a minimum of 6W?

    • by using the more general VxI formula and by considering the fixed reference voltage across the resistor = 1.25V, we get P = 1.25 x 5 = 6.25 watts

      yes, you are right, the datasheet's calculation is incorrect, the resistor should be rated at above 6 watts and not 2 watt

  22. Hello sir, I'd like to know how to charge a 12V7Ah lead gel-acid battery, I know that the "slow charge" must me 700mA, so I have to supply the battery with 700mA, and I don't know how to calculate the external components. Thank you very much for the help beforehand

    • hello Jeronimo, you can build the first circuit from the above article exactly as shown, just replace the pot with a 10k pot…. for setting up the circuit adjust the pot to get around 14V at the output without any battery connected. once this setting is done connect the battery and switch ON power…let it charge for about 8 hours and then you could switch OFF the supply manually, you would find the battery fully charged by this time.

  24. good morning swagatam
    regarding 12V Current Controlled Battery Charger Circuit
    I have 12v 35Ah battery, 0-12v 5A transformer. Charging current required must be around 3.5A.
    Is ther anything i should modify about
    Rs .1 ohm
    R1 250 ohm
    R2 2k7 ohm

  26. hello sir
    how to find R1 values(ohms,watts) for current controlled power supply . i am using 12v 80ah battery and need output current : 3.5 amp to drive led array of 30 * 1 watt leds

  28. good day sir. i wat to build a powersupply with lm338 but i want to be able to adjust the curent to not just the voltage i saw a schematic above with a simple curent limiting circuit.but if i make that circuit how can i adjust the voltage not just the curent?

    • prashant, 78XX ICs are internally short circuit protected, they will never get shorted unless tampered intentionally. Even if this happen, the cell phone is protected against upto 12V supplies and will simply show"not charging"

  32. good day sir,

    regarding the 12V Current Controlled Battery Charger Circuit, can is use rectified DC from a motorcycle as V_in?

    if possible, what voltage of the capacitor would you recommend? is it ok to use 1/4w for all resisitors?

    thank you.

    Regards



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