voltage regulators - in parallel?

can multiple voltage regulators be run in parallel? Each terminating in a separate output? IE - the inputs are tied together but the outputs are separated.

I put together a small board hoping to break an 18V 400mA wall wart into 4

9V sections. Im getting some wierd output (8V at the Vout for the regulators) thats making me wonder whether my concept is fundamentally flawed.
Reply to
anonymous
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Yes, you can connect 4 inputs of 4 regulators to the same source, if the regulators have different loads. But the total load current of all 4 outputs can not exceed 400mA before the input will start dropping.

How much is the load current for each output?

-Bill

Reply to
Bill Bowden

You might first check how much current you're using. Too much, and you might be bogging dowm the wall wart. If not, there's no problem with using the 18V to make multiple 9V supplies, as long as you don't connect their outputs together (double-check your wiring here). (see other post for more information).

Good luck Chris

Reply to
CFoley1064

So what would be causing the Vout to drop to 8V? its consistent across all 4 regulators.

Reply to
anonymous

Operator error?

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Reply to
me

How much current are you drawing from the four outputs? As Chris said, if you are drawing too much current the wall wart output voltage will drop.

Can you measure the voltage at the input to the regulators? It will need to be >12V (approx. depends on the regulator) for your regulators to operate correctly.

Gareth.

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Reply to
Gareth

For the test I ran I was drawing ~5mA. But I read 8V at the regulators when there is no load at all.

Reply to
anonymous

What does the input voltage drop to when the output voltage is 8?

--
John Popelish
Reply to
John Popelish

Maybe its time for a new battery in that multimeter?

A good test would be to check the voltage across a 9v battery with the same meter.

The other possibility is that your regulators are either bad, or they are oscillating. Put a small load on them, and also use a 0.01uF (10nF) cap across the output.

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Regards,
   Robert Monsen

"Your Highness, I have no need of this hypothesis."
     - Pierre Laplace (1749-1827), to Napoleon,
        on why his works on celestial mechanics make no mention of God.
Reply to
Robert Monsen

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