
LM138/238
LM338
March 1993
ADJUSTABLE VOLTAGE REGULATORS
THREE-TERMINAL 5-A
.
GUARANTEED 7A PEAK OUTPUTCURRENT
.
GUARANTEED 5A OUTPUTCURRENT
.
ADJUSTABLE OUTPUT DOWN TO 1.2V
.
LINE REGULATION TYPICALLY 0.005% /V
.
LOAD REGULATION TYPICALLY 0.1%
.
GUARANTEED THERMAL REGULATION
.
CURRENT LIMIT CONSTANT WITH TEM-
PERATURE
.
STANDARD3-LEAD TRANSISTOR PACKAGE
DESCRIPTION
The LM138/LM238/LM338 are adjustable 3-terminal
positive voltageregulators capable ofsupplyinginex-
cessof 5A over a1.2V to 32V output range. They are
exceptionally easytouse and require only 2 resistors
tosettheoutput voltage. Careful circuitdesign hasre-
sulted in outstanding load and line regulation com-
parable to many commercial power supplies. The
LM138 family is supplied in a standard 3-lead transis-
torpackage.
A unique featureof the LM138 family is time-de-
pendent current limiting. The current limit circuitry
allowspeakcurrentsofupto12Atobedrawnfromthe
regulator for short periods of time. This allows the
LM138 to be used with heavy transient loads and
speedsstart-up under full-load conditions. Under sus-
tained loading conditions, thecurrent limit decreases
toa safe value protecting the regulator. Also included
on thechip are thermal overload protection and safe
areaprotection forthepowertransistor. Overloadpro-
tection remains functional even if the adjustment pin
is accidentally disconnected.
Normally,nocapacitors are needed unlessthedevice
is situated far from theinput filter capacitors in which
case an input bypass is needed. An optional output
capacitor can be added to improve transient res-
ponse. The adjustment terminal can be bypassed to
achieve very high ripple rejection ratioswhich are dif-
ficulttoachieve with standard 3-terminal regulators.
Besidesreplacing fixedregulatorsordiscretedesigns,
theLM238 is useful inawide varietyof other applica-
tions. Since the regulator is ”floating” and sees only
theinput-to-output differential voltage,suppliesofsev-
eral hundred volts can be regulated as long as the
maximum input to input differential is not exceeded.
The LM138/LM238/LM338 are packaged in standard
steel TO-3 transistor packages. The LM138 is rated
foroperation from -55
o
C to 150
o
C, the LM238 from
– 25
°
C to + 150
°
C and the LM338 from 0
°
C to +
125
°
C.
TO3
K SUFFIX
(SteelCan)
ORDER CODE
PART
NUMBER
TEMPERATURE
RANGE
-55
o
C to + 150
o
C
-25
o
C to + 150
o
C
0
o
C to + 125
o
C
PACKAGE
K
LM138
LM238
LM338
EXAMPLE
: LM138K
PIN CONNECTION
(bottom view)
Caseis output
1/12