3.3V Regulator giving 4.8V with 5V Input

arduinovoltagevoltage-regulatorxbee

The ST L78L33ACZ 3.3V voltage regulator has 5.028V in the Vin pin but the Vout pin is giving 4.765V.

The datasheet states that the dropout voltage is 1.7V. Shouldn't 5.028V Vin be sufficient to regulate the voltage to 3.3V? Or is there another problem?

Photo + Update:

May be hard to identify in the photo, but I did make the necessary cuts to the traces.

Vin is now 3.927V after adding the load and using a new regulator. Have not used the capacitors yet, maybe thats why its at 3.9V? Or maybe the load (Xbee) is not pulling enough current?

enter image description here

Best Answer

Although the datasheet doesn't explicitly state a minimum load current, it does give the output regulation rating for 1 mA to 40 or 100 mA, implying to me that there is a minimum load required for the part to regulate (and I recall the older 78xx regulators specifiying a minimum 5 mA load current for proper operation).

Put a 1 mA or more load on it and see if it works.