linear-regulatorlm317power supply
I want to design a variable voltage regulator that will get from it`s maximum output (lets say 10V) down to 0V (or very close) considering the input as regulated 12V (from a PC power supply).
All the designs that I found use the 317 IC and can not go under 1.25V and I am pretty sure that there must be a way to do so.
I could not find any tutorials that explain in an easy way the way that the 317 behaves (beside the classical configuration) so any additional explanation is welcomed.
Be aware of the capacitance to ground on each pin of the digital pot. The spec you embedded in your question suggest a range in the order of about 100pF. I don't know the exact switching frequency of your proposed application but, if it were 200kHz, 100pF would have an impedance of about 8 kohms (reactive) and this might be significant compared to the feedback resistor values you intend to enact with the digital pot. This could mean that you get a highly unstable circuit (worst case scenario) or, a lot of ripple voltage (more probable scenario) or absolutely no problem at all.
There isn't enough information in the LT data sheet to call this one so I'd advise setting it up with standard resistor values to cover the range you expect and testing it by adding 100pF caps across those resistors just to see if they introduce oddball behaviour. Other than that it should work just fine.
If it does got belly-up on you there is another alternative and that is to "offset" the feedback voltage with a current sink/source thus "conning" the LT8705 into thinking it needs to raise (or lower) it's mark-space ratio. The current sink/source can be controlled via the pot you want to use and because the pot would be "isolated" from the actual feedback node the capacitance problem wouldn't be an issue. Current sink/sources can be designed with very low capacitances (sub 5pF) so this should be OK. Remember, the standard feedback resistors won't introduce more than 1 or 2 pF and a bit of track might add another 2 pF hence my concern.
No, this won't work to give you +/- supplies, because of the common negative rail.
You can, however, use the transformer you have to give you +/- adjustable supplies by using two half-wave rectifiers (2 diodes), double up on the capacitor values to keep the ripple at ~2Vp-p, and an LM317 for the positive and an LM337 for the negative supplies. With suitable (large) heat sinks capable of dissipating about 10W each it should be good for about +/-0.6A. You could also use 10,000uF caps (say 25V rated) to get a bit more voltage range at high current.
simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab
Best Answer
To get the LM317 down to zero volts you need to bring the control pin down to -1.25 V.
Figure 1. This dual LM317 circuit consists of a current limiter based around LM317(1) and a voltage regulator based around LM317(2). The voltage regulator section is relevant to this post as it is adjustable down to zero volts. Source: ON-Semi datasheet.
The problem with this circuit is that you need to generate a negative supply capable of sinking the few milliamps. My answer to Smartest way to use current limit using LM317? (where I explained the current limiting section) may help in this regard.
simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab
Figure 2. If a centre-tapped transformer is used the negative rail can be generated quite easily. In this example a half-wave rectified signal is smoothed by C2 which doesn't have to be very large.