Hi Rob
I have wasted most of the wekend playing about with electrical things I do not understand! - although I have learned a great deal - "receivers - base - emitters"!
I bought a 10v LDO chip from maplins for 99p - well I bought three.
After messing around we got 9.88v out of it. Then I blew it up - quite literally the whole thing blew it self apart! We then got 10.4 vaults when aa 22k ohm resistor was included
At this point I decide to pull the Smiths regulator apart, and to my surprise it is solid state, with a chip, and its own non oscillating resistors.....................
................so, tomorrow, I shall do exactly as you suggest and buy another Smiths solid state regulator, which will cost £15 including p+p!
Out of interest, why would it need to be physically installed vertically - or is this just a sop to the old days when it would have been a bi-metallic strip?
Quote:
Originally Posted by MartinClan
Just my 5 penneth.....
You will certainly need a voltage stabiliser if the instrument is designed to work that way. The theoretical 12v that comes from your car's electrical system is not actually 12v anyway, and also not particularly stable.
Using an electronic regulator may or may not work well - although a linear one is better than something fancier (digital). Car electrical systems are full of noise which plays havoc with anything electronic.
Personally I would try to stick with stuff specifically designed for the job. I would use the smiths regulator - even if you have to fix it the right way up!
Robin
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