LT1038

The LT1038 is a three terminal regulator which is capable of providing in excess of 10 amps output current over 1.2V to 32V range. The device is packaged in a standard TO-3 power package, and is plug-in compatible with industry standard adjustable regulators, such as the LM 117 and LM 138. Also, It is a functional replacement for the LM396.In addition to excellent load and line regulations, the LT1038 is fully protected by current limiting, safe area protection and thermal shutdown.New current limiting circuitry allows transient load currents up to 24 amps to be supplied for 500s without causing the regulator to current limit and drop out of regulation during the transient.

Features of the LT1038 are:(1)guaranteed 0.8% initial tolerance; (2)guaranteed 0.4% load regulation; (3)guaranteed 10 amp output current; (4)100% thermal limit burn-in; (5)24 amp transient output current; (6)standard adjustable pinout; (7)operates to 35V.On-chip trimming of initial reference voltage to ±0.8% combined with 0.4% load regulation minimize errors in all high current applications.Further, the device is manufactured with standard bipolar processing and has Linear Technology's high reliability.

The absolute maximum ratings of the LT1038 can be summarized as:(1)input to output  voltage differental:35V;(2)storage temperature:-65 to 150;(3)operating junction temperature range:-55 to 150;(4)power dissipation:internally limited;(5)lead temperature:300.The LT1038 develops a 1.25V reference voltage between the output and the adjustment terminal (see Figure 1).BY placing a resistor, R1,between these two terminals, a constant current is caused to flow through R1 and down through R2 to set the overall output voltage. Normally this current is the specified minimum load current of 10 or 20mA. Because Iadj is very small and constant when compared with the current through R1,it represents a small error and can usually be ignored.Because the device is a three-terminal device, it is not possible to provide true remote load sensing. Load regulation will be limited by the resistance of the wire connecting the regulator to the load. The data sheet specification for load regulation is measured at the bottom of the package. Negative side sensing can be a true Kelvin connection if the bottom of resistor R2 is returned to the negative side of the load.