And one more thing, yes it DOES matter what is the voltage in front
of the regulator. Do NOT put more than couple of volts than needed
if you want to use full current or if you are trying to use small size heatsink.
Example:
Using 7812 (12V output) at 1Amp (full current) and input voltage of
ca 15V.
Power dissipation for 7812 is (15V-12V)*1A=3Watt (not bad at all).
Now if you want to power same load and your input voltage is ca 25V
you get (25V-12V)*1A=13Watt (ouch... that is more than one of my soldering irons use!)
Did someone mention 37V on input????
According to datasheet for LM340 (this is one of the 7812 flavors)
maximum power disipation at INFINITE heatsink is under 20Watts.
(Check page 9 :
https://www.electro-tech-online.com/custompdfs/2003/12/LM340-1.pdf ).
So (37V-12V)*1A=25Watt (!)
I just would like to say thank you! I'm learning.....
Thanks to all and to you panic mode