MrAl,
So let me clear it.
1. Load current is the one coming out from Vout pin.
2. The component determining current is R1. No matter of what the value of R2 I use, the current is only determined by R1. And to see the reason of this, I guess need to interpret the internal schematic.
3. And Vout is determined by the value of R2.
4. On your first reply with example of using 250, 750R and 5V output voltage, it seemed that the current is determined by whole impedance being seen from the output terminal. Cuz by calculation 5V/1K = 5mA.
' But to get by with only two resistors all we have to do is LOWER the total resistance of the resistive divider until it's total resistance is equal to the load resistor of 1k, and then that will provide the min current requirement.'
But if R2 doesn't do anything on determining the current, then this is wrong. we would rather do 1.25V/250R=5mA first and find the R2 to get 5V.
5. The current flowing through output terminal is always 5mA unless changing the 250R.
I hope everything above is right then I don't need to ask again.
Thanks again!
1. Yes.
2. R1 is usually calculated from 5ma=1.25/R1, but we have to remember that R2 is also required.
Without R2 no current will flow from the output pin, so the voltage will rise. Thus if R2
becomes disconnected the regulator doesnt work, because the load current flows through R1 and R2
at the same time, with very little current into the regulator ADJ pin. But to approximate this
working, you can use R1=1.25/0.005 and just make sure R2 can never becomes disconnected.
(See also below).
3. Yes, that's about right, once you determine R1.
4. Yes, the current flows through the whole network, not just R1. But as an approximation
many people use R1=1.25/0.005 (or R1=1.25/0.010) and go from there.
5. The current flowing through the output terminal is determined by the total resistance from
the output terminal to ground, not just R1 alone. The current *set point* is usually determined by
i=1.25/R1.
You can look at a behavioral model rather than the complete internal schematic of the LM317 in order
to much better understand how this little regulator works. You'll get a lot more from that. If you'd like
to see a behavioral model i'll post one here. This kind of model is much more simple and so you can get
the exact idea how all this works by examining that.
Be happy, you'll know everything there is to know about this regulator before we're done here