L7805 Positive Voltage Regulator To-220

If your board needs a steady 5V supply from a higher DC input, and your board has room for a TO-220 part with a heatsink tab, this L7805 voltage regulator is the part to order. It gives a fixed 5V output at up to 1.5A, with built-in guards against heat and short circuits. It does not fit you if your board needs a different output voltage, a surface-mount pack, or more than 1.5A. Check the checks below before you order, so the voltage, the pins, and the heat plan all match your board.

This is an original, high-quality part.

What it does

A 7805 voltage regulator takes a higher, rough DC input and turns it into a clean, steady 5V output. In short, this is a 5V voltage regulator TO-220 part: fixed 5V out, three pins, heatsink tab. Many logic chips, sensors and small boards run on 5V, but a raw supply can swing up and down. This part holds the output near 5V even when the input or the load changes a bit. It is a linear regulator, which means it burns off the extra voltage as heat. That is why the TO-220 pack has a metal tab: you can bolt it to a heatsink when the load is heavy.

It has three pins: Input, Ground, Output. In the standard test circuit it uses a 0.33 µF capacitor on the input and a 0.1 µF capacitor on the output. It guards itself with thermal overload protection, short-circuit protection and safe-area protection, and it limits its own current if a fault pulls too much.

Who it fits

This part fits you if you build or repair power supplies, control boards, development boards, sensor boards or small logic circuits that need a fixed 5V rail, and your board print shows a TO-220 7805 with the Input, Ground, Output pin order. It also fits if you are replacing a burnt 5V TO-220 regulator and your old part had the same three pins in the same order.

It does not fit you if your circuit needs 12V, 3.3V or any other voltage, if your board only has room for a flat surface-mount part, or if your load needs more than 1.5A. A 5V part will never give you 12V, and a TO-220 part will not sit on a surface-mount footprint.

Checks before you order

• Output voltage: your board must need a fixed 5V. Check the board print and the old part number before you order.
• 7805 pinout: Pin 1 Input, Pin 2 Ground, Pin 3 Output. The pin order is not the same on every regulator family, so match it to your board print.
• Input voltage: the input must stay at or below 35V, and it must sit at least 2V above the 5V output for steady regulation. In plain terms, feed it about 7V or more for a clean 5V out.
• Current and heat: the limit is 1.5A, and heat is the real limit in practice. Heat in watts is roughly (input volts minus 5V) times load amps. A 12V input at 1A makes about 7W of heat, so that job needs a heatsink. If your board runs hot, add a heatsink or pick a cooler plan.
• Package: TO-220 through-hole with a heatsink tab. If your board is surface-mount only, this pack will not fit.
• Capacitors: keep the input and output capacitors close to the part, as the standard circuit shows.

Specifications

All figures below come from the official series document for this part family, L7805C row. No figure here was guessed.

Other names for the same part (good to know)

Shoppers and repair techs call this same part by a few names. 7805 is the short name: “78” marks the positive regulator family and “05” marks the 5V output. L7805C is the series part number, and L7805CV is the order code for this same part in the TO-220 pack, and listings often shorten it to L7805 1.5A for the 5V, 1.5A TO-220 part. If you see 7805 on a TO-220 part with Input, Ground, Output pins, you are looking at this same 5V regulator. Do not mix it up with a part that has a different last two digits, such as a 12V part — those last digits are the output voltage, and a different number means a different output.

Frequently Asked Questions

What voltage does L7805 give out?

A fixed 5V. At room temperature the output sits between 4.8V and 5.2V, and across load it stays between 4.75V and 5.25V.

What is the 7805 pinout?

Pin 1 Input, Pin 2 Ground, Pin 3 Output, looking at the part from the front with the tab at the back. Always match it to your board print before you solder.

How much current can L7805 give?

Up to 1.5A, but heat sets the real limit. With a high input voltage and a heavy load, the part gets hot fast, so use a heatsink for heavy jobs.

What input voltage does it need?

The input must stay at or below 35V, and it must sit at least 2V above the 5V output. In plain terms, feed it about 7V or more for a steady 5V out.

Does it need a heatsink?

For light loads, often not. For heavy loads or high input voltages, yes. Heat in watts is roughly (input volts minus 5V) times load amps, so work that out for your own job.

What is the price of this part?

Check the live price on the website. The price shown on the product page is the current one.

More parts in this group: ICs.

Where it is used

You can view and download the datasheet for this part from the Datasheet button on this page.

This part is used for local voltage regulation in embedded systems, control circuits, power supplies, development boards and general electronic equipment, and for powering logic circuits, microcontroller-based projects, sensors and electronic modules. (Uses kept from the old listing, placed last as required.)