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Revision as of 05:14, 29 April 2004 by Maximus Rex (talk | contribs) (fmt)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)A voltage regulator is a solid state or vacuum tube device designed to regulate voltage levels for devices. For example, one would use a voltage regulator to bring a higher 20V transformer voltage down to 12V. Regulators come in either fixed or vairable styles. A common voltage regulator series is the LMxxxx and common fixed voltages are 5V and 12V. In fixed voltage regulators the third pin is tied to ground, whereas in variable regulators the third pin goes through a potentiometer and then to ground. The potentiometer allows variable adjustment of the regulated voltage by the user.