7906 is a voltage regulator integrated circuit. It is a member of 79xx series of fixed linear voltage regulator ICs. The voltage source in a circuit may have fluctuations and would not give the fixed voltage output. The voltage regulator IC maintains the output voltage at a constant value. The xx in 78xx indicates the fixed output voltage it is designed to provide. 7906 provides a regulated supply of -6 V and 1A current. Its additional features include internal thermal overload protection, short circuit protection and output transistor safe operating area compensation.79xx voltage regulators are very commonly used in electronic circuits. The main purpose of this IC is to supply required regulated negative voltage to the circuits. IC 79xx can supply a constant negative voltage output, in spite of any voltage fluctuations in its input voltage. It can be mainly found in the circuits in which integrated circuits that require Vcc and – Vcc are used. IC 79xx IC 79xx is a three pin negative voltage controller IC. It is a small integrated circuit used in a circuit to supply a constant negative input voltage. The number 79 indicates that it is a negative voltage regulator and xx indicates the output voltage of the IC. ‘xx’ can be replaced by the controlled output voltage provided by the regulator, for example, if it is 7905, then the output voltage of the IC is -5 V. Similarly if it is 7912, then output voltage of the IC is -12 volts and so on. The name of the IC may vary based on the manufacturer as LM79xx, L79xx, MC79xx etc. IC 79xx requires heat sink for its safe operation. Heat sink boosts heat dissipation therefore the life of the device can be extended. Pin out Configuration of IC 79xx. The pin out configuration of IC 79xx is shown in the diagram below. The pin 1 acts as the Ground terminal (0V). The pin 2 acts as the input terminal (5V to 24V). The pin 3 acts as the output terminal (constant regulated 5V)
