A regulated power supply is a very important component if you build electronics projects. But buying a good regulated power supply can be expensive. So in this instructable I'm going to show you how to build your own regulated power supply, why buy it if you can build it.

This project is very simple to build and requires basic electronic skills, there are good tutorials on how to solder all over the internet.

You can also watch the video tutorial below..

Step 1: Tools and Components

The list of materials for this tutorial is very simple, all you need for this project is

0V - 30V Voltage regulator
An old laptop charger (or any other power brick)
Alligator Clips (optional)
A Multimeter
Soldering Iron
Soldering Wire

Step 2: Lm2596 DC TO DC Buck Converter

For this project we will be using a Lm2596 Buck Converter, this is a cheap voltage regulator found on eBay. You could also use a Linear voltage regulator such as L7805 but that has poor efficiency as compared to that of the buck converter. The Lm2596 is capable of converting voltages of up to 30V an providing a maximum current of 3A.

But the down side of a buck converter is it has an inductor on board so if your project is based on some kind of radio or electromagnetic sensitive. Then I would recommend you to use a suitable linear voltage regulator.

Step 3: Input

First, we need to select a suitable power source I'm using a laptop power brick as this is capable of giving me 16.5V and has a power rating of 65W. You could use any other power brick, just make sure the brick is able to supply the voltages, what your project needs.

You need to cut out the ends, at which it pugs into the laptop or the output side of the power source, remove the insulation and solder the joints. After that is done, you need to solder the power supply terminals to the input terminals of the board. Make sure you solder the polarity right.

Step 4: Output

I had a two sided alligator clip that I soldered to the output terminal of the buck converter. You could use different colored wires like I did, so you do not get confused with the polarity of the terminals.

After soldering the terminals connect the ends of the alligator clips to a multimeter and set the multimeter to measure voltages.

Step 5: Testing

And now you have completed your project and now it is time to test out your power supply. Plug in the power brick to a wall outlet and you should now see a reading on the multimeter. Adjust the variable resistor on the board to change the output voltage.

The voltage range is limited to the voltage range of the power supply and the maximum voltage output the buck converter can provide is 30V.