Buck converters always have a little bit of output ripple. If this is undesirable, you can use a buck converter to step down to just above the dropout for your linear regulator, then use the linear regulator, which won't need to drop as much voltage, generating less heat.

When using linear regulators ALWAYS check the datasheet for the type you are using. Many regulators will be damaged if there is a high value capacitor on the output when the power is switched off. Check the regulator datasheet for reverse bias protection.

wanted to know this for decades , very well explained and no stupid music , top man

We were studying power supply last week and my professor never talk about buck converter. I wish my professor had your enthusiasm to explain thinks from A to Z like you did. Excellent video.

Awesome content. Wish I saw this a few weeks ago when I was building (using a linear regulator) a DC project. I learned through trial and error of the massive heat issue. I did end up using a buck converter.

This was a very useful video; thank you! One thing I've been using linear regulators for is variable voltage but low amperage equipment, like solar chargers, etc.

This video is 5 years old and still gives good information, got everything I needed to know thanks 👍

most useful thing i’ve seen all day, you gave me another reason to scour my spare/crap psu’s for recoverable components.

Great summary. I used to build circuits when I was a kid (early 90's), reading the circuit guides from Radio Shack, but fell out of it and got more into computers & communications. I find it's still a very useful skill to have, and I'm always trying to learn more and get back into it. Channels like yours are so valuable - if we had this kind of platform when I was a kid, who knows how many cool devices and ideas we'd have by now :)

I use voltage regulators to heat my house.

This video was the best I've seen so far for concisely describing and demonstrating the differences between the two, thanks so much for this.

Excellent Video -- informative, clear, concise script. Good camera work, good sound, well paced and edited. Very well done! Thank you!!

Well-presented and well described! I needed a primer on this subject and you provided precisely what I needed to know, in a concise and easy-to-absorb manner. THANK YOU, and GOOD JOB!!

use the waste heat from the linear voltage regulator to boil water for other uses.

Thank you for making the regulator simple for me to understand. I always wondered how they work.

Learned something new and got the solution of my last project in which i was facing heat problem in 7805 thanks a lot.

Buck converters are perfect for smaller battery powered devices. However, if in a heavier application, then use the flat pack ic/transistor with a sufficient heat sink. Great video.

Computer power supplies usually have high frequency transformers to step down the voltage. At higher frequencies, transformers can be fairly small and smaller capacitors can be used for filtering.

You are great. You provided a very practical explanation with a very clear view of use through good camera angles and an example of best use scenarios. THANK YOU so very much.

Really helpful. Watching your video after 5 Years and just remembered it. Good old memories

This was hands-on and educational. ☺️ Thank you for this video uploader.

Thanks for this very helpful video. I was addicted to using linear voltage regulators on on most of my past projects (quick and dirty) but as we expand our minds and fine tune projects for efficiency and longevity buck's have a new place in my file cabinet (brain) also good call on interference potential with the buck, I never really thought about that but makes total sense for RF sensitive projects!!! this would explain why some pcb's have metal shield boxes surrounding some area's too in a way. =)

I knew buck converters were more efficient, but I didn't know just how much. Thank you for the explanation.

An extraordinarily well-prepared lecture. It makes electronics look beautiful.

Great video! Explained in simple words.

Linear regulator are not made to voltage conversion (ie, 12v to 5v), they are made to regulate voltage after a classical transformer and diode bridge rectifier. Additionally, buck converters (or conmutated power supplies) opperate at high frequencies and can cause interferences on RF or audio circuits. Each one has its pro and cons, you just need to choose the right one to your project. Signed: The Boomer

Great video, thank you! Also nice clever tip of using old IDE drives as dummy load!

I just visited this video after a year , and it still has to be the best explanation yet... thanks again..

Thank you. I learnt something new today.

When using components that require 5V only, the ripples from buck converters can be fatal. Here, the lm780X wins. It keeps the voltage very stable. Very informative video.

Thank you so much for clearly demonstrating the working of both.

Thank you for that straight forward, and simple to understand comparison of the two, and a simple explanation of which situation to use which. I did not understand this before I watched this videos.

Все ясно и по делу! Спасибо!

Good video. Small addition: Don't go cheap on your power supplies. Would be like going keep on the foundation of a home. When cheap power supplies fail, they can do so catastrophically.

Probably the most useful video ever suggested to me by UKposts. Thanks a lot.

First time I know about Buck convertor.It is really efficiently work. Thank you.

"You now understand [...]" Yes I do sir. Thank you very much!

Thanks a lot for the video, Clearly described :)

Recently I built an analog audio effects device and was intending on powering it with a 15Vdc walwart that used a switching power supply. Turned out it created an intense whine in the signal output. I switched to a linear supply and it worked better but had hum. No matter what size cap I added, it hummed. I added a linear voltage regulator that was set about 2.5 volts lower than the supply voltage and all noise was eliminated. There's a video on using linear regulators that explained why large caps are not needed on their outputs. That gave me the answer I was needing.

Thanks for the informative video. Buck converters always sounded big, expensive and complicated for simple builds, but it's actually not that bad!

very educational. thanks for posting

Guys - I can't reply to some of your comments because of a UKposts bug. One of such comments is the one from Sovereign Knight. I'm getting an error message :( Thank you for your comment and subscription Sovereigh Knight.

Clear, concise and very informative, all too often tuition videos are rendered unwatchable by totally inappropriate house music thumping out!....excellent, Thank you.

Very clear and straightforward. Thank you!

Great Video.. Glad I watched till the end. I was considering a buck converter for a portable amplifier. I never would have known they can create interference. Good tip

Good explanation, good quality video. Thank you for this video.

The comperision is so cleared like water as you described. Thanks a lot .

Good video with your clear voice and without unbearable playback music.

very good video thanks for that! Regards from the Netherlands R.Rob.

Nice video, thank you! One thing though, the 7805's power consumption is (12v-5v)x.42 amp, but I get what you meant. It's a great comparison.

thank you my good man. Just what I was looking for. Keep doing useful videos.

I had wondered about the difference, and that makes sense , thanks for clearing that up.

You are so helfull, explained tons in such a short time. take me as your new subscriber

First, the linear voltage regulator doesn't dissipate 5.04W at .42A. You have to calculate not the PSU voltage, but the voltage that is dropped across the voltage regulator. So, (12-5)*0.42=2.94W. Same formula for the buck converter. Second, it looks like you measured temperature of the coil of the buck converter, not the IC. Coils don't get as hot, measure the IC!

Excellent analysis overall. I'm a power designer, and I'd take a buck over a LDO any day. The LDO is best suited to minimal step down and power consumption applications. LDOs do have a size advantage, not requiring an inductor or possible external switch.

excellent information. Answered every question I had about voltage regulation and save me a TON of time and research on my project.

Great explanation but just like to point out that you may not have incurred the failure of the VR had it been correctly setup with appropriate heat sink. This would also have improved its efficiency for your comparative data records I assume. I enjoyed the video :)

Excellent information. Love From India.

Thanks for posting this. A nice clear explanation of the two options.

You just saved me a lot of trouble. I am building a lab power supply / breadboard, and want 1.5v 3v 5v 6v 9v output, from a 12v dc input. I have already bought the lm780x's in order to do this, but I have been wrestling with the heatsink design and attachment issues. Now I can use 5 lm2596's instead and not have to deal with the pain in the ass heatsink mess.

is all good with buck converters but highly not reccomended when low noise is required. and that's a disadvantage against linear regulators. as a tip I would like say is good and reccomended to use linear regulator and can be efficient when difference between input and output is small. and also when circut does not drow a lot of current. lm317 or lm337 also allows us to set requied output voltage.

very useful video,Thank you so much

You are so informative and detailed. I was going to use a buck converter for a light on my quadcopter but you mentioned about interference and potentially saved me from a crash.

Great video. Being new to electronics this explained a lot I did not understand. I'm having this exact heat issue on present projects and a buck converter should fix the issue. Thanks.

Actually no.. Not all PC PSU have DC/DC step downs. The old one.. (at lest the one in our old 8086) used a a iron core transformer, with rectifier bridge and then a linear voltage regulator. Of cause this worked pretty good because the the transformer got it down to a bit over 6V and about 13.5V for the 5 and 12V part. The design was actually quite genius. Because they have make the transfomers in that way so the voltage of the output capacitor droped down the more load you got on it. So the power drop over the linear voltage was pretty much the same regardless of load (with in the limit). Yea... sure, the heat sink was still pretty big and the fan was petty nosy. But the power surply actually didn´t lose that much energy. Combining a DC/DC step down with a linear voltage regulator also works great. Having the DC/DC step down on 5.5V and the linear one on 5V makes the heat loss much more manageable.

Has anyone here tested the linearity of the buck converters vs the "linear" voltage regulator, under a variety of loads? A square-wave signal generator, for example, would be a very interesting test of a linear psu. Cheers

This video gave me the entire knowledge which I was searching for... Thank you sir

Exactly what I was looking for. thank you very much

Is it better to use a buck converter or linear voltage regulator in you project? ukposts.info/have/v-deo/n5l4hqiGe4F7tHk.html

Is there a way to shield the buck converter for radio sensitive devices, for example the esp8266?

Just the information I was looking for, thank you

simple straight to the point - thanks very much!

wow grate thank u dear i love u...

6:45 Do I see a transistor under that heatsink? ✈

This was awesome You just got a subscriber I’m not an engineer, I just like having a decent grasp on the concepts involved I like seeing these things as, what they do or what they are used for Like...:imagine you’d never seen a hammer before A hammer is a tool A circuit is a tool Most people explain circuits with the same frame of reference as explaining a hammer like this: “This is a kinetic energy leverage amplification device, we can calculate how much kinetic energy transfer we can expect by calculating the mass, multiplying for acceleration, then reducing wind speed and ambient air temperature and then multiplying that by the surface area of the striking surface and then dividing that by the impact surface” And yes....this is a pretty good explanation, but it’s way too much specific information I loved this explanation Hi...these are 2 voltage regulators! There’s a cheap one and an expensive one Voltage regulators take a bunch of volts and turn it into a set voltage The cheap ones are cheap, but, they can get real hot and explode The expensive ones don’t explode, but you could buy 10 of the cheap ones for the price of one expensive one Also....the expensive one can fuck with radio signals.... So....if you gotta lot of volts and want to turn it into a useable stable voltage You can use one of these 2 thingies But one explodes when it gets too hot, and the other fucks with radios....so keep that in mind

I also did the same comparison and found the same problem with linear voltage regulator as it turns too hot to handle. Now i have an actual mobile charger inside my motorcycle compartment using a buck converter. It's so convenient as i can repeatedly charge my phone anytime, anywhere where there is no AC electrical outlet and I can do this even when not not using my motorcycle. It really draws less current than the linear one therefor less heating. I am using LM2576, by the way, but i'm not using heatsink ofr that matter. This video is a confirmation that I'm doing it right. Thank you for this video.

good idea to heat coffee cup

Where would a resistor come in? I know a resistor can resist voltage too, but im guess they are not as efficient as buck converters?

Very good beginners tutorial thank you. The comments are informative as well.

Literally the exact video I needed right now.

Its meant to BE used with a heat sink

Thank you so much, simple and easy to understand, 2 thumbs up!!

Very helpful information, thanks for the video!

Sound advise, professionally presented.

Thank you for the Practical Video 🙏

Top shelve video. Many, many thanks. Everything is crystal clear, no silly comments. VERY PROFESSIONAL. Congratulation

Хороший сравнительный тест, спасибо.

Muito bem demonstrado. Minha questão era sobre temperatura. Obrigado.

Nice presentation. I was wondering about standards for comparing buck modules and I now assume the answer is to get ripple specs.

Great explanation! I'll try to use one of this to replace the ramps 1.4 mosfet that feed my 3D Printer heated bed.

thank you, this video helped me a lot to know the differences.

Very, very good video, I built lots of audio projects using the LM78XX regulator, did not understand the amps verses the temp, after watching this video I now have a clear understanding of how theses work, thank you kindly for sharing this video....

Very handy and well explained. Great comparison. Cheers

THANKS!, FOR THIS VERY INTERESTING TUTORIAL VIDEO!!!

Excellent summary and explanation.

Awesome video mate exactly what i was looking to learn

Brilliant tutorial.. thank you for the through explanation.

Very interesting and clear video. Thank You!

Thanks for your explanation! It was very useful!

Very good video.solved a lot of questions for me.thank you.