Heatsink for KA7805?

[bigone5500]

I have done some research and have come to the conclusion that the above regulator does not need a heat sink when used on a breadboard arduino.

Is this a true or false statement?

 

[(*steve*)]

It all depends on the current and voltage differential. But practically speaking, if it doesn't get hot you're OK to go.

 

[(*steve*)]

@Two Volt, your answer ignores the voltage differential. Try it with a 20V differential :-D

 

[bigone5500]

It all depends on the current and voltage differential. But practically speaking, if it doesn't get hot you're OK to go.

The reason I am concerned a bit is my UNO boards and my megas have the AMS1117 regulator and they don't have a heat sink. However, when running a sketch with my led cube, the regulator gets pretty hot. I have been running my UNO with the sketch for a few days now and it hasn't shut down. This is with a 12v input.

 

[(*steve*)]

If you can run it with a lower input voltage the regulator won't get as hot.

 

[bigone5500]

I will go ahead and install a heat sink just in case. It will make my board look cool too!