LM337 Regulator Mounting In Tight Boards

Black Board Option. In very few instances the mounting holes for the LM337 regulator IC are too small to accept the regulator's leads. Out of the hundreds with black boards that have been sold, only two instances have been reported. We've checked with several recent builders and tried boards from our stock. In all cases the 337's have fit, with most fitting easily. The leads do need to be lined up with the holes however. One way to accomplish this is to bend the middle lead to fit the outline. Refer to Picture 5 below to see how the lead is bent. If you do have a problem with your black board kit, please follow the suggestions (below) for mounting the regulator on the Green Board.

Green Board Option The green boards appear to have smaller holes that the Black boards and the regulator leads won't pass thru the holes easily. A good way to mount the regulator is to bend the leads to match the mouting holes, place a small ball of solder on each of the 3 pads, orient the regulator, and tack each lead to its respective pad with your soldering iron. Snip the leads to length and you're done. Pictures 1 thru 4 below show the sequence.

To enlarge these pictures, use your ctrl key and scroll wheel.

Picture 1: Leads Bent For Green Board Assembly


Picture 2: Regulator in Position for Soldering


Picture 3: Regulator Leads Soldered


Picture 4: Leads Snipped to Length, Installation finished.


Picture 5: Leads Bent For Black Board Assembly