Introduction to LM386

Hello everyone! I hope you all will be absolutely fine and having fun. Today, I am going to explain you about Introduction to LM386. Its a power amplifier specially designed for low voltage consuming applications. The gain of LM 386 is set around 20 internally. But the gain could be increased due to the insertion of external resistor and capacitor between the pin number 1 and 8. The gain could increase to any value from 20 to 200. The LM-386 inputs are ground referenced. The output are biased to the half of the input voltage levels automatically. When LM 386 operates on 6V, its quiescent power drain is around 24mW. This property of LM-386 makes it ideal for the battery operation. Its major features include battery operation, minimum external parts / equipment, low quiescent current drain, wide supply voltages. LM 386 has avery wide range of applications including intercoms, power converters, TV sound systems, ultrasonic drivers, portable tape player amplifiers, line drivers, AM FM radio amplifier, small servo drivers. Futher detail about LM-386 will be given later in this tutorial. [otw_is sidebar=otw-sidebar-7]

Introduction to LM386

LM386 is a power amplifier used for low voltage application requirement. Its gain is internally set around 20 but due to the external resistor and capacitor gain can vary between 20 to 200. It is assumed to be ideal for the battery operation when operating around 6V. Its has a lot of real life applications e.g. servo drivers, line drivers, TV sound systems, FM radio amplifier etc. LM-386 is show in the figure below.
1. LM386 Pinout
  • LM 386 has eight (8) pins in total having different individual functions.
  • All of the pins along with their symbol are given in the table shown below.
2. LM386 Pins Configuration
  • A properly labeled pin diagram of any device results in better standing of the user.
  • I have made a completely labeled diagram of LM-386 diode along with its animation.
  • The complete pinout diagram along with animation, symbolic representation and the real image of LM 386 is shown in the figure below.
3. LM386 Packages
  • LM 386 has different type of packages LM386N-1, LM386N-3, LM386N-4 and LM386M-1.
  • All of theses packages along with their dimensions and part number are given in the table shown below.
4. LM386 Ratings
  • The current, voltage and power ratings of any device shows its power requirement i.e. how much amount of current and voltage is sufficient for its operation.
  • I have provided LM 386 current, power and voltage ratings in the table shown below.
5. LM386 Schematic
  • The schematic diagram of a device helps us to understand its internal functionality.
  • I have provided the labeled schematic diagram of LM-386 as shown in the figure below.
 
6. LM386 Applications
  • LM386 has a wide range of real life applications, a few of which are given below.
  • AM-FM radio amplifiers.
  • Amplifier with a gain of 20 shown in the figures below.
  • Whereas the amplifier with a gain of 200 shown in the figures below.
  • Line drivers.
  • TV sound systems.
  • Ultrasonic drivers.
  • Power converters.
  • Small servo drivers.
  • Portable tape players.
So, thats all from the tutorial Introduction to LM386. I hope you enjoyed this amazing tutorial. If you have any sort of problem, you can ask me in comments, any time you want, without even feeling a bit of hesitation. I will try me level best to sort out your issues in a better way, if possible. Our team is also 24/7 available to help you out. I will explore further IC's and diodes in my upcoming tutorial and will share them with you as well for sure. So, till then, Take Care :)
Syed Zain Nasir

I am Syed Zain Nasir, the founder of <a href=https://www.TheEngineeringProjects.com/>The Engineering Projects</a> (TEP). I am a programmer since 2009 before that I just search things, make small projects and now I am sharing my knowledge through this platform.I also work as a freelancer and did many projects related to programming and electrical circuitry. <a href=https://plus.google.com/+SyedZainNasir/>My Google Profile+</a>

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Syed Zain Nasir