J,

Depending on your circuit and load profile, you should be able to find a way
to reduce the power dissipation in the part, especially good heatsinking and
putting a power resistor at the input of the regulator, reducing the voltage
into the regulator and the power dissipation in the regulator. Makes the
part run cooler.

BUT...

2.2A is the maximum allowed. If you draw more than that the operation of
the part is "not guaranteed". I'll guess that you can get a little more but
not much. Drawing too much will cause the part to fail, not from heat but
from too much current concentrated in one location in the silicon.

If you need to draw more, use a part that can handle more current.
Especially, look into a switching regulator.

John Musselman


"Coyoteboy" wrote in message
ups.com...
I'm using one of these set as a constant current regulator. The
datasheet says 2.2A max, internally limited by thermal shutdown.

If I try to pass more than that, despite it being very well heatsinked,
will the component shut down completely or will it just refuse to pass
more current? If i shuts down completely it will mess up my timing
issues, and I'll use a resistor. If not I'll not use the res to grab
every last ounce of power it can pass.

Cheers
J