I'm trying to simulate a circuit with Orcad 9.2 and I'm getting strange error messages :?:
The circuit contains the famous 3pin voltage regulator LM317; this part is in the regulator library in the Orcad\capture\library folder & not in the Orcad\capture\library\pspice folder. Somebody told me that only parts from the latter directory can be used for simulation, is this true?
If true, what are the other parts good for?
And is there anyway that I can get around this?

Any help from pros is welcome

 

if there's a green dot next to the component after you try simulating, then it's not a PSpice part and won't work with orcad.

For simulation purposes, the regulator is nothing more then a power supply correct? so simply remove that part of the circuit and put in a vdc supply that outputs whatever you expect the regulator to output.

 

Simulation using pspice requires a pspice mathematical model of the component which tells the software how the comp reacts to the input. These models are present in the pspice library only, the other components in other libraries dont have these models. They are for design only, not simulation. But u can normally find all the components in pspice library, LM317 is present in the national semiconductor library in pspice.

To find whether a component has a pspice simulation model or not, always check the lower right corner of the 'place part' window, below the component image u will find icons, bringing the mouse pointer to which will reveal what that icon is for. Simulatable components have a pspice icon with them. Similarly those components that have footprints assigned to them have a layout icon with them.

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F. S. Ahmed