Is the datasheet wrong or am I confused?

[LaryPant]

Hi there,

I have several L78L05 voltage regulators from ST in the TO-92 package: https://www.st.com/en/power-management/l78l.html#overview.

The pin out can be seen on page 3 in the datasheet, but I am pretty sure that it is wrong. The pin order should be reversed.
The attached picture shows a breadboard test of the part and the coloured wires are connected to:

Red   ->  Lab power supply
Black ->  Ground
Blue   ->  5 V output

This leads to the interpretation that the pin out provided in the datasheet is wrong, would somebody mind confirming this from my picture or am I just confused?

If this is indeed an error, how would I go about getting the attention of ST? Or would it be easier to contact Mouser and they can then contact ST in order to update the datasheet?

Thanks in advance,
Lary

PS: When I connect the device as specified in the datasheet, the quiescent current is almost twice the max rating and the so called output voltage is about one diode drop below the input voltage.

[hexreader]

Datasheet looks correct to me.

Did you perhaps miss the text at the top of third page?

"Figure 2. Pin connection (top view, bottom view for TO-92)"

[LaryPant]

Yes of course, thank you!

I just assumed that it was the top view because that is what it usually is - I guess I was confused - but I hopefully wont make that mistake again.

Although I do not understand why they did not make all of them top view, that would have made things easier, I think.

Lary

[Ian.M]

'Back in the day' it was the convention for through hole transistors and devices in similar packages to give  the 'pin' view not the top view.   Some manufacturers now use a perspective view for such packages to avoid confusion.

[phil from seattle]

Many of us have been bitten by the bottom vs top view thing.  It only takes once though...

[Whales]

I've come across datasheets that don't explicitly say whether it's top view or bottom view    Luckily it seems that all SMD parts are pictured from above (so the footprint matches what you need to put on the board), so this problem should not continue to get worse.

For simple through-hole chips (3 pin BJTs, FETs, etc) I've found a transistor tester to be very useful.