---
title: "Voltage Dividers as Regulators?! | AddOhms #22"
description: "Can you use voltage dividers as regulators? In this AddOhms Episode James shows what happens with both a resistor divider and a Zener divider."
canonical: "https://www.baldengineer.com/voltage-dividers-as-regulators.html"
author: "James Lewis"
date: "2017-10-16T13:00:15Z"
lastmod: "2022-03-31T01:12:26Z"
image: "https://www.baldengineer.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/22-YouTube-Thumbnail-01-v2.jpg"
categories: ["addohms","components","electronics-basics","esp8266","tutorials","videos"]
tags: []
---

# Voltage Dividers as Regulators?! | AddOhms #22


Can you use voltage dividers as regulators? What if you add a Zener Diode? In this [AddOhms](https://youtube.com/addohms) episode, I show what happens when you try to power a complex circuit like an ESP8266 with a voltage divider instead of a regulator. (Spoiler: Get a voltage regulator.) This video tutorial is related to a write up I did recently on [Zener Diodes](/zener-diode-regulators.html). For questions or comments visit the [AddOhms Discussion Forum](https://discuss.addohms.com/).

### Behind the scenes

A significant change for this [AddOhms](http://www.addohms.com) Episode is that I moved from Final Cut Pro X to Premiere Pro. I also shot the entire video in 4K, even though the output is 1080p. Animations were still done as 1080p compositions. One snag I ran into, the color corrections I applied in PPro, didn't seem to get exported. You might notice when the breadboard is on screen, it has a very slight yellow tint to it.

I've been changing how I produce the videos. It's shortening the cycle time. The key is that I'm not trying to animate every scene. The amount of work involved is just too much. I animate practically every frame. So in a 6-minute video, that's just too much.

By the way, there are two easter eggs in this episode. Can you find them?

[Voltage Dividers as Regulators on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kEh0TYjYYE)