HELP on voltage regulator

[Novastar]

Onli--that's not dumb, don't think that way...

As to the US board with 12v max and getting that "12.6v" or whatever... it won't matter much I assume. PLus... when "under load", battery packs immediately drop voltage a bit as components "vampire" onto them, hehehh.

It's really only a concern when you have a board that is "off" by >1v or more. For example, Crystal Focus. It is rated at a max of 11 *REAL* volts. That means anything over that can cause anomalies.

USv1 and v2 on the other hand... is rated for 12v. Which means an "11.1"v pack should be just fine.

The issue with CF is going well over 11v... like 12.6. That's 1.6v over what Erv tested it under. And you have to remember, Erv is doing this by hand and "dialing it in". In the industry, my guess is that his board would TECHNICALLY be rated for a maximum of 10v. What starts to happen at 11v+ (from my understanding in discussions with Erv) is that the motion sensing starts getting too much "noise", and things freak out and "cascade" into problems.

I mean... hopefully many out there have seen what happens when electronic boards get LESS than enough voltage... they behave VERY bizarrely, lol. All sorts of weird results happen... the kind that make your brow furrowed and your mouth drop and your eyes widen, lmao. So in general... yeah... there is no need to push a board to its maximum limits.

In general, just do yourself a favor and stay the flunck away from ANY electronic board's "minimal" and "maximal" limits. It's just asking for extra headaches to come your way... lol! And with the way wiring, soldering and electronics can be...

...I think we can all agree: NO ONE needs EXTRAheadaches, hahahah.

[neophyl]

On a 'normal' uninsulated version, (although I havent heard them refered to as that before just isolated/non isolated) regulator the metal tab that is used to attach to heatsinks is also electrically connected to ground, a bit like the lux3 reds star is connected.

In most applications this isnt a problem and can actually be a benefit as the ground plane on a pcb is usually electrically negative anyway ie ground so using it as a heatsink too works ok. For our use however you probably want an isolated variety just to be double sure of no unintended shorts. That way you can attach the regulator to your hilt and use it as the heatsink.