LitePlacer.com forums

Like some others, I've found that the 12V regulator on the TinyG operates quite hot when running a fan, ring lights, etc. I replaced it with a switching regulator (R-78C12-1.0) and now it's barely warm even when loaded with a fan (~300mA) and two upgraded ringlights (~300mA each). Removing the 7812 linear regulator was easy... clip the 2 outer pins and remove with an iron, then remove the rest of it by heating up the tab. It takes a fair amount of heat, but otherwise comes off without issue. After removing the existing regulator, I bent the 2 outer pins on the replacement towards the front of the package, and bend the middle pin the opposite direction. It was a bit tight to solder back in place but now that it's done it's working flawlessly with minimal heat.

That's a bit of bad design by the TinyG people. The heat mainly comes out of the tab, and if the tab faces the edge of the PCB the heat spreads and reflects back, causing a hotter spot. They just should rotate that part 180 degrees so the tab was 12 mm further inboard and the device would right away run about 10-15C cooler. Or they could have put a buck regulator in there.

One of my better selling products is a low cost /tiny/ 95%+ efficient buck regulator - one of the reasons I want a pick and place machine

This product is available state-side from Digi-Key for $8.81: https://www.digikey.com/products/en?key ... -78C12-1.0

Good tip, thank you

The lights should also work if connected in series and run from 24V.