Voltage regulation circuit 12V to 5V in 5A range

[Demon]

Received the LM1084-ADJ, still waiting on the recommended caps (to properly test ripples), but it's already running nicely with what I have on hand.

Also got a thermal imager to help identify hotspots. Looks like I fried 2 PICs with those 12V and 7V bursts (lesson learned).

LM1084-5V on right, supplies PICs, ICs and LCDs, essentially everything that is "always ON", with a slight tweak on ADJ pin to get it slightly above 5V to compensate for voltage drop.

LM1084-ADJ on left, supplies LED strips, cooling fans (to be determined) and anything else that doesn't care about ripples.

(HIKmicro E02)



No thermal compound yet, this was a temporary setup to help prevent forest fires.



I'm sure there's better ways to skin a cat, but this was the simplest technique I could come up with. It remains to be seen if the ripples are "manageable" for the ADC on the PIC circuit.