Hi Kris!
Quick question (I hope)
I'm looking at the voltage regulators you suggested and it appears (to me) that the tab is actually the voltage out line ?
I don't know if my understanding is correct but this is what I see;
Pin 1 = Ground
Pin 2 = Voltage Out (3.3 in this case) which is a trimmed leg (can't be connected)
Pin 3 = 12v IN
and then the tab is actually linked to Pin 2, or, voltage out (3.3v)
If my understanding is correct then, with respect to heat-sinking, I can't just punch down the tab to the ground plane of the board, which is what I was hoping to do. The idea being, spread the heat out over the entire ground plane.
I could be way off base with my understanding on how to work with these regulators. I was under the impression that the tab would be ground and that I could use a thermal via to connect it to the ground plane with the idea of using that as some form of board-wide heat sink.
Like I said, my understanding is limited
![Roll Eyes :rolleyes: :rolleyes:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
If my understanding is correct with respect to the tab actually being 3.3v out then what would be the best way to heat sink the regulator? It would seem to me that a 'normal' heat sink is not possible (ie. a bolt on aluminum piece). I attached a pic of the relevant section of the datasheet to save time.