Quote Originally Posted by NotSoCoolJ View Post
That pretty much clears it up. I didn't think I was following your directions properly. I see what you mean now about the zener diode. When it reaches break down voltage It passes through and the cap takes over. Thats a nifty little diode regulator. Now about the toroid. Is there a specific inductance figure I should look for? Will any old one off a board or out of a PS work?

Thinking about the toroid I Have found about 6 various types around the house. I would think that by your high current notation I should go with the the one that has the fewest turns of the largest wire. The toroid that I have in mind has 5 turns of large diameter wire and was located near the ATX power input on a dead main board. I don't have a circuit set up for inductance measurement. However, that 4700 micro farad cap is quite large so I would think it's not of great importance.

Tomorrow, I will order the MIC502. I will be getting 10 so I have a few extras. If anyone wants one or two I'll gladly ship them out to you. Right now, I plan on useing 4 and I'd like a few extras. So I will have 4 available. Just rock me off a PM if you want one. Uncle Jimbo I will send you one of these controllers if you want one. Just let me know. Or I can just send you the parts. Too me building these things is half the fun.

Woops.. Before I buy these things I was wondering about the pin out in your diagram. In the data sheet it appears to be opposite.
That is exactly the kind of toroid I had in mind. It doesn't matter much what value it is - we are just using it to smooth out the power.

I would love to have one of the finished units - not only because it would be cool, but also that way if something goes wrong I have the identical unit to debug.

Good luck with it.