Originally Posted by vrkelley
Forgive my nubee-ness. But Beyond straight wiring, I don't know what to do with it. Looks like there are 3 leads that should be soldered on a small circuit board. Another source says the 7812 needs a heat sync for any draw above 50ma (these draw 150ma)
How does it all actually hook up to the battery leads?
You're excused VR! And you're right, there are only 3 leads that need to be hooked up. Looking at the 7812 in the Radio Shack photo, the left lead goes to the positive terminal of your battery, the centre lead goes to the negative terminal of your battery AND the negative terminals of your strobes, and the right hand lead goes to the positive terminals of your strobes. For convenience you might consider putting a switch in the wire going to your positive battery terminal.
A small piece of thin aluminum or copper, maybe 2 or 3 square inches, will do for a heat sink. Attach it to the back of the 7812 with a screw or pop rivet. Note that the metal back surface of the 7812 is internally connected to its centre lead, which is connected to your negative battery terminal. So don't let it contact anything connected to the positive battery lead.
You can mount the 7812 on a circuit board, or you can just solder wires to its leads, but make sure that there won't be any pull or strain on the wires. The whole thing will easily fit into a plastic 35mm film can if you bend the heat sink. The 7812 is a regulator so it will provide exactly 12 volts to your strobes and will protect them from surges and overvoltage.