I came home from work on Monday determined to figure out how to connect the voltage regulator and the 12-volt receptacle. Problem 1: how to attach the wires. Well, if I am not going to solder, I need to learn how to use a crimping tool. A few YouTube videos later, and voila! Problem #2: what to use for a project box in which to put the regulator. I looked through my kitchen cupboards and found Gladware, of course! Problem #3: I need something on which to anchor the regulator. Once again I roamed through my kitchen until I found... a cork. I used straight pins to attach the regulator to the cork.
A voltage regulator is very interesting. It has 3 prongs. One prong is for the input red wire. The middle prong is for the ground wire from both the input and the output. The prong on the left is for the output red wire. This leads to problem #4: how to have two ground wires attaching to one prong. I looked through my little box of assorted terminals and saw that there were also "butt connectors." These are little sleeves used for connecting two wires end-to-end. Hopefully they also work for connecting two input wires to a single output wire.
A voltage regulator is very interesting. It has 3 prongs. One prong is for the input red wire. The middle prong is for the ground wire from both the input and the output. The prong on the left is for the output red wire. This leads to problem #4: how to have two ground wires attaching to one prong. I looked through my little box of assorted terminals and saw that there were also "butt connectors." These are little sleeves used for connecting two wires end-to-end. Hopefully they also work for connecting two input wires to a single output wire.