[Mike Copioli]

Originally Posted by Mark McLeod

Just to reinforce, don't put anything other than the OpenMesh radio on any of the 12v VRM outputs, since they use a shared rail.

While the 12 volt outputs share the same regulator they do not share the same output protection. The rail is split into two separate PTC's, 500mA and 2amps. While a short to the 2 amp rail will cause the radio to drop out, a short to the 12 volt 500mA rail will NOT interrupt the radio's supply rail.

The 12 volt LED will turn off anytime the 12v 500 mA rail is shorted, however this is not an indication of the 12 volt 2 amp rail dropping out.

So yes it is safe to connect secondary loads to the 12 volt 500mA rail.