2camjohn said:
It does seem simple just to forget the regulator, and as you say it wont break my solenoid, which is good.
But my circuit is designed to be left connected to the battery as it is being charged, so I need to protect my circuit (a pic and the 6v noid) from damage as the battery is given up to 12V during fast charge.
If i run the pic off the regulator, but the solenoid off the battery it is allright to put 12v across the battery as long as i dont turn my solenoid on..right?
Yes that's fine, but the voltage across the 6V battery won't reach anywhere near 12V, you charge a battery via some kind of current limiting device - this will effectively have 12V going in, and 6V coming out (actually a bit more than 6V as you charge the battery, it might reach 7.5V perhaps?).