thanks for your reply.
im not using opto-isolators...the boxes are just for the PCB design purposes where i place turn pins there which extend out to the relay coils on another board via jumper wires
As you recommended 1000uF , the deduction i get is that the ripple has to be as miniscule as possible. Does this mean that the ripple magnitude (assuming a 0.5V ripple) is still bad eventhough it has the DC level well above what is required for input to the regulator?
thanks