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Author Topic: Arduino power jack  (Read 3995 times)

arunasmazeika

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Arduino power jack
« on: September 10, 2016, 17:21:34 »
Hello,

I was just wondering if could use the power jack supplied with the Arduino instead of adding my own through Vin. Is there a drawback while using the one provided with the Arduino?

I've already have a prototype working and tried both taking out the 12V input from Vin while using the Arduino supplied jack, all seems to work. I've also added the 12V as indicated in the schematics for testing purposes with the same results.

Could I just use the one provided with the Arduino as more convenient way to supply the input voltage to the drivers? or is it better to provide the input voltage through Vin as described in the schematics?

Thanks guys!

Arunas
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TCWORLD

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Re: Arduino power jack
« Reply #1 on: September 10, 2016, 23:42:50 »
Hi Arunas,

It would be better to not use the Arduino jack. The VIN pin header and traces on the Arduino PCB are not designed for the high currents that the motors will be drawing. It will probably work fine, but it is not the best option.

Kind Regards,
Tom.
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Tom Carpenter (AstroEQ)

arunasmazeika

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Re: Arduino power jack
« Reply #2 on: September 11, 2016, 18:08:56 »
Hello Tom,

Thank you very much for your reply!

I perfectly understand what you say, and this was my initial thought as well. However, this could be dependent on the motor that gets used correct? In my case I'm using a 12V bi-polar stepper rated @0.4A (http://www.gotronic.fr/art-moteur-cnc1-878.htm).

The motor shouldn't pull more current than what it actually needs right? In this case (0.4A max) perhaps I could stick with the Arduino input instead of using my own. Thoughts?

Thanks again for everything Tom.

Cheers,

Arunas
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TCWORLD

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Re: Arduino power jack
« Reply #3 on: September 11, 2016, 19:39:24 »
That's 0.4A per phase. There are two phases per motor and two motors, so at most it could be drawing 1.6A.

It's entirely up to you, and you'll probably be fine.
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Tom Carpenter (AstroEQ)

arunasmazeika

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Re: Arduino power jack
« Reply #4 on: September 12, 2016, 08:50:50 »
I'll think about all this.

Thanks Tom.
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Jonesdee

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Re: Arduino power jack
« Reply #5 on: December 19, 2016, 01:07:18 »
Guys,

I use the Arduino power jack for convenience, but have run a wire link from the positive (centre) connector of the jack to the arduino Vin pin and in turn linked this to the VMot input of the stepper driver.  That way everything runs from a 12 volt supply and the steppers get the current they need without passing through the Arduino PCB tracks.

I believe that by doing this I have bypassed the polarity protection diode on the arduino board, but can live with this for the convenience of having a single power jack.

Nothing fried or smoking to date :)

Cheers

Dave
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