arduino voltage regulator - buy what?

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Deansmithok
 
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arduino voltage regulator - buy what?

Post by Deansmithok »

Hi

What to buy?

I have a 120watt, 10 amp, 12volt water heating element. But I don't want it to be available to the arduino in an on / off mode only.
I want the element to just be warm, a little. So i need to regulate the voltage digitally.

Please tell me - What can I buy at adafruit to do this ?

Best regards
Dean

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: arduino voltage regulator - buy what?

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

You can use one of the PWM pins on the Arduino to drive a power MOSFET like this one: https://www.adafruit.com/search?q=mosfet&b=1
Using the AnalogWrite function, you can control the PWM duty cycle from 0% to 100% with a resolution of 255 steps.

If your heating element is inductive, you will probably need to add a snubber diode to protect the MOSFET from the reverse inductive spike.

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Deansmithok
 
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Re: arduino voltage regulator - buy what?

Post by Deansmithok »

Hi

Thank you so much for the gem of help. Saved my many days.
But you have scared me to death on that reverse inductive spike. Please could you post a link to that buy item, and tell me what should be on either side of the diode- like MOSFET gate and arduino.. I'm not so sure :)

Best regards
Dean

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: arduino voltage regulator - buy what?

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

This circuit is for a solenoid, but will work for any inductive load:

Image

And here are some diodes: https://www.adafruit.com/product/755

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