Power cable for motor shield 1438

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ScrollerMatt
 
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Power cable for motor shield 1438

Post by ScrollerMatt »

I’m new to Arduinos. I am going to use an Arduino Uno with the motor shield (1438) for a project on my model railroad layout so I don’t want to use batteries. Should I use the 12V USB to 2.1mm barrel jack (2778) or the 5V version (2697) to power the shield? Also which one for separately powering the Uno?

Thanks.

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Power cable for motor shield 1438

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

The power source will need to supply sufficient current for your motors. What are the current requirements of the motors you will be running?

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ScrollerMatt
 
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Re: Power cable for motor shield 1438

Post by ScrollerMatt »

Sorry, I meant to say that they would be DC Toy motor (711) and/or Small Reduction Stepper motor 5VDc (858).

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Power cable for motor shield 1438

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

For those motors, 5v would be the better choice. They would run very hot and have a short lifetime at 12v.

At 5v, the DC motors will need about 200 mA each. The steppers will pull about 600mA max. The UNO itself will need about 30mA. So you should size your power source accordingly.

You will need a separate USB cable for the UNO. The minimum recommended voltage for powering via the DC barrel jack is 7v. But you can also power it directly with 5v via the USB jack.

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