I have an older model that is about a year and a half old. I didn’t have a place to set it up when I bought it but now I do. I’ve gone through everything so far and had no issues, but my power brick seems to be iffy. The cords have to be in it just right and it will power the board. But when I go to move any of the motors, it cuts out. I was just wondering if there were any issues with older power adapters or if anyone had any ideas?
Thanks in advance.
That’s a bummer. Did you order it from Maslow? If so we didn’t have any issues with consistently faulty power bricks, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t a faulty on in there. If you got it from us I’ll see what I can do about getting you a replacement from one of the folks selling kits now.
No, it came from Maker Made. The power brick has Maker Made printed on it. I’m just checking to see if there were any known issues before I dig into it more. I’m not needing a replacement right now, but thanks. I will go through and make sure I have everything correct. It just seems strange that everything looks right until I try to move any motor. Maybe I will figure it out tonight. But thanks for the reply.
Sounds good. As far as I know there weren’t any widespread issues, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t one bad one out there. If it does turn out to be the power supply Maker Made is pretty good about sending out replacements for things
When it cuts out does the light on the power supply go out?
Any chance you have a volt meter around to measure the voltage?
Yeah it does. And I do, but I won’t get to it until maybe tonight. I’ll see what readings I get.
The power supply has built in short circuit protection so it will shut down to protect itself if it sees a short circuit so a faulty controller board is also an option.
If might be worth trying to see what happens when the motors are not plugged in. If the power supply still shuts down with no motors plugged in the issue is probably a short on the board.
If you do need a new power supply I just checked and these guys:
Seem to have them in stock for $12 if Metal Maslow doesn’t send you one for free.
The voltage out of the power supply is right above 12 volts. I tried taking a reading on the shield but I didn’t know what would show me anything when it is just powered up. The less on the shield do light up, until I try to move a motor, then it must short out as everything goes out. I was hoping it was the power supply as it felt a bit iffy. The power cord didn’t seem like it fit tight but I guess it is tight enough.
So maybe I need a new shield? I have a few Arduino mega around somewhere I can check that later I guess. It doesn’t seem to harm anything, as both boards seem to power up just fine. And under no load, nothing seems wrong.
I don’t get to test it as often as I like as the space I found for it was in the shop at the school. But let me know if there is anything else I should be looking at and I will see if I can get to it.
Thanks for your help so far.
So that means we’re probably not looking at a short on the board. Can you try adding the motors one at a time and see if any one in particular starts the trouble?