Motor Shield Draws 1.2 Amps

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openplanet
 
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Motor Shield Draws 1.2 Amps

Post by openplanet »

After building my motor shield, carefully inspecting for splatter, and sliding it onto my Arduino Uno, I was lucky enough to be holding the Uno such that I could feel the voltage regulator heat up almost instantly when I applied power. Needless to say, I disconnected power almost as instantly. A short on the shield? I tested for shorts between ground and +5 and +3.3 pins, but found none. I popped the ICs out of their sockets and hooked up power again, this time looking at the ammeter on my bench power supply. It spiked up to about 1.2 A. Took the magnifying glass to the board, but could find no soldering errors. So...any suggestions for how to determine where the problem lies? Thanks in advance.

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Motor Shield Draws 1.2 Amps

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Are you talking about the Arduino on-board regulator heating up?
Post photos of the front & back of the board & we'll take a look.

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openplanet
 
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Re: Motor Shield Draws 1.2 Amps

Post by openplanet »

Voltage regulator on Arduino heats up almost immediately...and I unplug fast.
Photos attached.
Thanks in advance for your help.
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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Motor Shield Draws 1.2 Amps

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

The chip in the center is installed backwards. You need to line up the notch to match the silkscreen on the board.
There is a good chance that the chip is fried - and unless you have desoldering equipment it can be a bear to get them out intact. The easiest way to remove a chip is to snip all the legs and remove them individually.

We do have replacements in the store: https://www.adafruit.com/products/450

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openplanet
 
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Re: Motor Shield Draws 1.2 Amps

Post by openplanet »

Ouch!!!
I'm such a NOOOB!
Thanks so much for your help. Adafruit truly ROCKS.
Any chance you'd all be willing to run the Federal Government???

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