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[on:]

I have a PWM motor taken from a dremel tool which draws up to 4 amps that I would like to control with the Arduino motor shield.  Each channel of the motor shield is supposed to be able to provide 2 amps.  Can I hook up the two channels in parallel by connecting the two positives, negatives, and PWM pins together to get a 4 amp output for one motor?

[Reply #1 on:]

Yes, if you hook up the two channels in parallel, you can add their currents like you're asking.  It will supply the 4A needed to run the motor.  How long will you be running the motor though?  You might want to look into if the motor shield can supply 2A per channel continuously.  I'm not too familar with the motor shield, but I do know if the components aren't rated for that amount of continuous current, they run the possibility of overheating/burning up.

[Reply #2 on:]

PWM motor taken from a dremel tool which draws up to 4 amps

What Voltage is the motor rated at?? All the Dremels I have are 110 or 220V. 

[Reply #3 on:]

I have a PWM motor taken from a dremel tool which draws up to 4 amps that I would like to control with the Arduino motor shield.  Each channel of the motor shield is supposed to be able to provide 2 amps.  Can I hook up the two channels in parallel by connecting the two positives, negatives, and PWM pins together to get a 4 amp output for one motor?

Which motor shield - provide a link, please.

It sounds like this motor shield is likely an L298 based device - is this correct? If so, then -in theory- you can parallel the inputs and outputs, similar to how you are saying - but you have to see if the shield allows for this. I have seen some shields that wouldn't, at least not without modding the shield somewhat. So - if we can know which shield you are using (and hopefully have a schematic for it), then we can look at it, plus the docs for the L298 to determine if it's going to be simple to hook up, or something more involved.

[Reply #4 on:]

Some L298 info:
http://arduino-info.wikispaces.com/L298N-DataSheet 
http://arduino-info.wikispaces.com/ArduinoShieldL298N
http://arduino-info.wikispaces.com/MotorDrivers