Arduino and 12V Power to RGB Strips

Using Arduino General Electronics
1

So I have an Arduino, three N Channel MOSFETS and aRGB Strip length of 1 meter. The RGB requires 12 Volts to operate. Can I put 12 Volts into the Arduino and then power the lights through the Vin port? Wpuld it be better to just bypass the Arduino altogeter and just run a seperate power supply to the lights?

2

Can I put 12 Volts into the Arduino and then power the lights through the Vin port?

Yes, but: Vin is after the reverse polarity protection diode. A meter of RGB LEDs will draw quite a bit of current, possibly more than the diode can support - and you also have voltage drop across the diode, as much as 0.7V.

Wpuld it be better to just bypass the Arduino altogeter and just run a seperate power supply to the lights?

Much better idea. Power the Arduino and the strip in parallel.

3

Thanks, thats what I will do

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