Arduino + Servo Motor Stopped Working

Other Hardware Motors, Mechanics, Power and CNC
1

Hi,

I have the following Positional Servo basic setup and it recently stopped working after 2 weeks. The motor would switch from rotating from 0 to 90 degrees every minute the past 2 weeks like a switch. However, I found it frozen this morning and the Arduino LEDs were flashing fast and both motor and Arduino were warm. Then I unplugged the power and powered it on again and Arduino started producing smoke. Now it won't turn on. How do I prevent this from happening in the future? I want it to run 24/7 as an automation device. Please advise! I'm pretty new to this :slight_smile:

Loose cables? Should I power servo separately?

12V DC Wall Plug -> Arduino -> 5V Power -> Basic 9G Positional Servo

image
image1708×734 168 KB

Code

#include <Servo.h>

Servo myservo;

int pos = 0;

void setup() {
  // put your setup code here, to run once:
  myservo.attach(2);
}

void loop() {
  myservo.write(90);
  delay(1000 * 10);
  myservo.write(0);
  delay(1000 * 50 + 1000 * 60); // every 2 minutes
}
2

The smoke seemed to be appearing from here:

image

Note that the USB was not plugged into anything.

3

it is absolutely NOT OK to plug an arduino into a wall outlet. The amperage will destroy the arduino. This regulates the amperage nicely:
https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Dual-Port-USB-Wall-Charger/dp/B0773BHCVD

Or plug it into something less powerful.

1 Like
4

Oh that is really helpful to know, thank you. What about a 5V wall charger? Or should I just go the USB route?

5

You're very welcome. If I may ask, what are you using this for? 5v wall charger works just fine.

6

Don't use the Arduino as a power supply like this. It overloads the little onboard 5 volt converter.

1 Like
7

I'm using the servo arm for a physical automation device to open and close a box (product load testing).

8

oh that's cool

9

If I switch to a 5V USB or DC power charger, can I still use the Arduino as a power supply for the servo? Or are you saying that even* in that case, the onboard 5V pin can be overloaded in extended 24/7 operational cases like this?

10

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