I have a quick question about how to power my stepper motors through the Adafruit motor shield. This should be pretty easy but I'm reading seemingly conflicting information that has convinced me otherwise, so there must be something simple I'm not understanding.
I have a MEGA and the Adafruit motor shield V2.
It says it can run two steppers with up to 13.5V at 1.2A per bridge.
The steppers I am trying to run are two of these M42SP-6NK* that I pulled out of a couple of old printers. Spec Sheet [pdf]
I believe they are the 12V variety but that is a guess. The spec sheet says they are rated for 400mA/phase, coil resistance is 5 Ohms and working voltage is 10.8-13.2V.
I have a 10V 500mA adapter that I plan to use to power the MEGA through the barrel plug, and I have a Tekpower TP3005T adjustable 0-30V @ 0-5A power supply that I just got and planned to use to power the motors/shield.
Now the question: Should I not set the adjustable power supply for the motors to 12V @400mA to match the motor spec sheet?
SgtWookie's response here (all about circuits forum) to someone using the same motors but a different microcontroller is what is causing my confusion. He is recommending 4V and I'm inclined to believe him as he is an expert and me a simpleton/part-time idiot.
Anyways, I'm trying to learn a little about something that I always struggled with in school and I'm constantly worrying about misinterpreting the things I'm reading so any help would be really appreciated. Thanks