Hello this is my first post here and am a total 3d printing and arduino noob.
So I wanted to test my skills and tried to make one of these [www.instructables.com]
But when I wanted to sart it uf the first time there was a cracking sound and it started smoking.
Turns out my arduinos voltage regulator was fried.
So my questions are what could have caused it? I have a cheap chinese mega knock off so could it simply be the cheap parts that caused this problem?
Could this have something to do with my power supply? Can I repair my mega board?
Note :- instructables are crap. never try and learn anything from them. You have to know more than the authors know (not very difficult most of them are thick) so you can spot the mistakes. Most have at least one are are consistently bad designs.
Saybee:
So my questions are what could have caused it? I have a cheap chinese mega knock off so could it simply be the cheap parts that caused this problem?
In most cases destroyed boards are caused by doing something miserably wrong and not by cheap components on clone boards.
A very fast method is for example:
apply 12V power into the Arduino 5V pin (instead of Vin pin).
Somewhat slower destroying is possibly by overheating the voltage regulator because of drawing too much current from the 5V pin.
Allowed power dissipation for the voltage regulator is 1,0 Watt only.
Calculation example: If you power the Arduino board with 12,0 Volts, the dissipated power in the regulator is:
P= (12V-5V)*I ==> I = P/7V
With an absolute max. dissipated power of 1 Watt, you can draw from the 5V pin:
I= 1 W / 7 V = 0,143 A = 143 mA
So if you draw more current from the 5V pin as 143 mA, you will overheat and destroy the voltage regulator.
When using a 9V or 7.5V power adapter, you can draw a bit more current from the 5V pin without overheating the voltage regulator.
I think at eBay voltage regulators are available from China at low prices, 2 Euros for 10 pieces, or something like that.
When starting a thread asking for help, it's also a good idea to describe in words exactly what you're trying to make and what parts, (motors, shields etc) you're using.
So I wanted to test my skills and tried to make one of these [www.instructables.com]
And sending us to the "Instructables" home page certainly doesn't help. It gives absolutely no idea which actual Instructable you were copying.
Also when adding pics that are hosted on another site, you can use the "Insert an image" button at the top of the edit window to display the pics inline:-
Did you first do some tests with simpler code and individual steppers, or just dive right in, build the whole thing then try to get it to work?
Those pics don't clearly show your connections and you provided neither a schematic diagram nor your code, either, so we can only guess at your problem.
And if you do post code, ensure that it's placed between code tags as outlined in the post linked by Mike. (I'm sure you've read it by now.)
Depends on your soldering skills. And if you have a temp controlled soldering iron.
Ask someone else if you don't have both.
Solder all three pins together (a blob of solder).
Then heat up the tab.
Heat up the blob/tab untill you can effordlessly swipe the chip off the board.
Swipe any excess solder off the pads with the side of the tip, or use solder wick.
Replacing the regulator should be easier.
Leo..
I have found, over the years, that it is a good idea to put a circuit together incrementally. First power it from the USB and try the Blink example. If your going to power it from other than the USB, read very carefully which pins are involved, and what their limits are.
So add external power, all alone, and make sure it still runs the blink example. Next start adding other components in a structured way, so that you program for and test subsystems, as you go along.
You may still fry something, but at least you'll have a pretty good idea of why it happened.
This is important when transferring a circuit to a circuit board too. I hate to tell you how many virgin circuit boards I've populated which were then still born. It's hard to debug something when you have to cut traces or desolder parts to do it.
jrdoner:
I have found, over the years, that it is a good idea to put a circuit together incrementally.
This is what I was getting at, but you said it better.
I hate to tell you how many virgin circuit boards I've populated which were then still born. It's hard to debug something when you have to cut traces or desolder parts to do it.
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I did it a couple of months ago. Accidentally got the input pins of an op-amp backwards. I had them right on the breadboard, but wrong on my PCB layout.
Out with the hobby knife, cutting tracks and adding links.
Works well now, but it's not as pretty underneath any more.
Could this have something to do with my power supply? Can I repair my mega board?
Could have been a bad regulator chip, but most likely you had the power wires to the regulator reversed. Depending on the capability of the power supply, reversed wiring on a 7805 regulator chip will make it get really hot really fast. I incorrectly connected to a large 7805 chip and then noticed something smelling hot. I touched the chip and burned my finger. After correcting the wiring and the chip still worked ok. You can just use a 7805 chip to power the arduino via the arduino 5v pin. Been there, done that.
Okay I went full retard on this one.
One of my endstops was mounted on one of the rods and the rod connected 2 pins on its backside causing the short haha
