Im new to arduino so if this topic has been touched on before, forgive me. Im not quite sure how to word it in the search bar......
I have the arduino mega 2560, along with the adafruit motor sheild. I do not wish to stack them, i have wired them side by side. The shield is being supplied by a 9v power supply from a breadboard, the arduino is supplied from the USB port. Im running duel motors at 350ma each, when i plug my arduino up the motors hum, do not turn but hum, then once i switch my 9v power to the shield to hot the motors do as programmed.......my question here is, is that normal? Should the motors be drawing any current atall from the arduino? Or should they be dead untill i power them from the 9v via the shield? I do not want to fry my arduino :(((
Thanks for any advice
Cody
Hi,
To help us help you.
Can you please post a copy of your circuit, in CAD or a picture of a hand drawn circuit in jpg, png?
Can you please post a copy of your sketch, using code tags?
They are made with the </> icon in the reply Menu.
See section 7 http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php/topic,148850.0.html
Also a picture of your project showing your layout will be of great assistance.
Tom..... 
Yes i can, ofcourse buddy. Dont judge my hand drawing so harshly haha!!
Mechanical93:
Yes i can, ofcourse buddy. Dont judge my hand drawing so harshly haha!!
How can we judge what we can't see?
Good contribution henry. I was at work, unable to immediately post any thing of the sort. Anyways....i found a wire diagram for the motorshild V1 that i have, my wiring is dead on, as it should be, its simply matched as it would be if stacked. It does the same stacked as it does wired side by side.....as it should. Tonight i tested out both configurations (stacked vs side to side), same. I narrowed it down to DPin7 or DPin8...or both. I tested from DPin8 on the arduino to DPin8(DIR_SER) on the motorshield, reading was a fluctuation of 2.2mA-5.5mA between the board and shield. Tested the same manner on Arduino DPin7 to Motorshield DPin7(DIR_EN), reading was a consistent .25mA between the two. Keep in mind the arduino is powered from USB and the motorshield from a external powersource. The amperage is the same regardless if the Ex. Power source is on or off. When its switched ON, the motors run as they should, when the EPS if switched OFF they hum, vibrate. Maybe its normal, maybe its a fire hazard, i just dont like uncertainty so id like to know. Here is an attached wire diagram for the motorshield v1....
Hi,
Can you measure the Voltage between the gnd on the arduino and gnd on the shield.
But a copy of your circuit, in CAD or a picture of a hand drawn circuit in jpg, png would be great.
Show us which pins from the arduino to the shield you have connected.
Just draw a block for the arduino and a block for the shield and label the pins/number.
Also show your power supplies.
A picture of your project will help to.
A picture is worth a thousand words.
Tom...
PS. Sorry to ask so much, but we need to visualise what you have, and the more info we get now the less misinformation you will get back.
Sorry its so poorly drawn. Only way to make it worse is to draw it in crayon. Lol
