Hello everyone,
I have a circuit with multiple sensors connected and powered the breadboard using a breadboard power supply. When I add a particular sensor, the voltage drops and sometimes flickers across all the sensors and Arduino board.
If the voltage to other sensors is 5V then after adding this sensor the voltage drops to 4.2V and 3.3V drops to 2.7V.
Is my sensor faulty. Please help!
Please post a wiring diagram (hand drawn, not Fritzing) and links to the product pages or data sheets for the sensors and power supply.
What is powering this breadboard supply, and how much current are the sensors drawing.
A breadboard supply can't deliver much current if voltage difference is high.
Expect about 100mA total when powered with 12volt, and 200mA when powered with 9volt.
If you want exact answers, then follow the "how to post" guidelines, that you can find on top of every main page.
Leo..
I am using the Gravity: Analog Electrical Conductivity Sensor /Meter V2 (K=1) DFR0300. More details are in link below:
I have done simple connections as shown in attached file. I have just powered the sensor 5V with a breadboard power supply of 5V (breadboard power supply is powered by 12V DC adapter). This used to work perfectly till now where I recently burnt the 5V voltage regulator on my arduino mega chip (The sensor was then powered from the 5V pin of arduino).
This problem is occurring if I power only this sensor with the power supply where the power supply becomes dim/sometimes flickering when the sensor is powered. The breadboard 5V output drops to 4.2V and 3.3V drops to 2.7V. Without powering this sensor the breadboard power supply gives correct 5V and 3.3V.
The schematics of the sensor is also attached for your reference.
DFR0300_v1.0_schematic.pdf (134 KB)
sanketpatel87:
Hello everyone,Is my sensor faulty. Please help!
sanketpatel87:
This used to work perfectly till now where I recently burnt the 5V voltage regulator on my arduino mega chip (The sensor was then powered from the 5V pin of arduino).
I would tend to think that before the 5V regulator went up in smoke the regulator did some damage to the mega chip.
Consider the words 'that it used to work:the thing burnt up:now it does not'.
The conductivity meter may have been damaged or destroyed too.
The DFrobot site does not state how much current the conductivity meter circuitry draws, but I looked at the schematic and would be very surprised if it were more than a few mA.
It seems more likely that a short circuit burned out the Arduino voltage regulator, and in the process, destroyed the meter amplifier.
But you might ask DFrobot for the current draw information.
Powering things that only need 5volt with a 12volt supply means that the regulator has to drop 7volt.
More than half of the total used power is dissipated in the regulator, which could overheat and fry things.
You didn't post which 12volt supply. Was it 'regulated', or an old/heavy brick.
Don't use a 12volt supply, don't use a breadboard supply.
Connect a 5volt phone charger to the USB socket of the Mega, and power that sensor from it's 5volt pin.
I agree with jremington.
That sensor shouldn't draw more than 30mA (it has a -5volt generator).
If things go wrong on USB supply, then something already has been damaged.
Try the Mega first on it's own, with the 'Blink' sketch.
What do you mean with 'multiple sensors'.
The same sensors in the same liquid could result in ground loops.
Leo..
