SparkFun Forums

[greenju17]

I currently have a kicker motor on my boat that I would like to control with a knob. I would like to be able to control the throttle with a knob/dial so i can precisely adjust the speed of my boat.

My power source will be from my marine battery (12v). I hooked everything up last night, connected it to my power source, and the lights on the board stayed on for about 30 seconds, then they went out. It started to get warm by the pug in i was using for power. I took the board inside and hooked it up via USB to my computer, the lights stay on for about 2 seconds, then go off. Is my board junk now??

I should be able to power the board from my marine battery without any problem. Should i add a inline voltage regulator (12v to 9v), would this help my issue? I am new to all of this, thought it would be easy enough to give it a shot.

Thanks,
Justin

[Ross Robotics]

What did you have connected to the board? What board is it? Please include a schematic of the connections. What light comes on then goes out?

[greenju17]

Attached is what i created. The board i used is Arduino Uno.

to my understanding I might have to connect the servo to a external power source with a voltage regulator to insure I wont have any problems? My battery is probably putting out more volts than 12 (could be more like 14ish) and the servo motor is pulling more V than my board will provide. The servo i an using is a Tower Pro SG-5010.

I guess if I do need to connect the servo to the external power source, what additional parts do i need and how to I hook it up?

[stevech]

beware safety since code has bugs. Hardware should constrain nonsense extremes.

[jremington]

Running a servo from the Arduino 5V output will create havoc and may even destroy the onboard regulator. Use a separate battery or regulator supply and connect the grounds together.

To run the system on a "12V" lead acid battery, you need two buck switching regulators, one for the Arduino and one for the servo, the latter capable of at least one ampere at 5-6V. Pololu has a great selection.

[greenju17]

ok thanks for the advice, the problem is that I am new to all of this and don't know what to get or how to wire it all up (im learning as i go) so any help in that would be great

Thanks

[Ross Robotics]

We all started somewhere, just keep experimenting and if you get stuck or have a specific question, just ask.

[greenju17]

Figured it out, needed to regulate the volts running to the board from 12v to 5v, works great!

[greenju17]

Ok, I wired it all up on my bench and everything worked great....I mounted everything in my boat, when I power on the servo, its goes crazy? I can still control it with my potentiometer, but the motor keeps moving when I stop turning the potentiometer??? Any Idea why this would be doing that? Is it because there is about 10' of wire from the board/power to the servo?