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question about mA — Parallax Forums

question about mA

daidalos62daidalos62 Posts: 21
edited 2007-03-13 21:53 in Robotics
So I have stepper motors which require 12V and 60 mA, and was hoping to grab a couple of old 12VDC power supplies to run them.

The power supplies that I have have an output of 12V but with 500 mA, and the other with 100 mA.

Not knowing much about amperage, will these burn out the motors, or will the motors draw only what they need?

Comments

  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2007-03-11 20:33
    The motors will draw the current they need. Take care.

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    Chris Savage
    Parallax Tech Support
  • daidalos62daidalos62 Posts: 21
    edited 2007-03-11 20:53
    ok thanks .... any idea which wire (one with white stripe and one without) is the power and which is the ground on any given DC power supply?
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2007-03-11 22:32
    Usually the one with the white stripe is positive, however if I were you I would test it with a meter before connecting anything. Take care.

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    Chris Savage
    Parallax Tech Support
  • daidalos62daidalos62 Posts: 21
    edited 2007-03-12 03:43
    thanks ... I tested it with the meter and found it to be a pretty noisy 12V. I think I'll run a voltage regulator and see if that helps.
  • crgwbrcrgwbr Posts: 614
    edited 2007-03-13 14:57
    You might want to try running it through a big capacitor too.

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  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2007-03-13 21:53
    crgwbr is correct...A regulator will do little to clean up noise...A capacitor will be more effective.

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    Chris Savage
    Parallax Tech Support
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