0

I'm working on a school project and I am a total beginner on this arduino stuff. So, I bought this led strip at IKEA and used this tutorial to connect it and controll it with my Arduino. The thing is that I want to power up the led strip using another power source, so I bought 8x 1,5V AA batteries to power it up.

The idea is to upload the code to the Arduino and unplug the computer and use the Arduino to control my led strip. I was thinking of just using the power adapter which comes with the led strip from IKEA, it's an 12V DC power. It says on the arduino that 7-15V is okay for input voltage.

So is this okay? will I fry my arduino board? Note that I followed all the instructions on this tutorial above and it works perfectly, I just want to use it without my computer.

Roh
  • 4,598
  • 6
  • 41
  • 86
Jónbjörn Finnbogason
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1

1 Answers1

3

12 V should be fine, if you have an Arduino Uno for instance the recommended input voltage even goes up to 12 V, so if the power adapter actually delivers 12 V you wouldn't fry your Arduino.

QuantumFlux
  • 166
  • 5
  • I've plugged in a 12V battery at the + and - on the breadboard and the RGB led strip is plugged in there and it goes to the Digital inputs in the Arduino exactly like here http://www.jerome-bernard.com/images/rgb-led-strips-mosfets.png Is there any power from the battery going to the arduino? – Jónbjörn Finnbogason Oct 30 '14 at 01:02
  • No, there isn't, if those are the only connections you made. Observe the ports that are interfaced with: 3xPWM and GND, so the Arduino is getting no power from the 12 V supply. If you want to supply it with power from there, connect the Vin (might be labelled 9V) pin to the positive side of the power supply. Make sure that you don't connect any other power source in parallel or via the other power supply methods, I don't think the Arduino is switching safely between those, although I'm not an Arduino user. – QuantumFlux Oct 30 '14 at 01:40
  • Source for previous comment: http://arduino.cc/en/Reference/Board?from=Guide.Board: "VIN (sometimes labelled "9V"). The input voltage to the Arduino board when it's using an external power source (as opposed to 5 volts from the USB connection or other regulated power source). You can supply voltage through this pin, or, if supplying voltage via the power jack, access it through this pin. Note that different boards accept different input voltages ranges, please see the documentation for your board. Also note that the LilyPad has no VIN pin and accepts only a regulated input." – QuantumFlux Oct 30 '14 at 01:41