Logic Power Inputs
There are different ways of providing logic power to your board.
Your board needs two sorts of power to work:
- 12-24V power to turn motors, heat hotends, etc.
- 5V (or “logic”) power to power the microcontroller (the brain)
Three Ways to Provide 5V Power
There are three ways to provide 5V power to the board:
1. Via USB cable
USB cables provide 5V directly to the board.
This is the simplest method and works well for testing and setup.
2. Via voltage regulator
By soldering a voltage regulator to the board (and providing 12+24V, which the voltage regulator then turns into 5V).
This allows the board to be powered from your main power supply.
3. Direct 5V input
By providing 5V directly to the 5V power input (next to the VBB power input).
This requires a separate 5V power supply.
Simplest Solution
If you want to keep it simple, the easiest solution is just to connect your Smoothieboard to your computer via USB.
Multiple Power Supplies
Smoothieboard has diodes on-board that will simply get the power from the one with the highest voltage.
This means you can even turn one off and the other will be used without a reset.
Understanding Voltage and Current
If voltage and current are strange concepts to you, it’s probably a good idea before you continue setting up your board, that you read this introduction.
Power Consumption
The board’s logic circuits (5V line) typically consume up to 500mA current (what is standard for a USB port).