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Just looking for a second opinion on my circuit below. Wired up everything works great, but last night as i was unplugging the FTDI programmer something seemed to have happend, and the mini was bricked.

I'm not sure if it has to do with my wiring below, or if it was me unplugging the cable in a haphazard manner.

What I'm attempting to do is run my arduino from 12v wall supply, but also drive an LED strip with it. I'm just unsure if this is the best way to go about it, any advice is welcome.

Thanks Justin

example layout

JW2
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  • Is that just a Fritzing artifact, or is that power supply in backwards? It looks to me like the center pin is going to ground. See [have I bricked my Arduino](http://arduino.stackexchange.com/questions/13292/have-i-bricked-my-arduino-uno-problems-with-uploading-to-board) for possible tests you can do to confirm if you really bricked it. – Nick Gammon Aug 24 '15 at 22:23
  • Ya, that's just fritzing showing it backwards. – JW2 Aug 24 '15 at 22:27
  • I would try (amongst other things) removing it from the breadboard, and trying to program it just with the FTDI cable. – Nick Gammon Aug 24 '15 at 22:29
  • Oh yea, sorry I didn't completely respond. The arduino is definitely bricked. I just wanted to make sure the 12v led circuit wasn't wired incorrectly and overheating caused the brick. Should there be a capacitor somewhere? It seemed like when I unplugged the ftdi it blew something. – JW2 Aug 24 '15 at 22:30
  • A little off topic- but what program did you use to make the above diagram? – Vinterwoo Jun 28 '16 at 19:23

1 Answers1

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According to the schematics, the Pro Mini uses the MIC5205, which is a linear regulator. Using it directly with 12V is not a very good idea, in terms of power efficiency, as it will dissipate 35mW vs 25mW provided to the ATMega board.

From this perspective, I'd recommend a step-down converter for powering the Arduino.

However it will not cause any damage, at least at room temperature, as the power dissipation is well within operating margins, see calculation at page 8 of the MIC datasheet.

Edit: detailed pros and cons, power wise.

Igor Stoppa
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  • Arduino says input voltage can range up to 12V: https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardProMini Is my circuit correct, or is this damaging to the Arduino? – JW2 Aug 24 '15 at 17:52
  • I'm trying to keep my circuit as compact as possible, which is the reasoning for wiring 12v into RAW, allowing arduino to step the voltage down. – JW2 Aug 24 '15 at 17:55
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    `not a very good idea`; please explain. In this circuit it's probably just fine, as an ATMega328 by itself only uses around 5mA, so the voltage regulator would dissipate only 35mW of heat. – Gerben Aug 24 '15 at 17:59
  • Are you telling me it's not a very good idea, or are you asking Igor Stoppa to explain further? – JW2 Aug 24 '15 at 18:10
  • It dissipates 35mW vs 25mW provided to the Arduino. Not very efficient, power-wise. The preference for using the absolute minimum set of components was not part of the original question. – Igor Stoppa Aug 24 '15 at 18:23
  • Fundamentally though, there's nothing wrong with wiring 12V into arduino, and also using that 12V to power an LED strip right? – JW2 Aug 24 '15 at 19:33
  • From page 8 of the MIC5205 data sheet, the max power dissipation at room temperature is in excess of 400mW >> 35mW, so yes, it should be safe practically in any reasonable operating condition it might see. – Igor Stoppa Aug 25 '15 at 01:47
  • Thank you very much for the help. I'm going to assume it has something to do with the act that I was powering from 20v via raw pin, but also had ftdi plugged in. The issue happened right when I pulled the headers off of the arduino. I threw in a new mini and the circuit is working just as it was. Would programming while powered cause an issue? – JW2 Aug 25 '15 at 02:34
  • I always program while powered the Mini Pro I use as development setup. In my case the power comes from a 5V regulator, though. However, if you are using the RAW input, it should be the same. As programmer I have an AVRDragon. – Igor Stoppa Aug 25 '15 at 03:05
  • Let us [continue this discussion in chat](http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/27374/discussion-between-igor-stoppa-and-jmwagg). – Igor Stoppa Aug 25 '15 at 05:46