There are a myriad different regulators on Arduino Pro Minis - watch out, they have different current ratings.
Adafruit's INA219 Arduino library has some confusing variable names - I try to make sense of it.
http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/lm2936.pdf
http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/29605.pdf
http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/ina219.pdf

By Julian

Youtuber, shed dweller, solar charge controller aficionado

15 thoughts on “Roasting regulators and arduino anomalies”
  1. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Morten Mortensen says:

    The INA219 is bidictional so depending on which the direction the current flows through it you will get a negative or a positive off-set from the busvoltage (the supply voltage). This may explain the logic of using the busvoltage + shunt voltage depending on which direction the current flows through it.

  2. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars iHateUni says:

    this is the latest post for muppet so i'll ask here. why use DCOI to control mosfet? why not use gate driver? i.e IR2104

  3. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars bungis says:

    Perhaps the OLED blew since it was set to using an external voltage source instead of the internal charge pump (it uses 9v internally) and it caused some really nasty cascading that blew the regulator? Unlikely,. but just a thought.

  4. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars bob s says:

    4.02W in and 4.04W out. Overunity! Scale it up and you have solved the world's energy problems.

  5. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars fredlllll says:

    the lm2936 is actually a pretty pricy regulator. also 15µA quiescent current!

  6. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Curious Investigations says:

    how do you get that power supply into the mode where it will show the power output?

  7. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars majdinj says:

    I am sorry to what happened to your arduino pro mini, although your plan seems legit but it might not like the idea. I am curious what would happened if you put DC-DC Isolating Converter between arduino pro min and the solar supply.!

  8. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars KX36 says:

    I told you before and I'll tell you again, throw away those nasty Power Cell batteries. I put them in a few devices and they spilled their guts and ruined everything they were in within a year. One of those things was an expensive exercise bike. You might say it's OK to just put them in things you don't care about, but eventually someone will end up putting them in something important. It's just not worth the risk of having them in your house at all. Widlarize them!

  9. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars xanataph says:

    Did you actually get the MuPPeT 1 actually working in the end?

  10. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Michael Moore says:

    I've got 3/4 of the way through this video (good work, by the way) and you are still agonizing over the + or minus regarding the shunt voltage. I think the issue is whether you want to be measuring the power CONSUMED by the system (including the power dissipated by the shunt resistor) – OR – the power DELIVERED to the load (and hence excluding the power dissipated by the shunt resistor).
    This all seems pretty straightforward, so maybe you have already considered – and discounted this. But my initial impressin is that this explains the +/- 'issue'.

    Keep up the good work.

  11. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Spector NS5 RD says:

    i just wanted to see the efficiency test part.

  12. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Peter Kay says:

    I am worried that your current measurement will have all the switching hash of the inductor. Why dont you use a 100uF cap across load terminals and the current measurement in series with lamp.

  13. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Jarrett Does Stuff says:

    Hate to ask cause I'm sure you get this one a lot, but what's the name of that power supply module?

  14. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Jogt says:

    Pls correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the battery powering the mosfet also pushing a small current into the system, which your powersupply isn't reading, but your arduino is?

  15. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Defpom's Electronics Repair says:

    I only ever supply the arduino itself from the onboard regulator, if I have to tack on other devices I always use a seperate 5v regulator.

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