Powering a motor and microcontroller

[Rycus]

Hello there,

I'm working on a project that uses a pump (link) and a micro controller (link) which operates a light.

I want to be able to power the two using a single adapter, but I'm having trouble splitting the power. I can't find a datasheet for the pump, but the description states it starts with 2A @ 5V and the microcontroller can use an external supply of 3.3V~12V. The arduino does not control the pump so the two can be seperated.

I'm wondering how this can be accomplished so that the two components can run without interruptions and what sort of adapter would be best.

I was thinking of splitting the electricity and using a voltage regulator to maintain constant voltage but I am worried about that overheating.

Any ideas?

 

[Harald Kapp]

In my opinion the best solution uses two adapters. This avoids any noise from theoperation of the pump on the power supply of the µC.

If you can't or won't have two supplies, Use a 5V supply rated at 2A+the power required by the µC. Split the power at the output of the supply. One line goes to the pump, the other to the µC. Decouple the µC from the pump by adding an EMC filter into the supply line of the pump. Or into both lines for the best EMC protection possible.
If you use only one filter, put it into the pump's supply to reduce EMC at the source.

 

[Rycus]

I think you're right in saying the use of two power supplies would be best. I'll make an attempt at using the single adapter and splitting it at the output but in all likelihood it seems that two power supplies is the best option.

Thank you Harald