Arduino Motor Shield

Thread Starter

beatsal

Joined Jan 21, 2018
391
Arduino motor shield: How do you cut off the jumpers on the shield? I need more input pins and don't need the brakes so want to disable them . Doc. says to cutoff the jumpers. Not sure how. Kindly help.
 

s14rs4

Joined Sep 15, 2016
75
Hi,

From Arduino website:
https://store.arduino.cc/arduino-motor-shield-rev3?queryID=undefined

The documentation says the links are on the back of the board. They are marked brake disable A and B. The links are the connections between each pair of the pads, I can't tell from the picture if they are wire links or copper track. If it is wire just desolder them. If it is track you need to cut them with a fine craft knife, leaving a definite gap. This will disconnect the two pins on the header. If you want to reconnect at any time, just bridge the pads with a blob of solder.
 

s14rs4

Joined Sep 15, 2016
75
If you look at the link I posted on the Arduino site it is clearer. On your picture you can see the header pins at the bottom are connected to the two pads directly above, then there is track to the two pads above them, the tracks between the top and bottom pads is where you need to cut.
Use a magnifier if you need to, you can get an app on your phone.
If you cut them correctly you will have no continuity between the header pins and the top pads.
 

djsfantasi

Joined Apr 11, 2010
9,156
I’ve used similar boards. Of the four pads by “Brake Disable”, two pair are connected by a thin PCB trace. If you look close, you can see them under the coating. Cut these traces to free up the respective pins on the Arduino.

Also note that if you are powering the motors with more than 9V, you need to use separate power sources (one for the Arduino/shield and one for the motors). A trace near the Vin pin must also be cut. Here is the official Arduino shield documentation.
 

s14rs4

Joined Sep 15, 2016
75
If you scroll down the page there is an image of the underside of the board, you can clearly see the links.

I don't know what kind of phone you have, Iphone or Android but if you search on the app store for magnifier, you should find something free.
 

Thread Starter

beatsal

Joined Jan 21, 2018
391
Thanks to you both. I managed to cut the 2 brake traces. Just wonder if I have to cut the A0 trace as well.
Just an aside - I could not find the pic of the underside in the above 2 links, just found the top side, must be getting blind.
 
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