New Zealand
Asked — Edited
Resolved Resolved by DJ Sures!

Maximum Current From Digital Pins

I want to drive some LED's directly (with current limiting resistor) from a digital output.

What is the maximum current output of the digital pins on the EZ-Bv4 please?


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#1  

Jeez you'll be fine.... remember those pins can drive power hungry servos... 5 amps total (for the board) continuous and 20amp in spikes....

PRO
Synthiam
#2  

you will find the datasheet in the LEARN section under the EZ-B v4 Course. Here is a direct link: https://synthiam.com/Tutorials/Lesson/18?courseId=5

To access the learn section in the future, press the LEARN menu option from the top of this website. Once on the main learn page, you will be prompted with different courses. The EZ-B v4 course contains technical information.

#3  

Richard, I am talking about the signal pin, not the power rail.

On Arduinos the max current draw is about 40mA from digital pins.

I could not find this info directly in the datasheet. But I see that the output voltage is 3.3v and "330 ohm current limiting Resistors on each Digital I/O pin". So I guess the max is 10mA - probably not enough as I wanted to drive 3 LED's from one output.

PRO
Canada
#4  

Yep, 10mA is correct. I'd suggest controlling the LEDs with an NPN transistor so you can just switch the Ground connection on and off (or PWM).

#5  

Do you need really bright LEDs? If not, there are some that run on only 2ma. Here is a link