Where to connect an external power source for an Arduino motor driver shield to?

Question

I have a BYJ48 stepper motor and an ULN2003A motor driver shield shield.

In many tutorials I read:

do not to draw current from the 5V on the Arduino rail, but use an external power source, since the motor can draw quite some current

Which of these options to they mean by this?

Connect an external power adapter to the Arduino and connect the ULN2003A board to the Vin pin and GND on the Arduino

or

Connect the motor shield itself to an external power adapter and connect it to the + and - pin on the motor shield

or perhaps both are valid solutions?

The board I use is this one.

enter image description here

• Andy aka: Link to the product you refer to?
• Bas van Dijk: ebay.nl/itm/… I added it to the my question as well
• Transistor: You are missing a connection from the green wire to the Arduino GND.
• Nick Alexeev: I don't see the schematic for the motor driver.
• Bas van Dijk: @alcor bought it from arduino-tutorials.net/r/ZsECKh I also made a tutorial about this motor with the power from an external power supply arduino-tutorials.net/tutorial/…

Answer 1

There are two things you need to do:

1. Prevent the motor drawing its power from the micro-controller board.
2. Make sure that all the grounds are connected but avoiding motor current return through the micro-controller board.

schematic

^{simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab}

Figure 1. A good wiring configuration. The heavy wires carry the motor current.

Note that there is one ground connection between the micro-controller and the motor system. The return current for the 12 V supply does not pass through the micro-controller board.

• Bas van Dijk: Ok, what I have now is that the Arduino powered via the USB connection. The motor shield is complete independent powered with a 5V adapter. As shown on the eBay picture, there is a + and - pin on the driver board. This is where I connected the external power supply to. I did not connect the ground of the Arduino with the - pin in any way as shown in the picture.
• Transistor: And? Does it work or not? You need to connect the GND/- as I have shown for correct operation, otherwise there is no return path from the micro outputs 0 to 4.
• Bas van Dijk: Yeah it does work, but I still have my question. Since another option is to connect the external power supply directly in my Arduino and connect the motordriver + and - pin to the Vin and GND on the Arduino
• Transistor: Read my answer again. I explained why not to do that twice.
• Bas van Dijk: Perhaps I misunderstood "Prevent the motor drawing its power from the micro-controller board." I thought you referred to the USB provided 5V. For 12V I understand, but my motor is powered by 5V which the Arduino should be able to handle. This made me think I could power the Arduino as well as the motor on the external power supply.