Troubleshooting your motorized projects
But what if your motor doesn't turn? Here are a few things to check if your motor isn't spinning around:
- Is the battery pack for the motor hat turned on? Don't laugh, I've spent many a minute wondering why it wasn't working only to discover it lacked power. There's a power light on most motor hats that let you know it has power:
The power LED on the Adafruit hat is just above the screw terminals for the external power, and lights up red
- Are your batteries fresh? Motors take up a lot of power, and extended use can wear them down pretty fast.
- As I mentioned in the first chapter: check your wiring. Then, check it again.
- Make sure all of the wires are securely fastened in the correct screw terminals so that a light yank cannot dislodge them.
- Are you using rechargeable batteries? If so, I admire your commitment to reuse, but you're going to want 6 rechargeable running your motor due to differences in voltages between rechargeable and non-rechargeable batteries...
