Power Supply For TReX 13A 6-16V

Hi to all

I’m planning to by a Pololu TReX 13A 6-16V Dual Motor Controller
my question is, can the Trex be directly connected to a DC power supply, without using a battery ?
if this is the case, will the brakes function still work?
If not, can you suggest a other product that can handle two channels of 12v 10A

thanks for your help

Jan

Yes, the TReX can be powered directly from a power supply without a battery. Please make sure you understand that that does not mean any power supply will work, however.

- Ben

Thank you for the quick reply,

What should I look for before I can buy a power supply, In other words
what are the spec that I should look for.

Jan

Hello.

We don’t have some really easy spec to give you. Motors are generally a fairly difficult load, so cheap power supplies might have difficulty keeping the voltage stable. Make sure you don’t get a power supply that is underpowered and then think that that will somehow protect your system; that kind of approach almost guarantees all kinds of problems. If you want two channels of 10A, I would probably go with a power supply that can do at least 30A. The cheapest type of power supply I know that can approach that is a computer power supply, but you usually have to fiddle with them a bit to get them to turn on without a computer connected. It would help if you have an oscilloscope so that you can see what the power supply is doing, and you might want to add quite a bit more capacitance on the power input beyond what is already on the TReX. Do you have a specific power supply in mind?

- Jan

Thanks for the quick reply,

No, not for the moment, I think your proposal to use a power supply from a PC is a very good idee. I will certainly ensure that 30A is available. If I found something workableI let you know for sure.

Thanks for the help.

Jan