General Wiring Question

[Vinbot]

Hi all,

I couldn't find reference to the specific question I have anywhere on the forums so I thought I'd ask it.

I have 4 perfect 360's from HappControls in my control panel.  Each of these guys requires +5V in addition to the Up, Down, Left and Right and ground signals.  I believe the +5V is used to power the optical component of the joystick.

I plan to branch off of my +5V computer power supply powerline for the power.  The power supply itself i believe is rated at 13 amps for the +5V line.  This may be a silly question, but it's been a while since i've read up on wiring and want to make sure i'm not going to fry anything.  Can I just wire the +5V lines straight to the +5V terminal on each joystick without fear of drawing too much current to the joysticks?  I think that each joystick will only take the required amperage that it needs.  Also, would it be useful to place some sort of fuse after the power supply but before my joysticks?

Thanks in advance for any help offered,

Vinbot

[ShinAce]

Whenever you use an external power source for any device giving out a digital signal, it might not work.

It will only work if you are able to connect the ground of the external power source and the ground of the encoder. Don't forget that.

And yes, just connect all the 5 volt wires from the P360's together. Together, they won't draw more than 1/4 amp.

[Vinbot]

Ok, I have another question then

So I have 4 P360's powered by my PC power supply and the IPAC4 powered by the USB connection from the computer.   Is it safe to wire the power supply ground to the IPAC ground terminal?  I'm asking because the U/D/L/R connectors from the P360 will actually be going onto the IPAC so they kind of need the same ground anyway don't they?

It seems like ti should be OK because the USB connector is ultimately probably getting its ground from the PC power supply at some point anyway, don't you think?

Thanks again,

Vince