Turning Arduino Board off.

I'm in the process of building a printer using the RAMPS 1.4 and Arduino 2560 boards.
Sometimes I will use the printer from SD ram and others from the computer.
I would like to leave the printer connected to the computer at all times.

Is it possible to turn the Arduino 2560 board off (besides disconnecting the USB cable) so that is does not power up every time I turn on the computer?

Currently I have the RAMPS and Arduino powered from a 12V power supply thru an on/off switch so that powering up the printer when I want to use it not a problem.

thanks

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kd6hq
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Is it possible to turn the Arduino 2560 board off (besides disconnecting the USB cable) so that is does not power up every time I turn on the computer?
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There isn't any easy, simple way to do that. However, note that the Arduino Mega 2560 power consumption is usually around 250mW (1/4W) when powered from USB. The TV in your living room standby power consumption is probably around 5W, so that gives you an idea of how little power the Arduino uses.

You could cut the red 5V wire in your USB cable, so that the Arduino only gets power when you switch on the 12V power supply.

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AndrewBCN


There isn't any easy, simple way to do that. However, note that the Arduino Mega 2560 power consumption is usually around 250mW (1/4W) when powered from USB. The TV in your living room standby power consumption is probably around 5W, so that gives you an idea of how little power the Arduino uses.

Thanks but power consumption is not the issue, it just bugs me that something is turned on when it's not necessarily wanted.

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enif
You could cut the red 5V wire in your USB cable, so that the Arduino only gets power when you switch on the 12V power supply.

Yes, that should work. I'll give it a try.