Electronic – Common GND with Buck Modules

ground

I am creating a LED lighting unit for an Aquarium and I have a 240vAC to 24v DC power supply.

I want to output 12V and 5V also in addition to the 24v DC.

I have 2 buck modules – like these http://www.ebay.com/itm/1Pcs-Lm2596-Power-Supply-Output-1-23V-30V-Dc-Dc-Buck-Converter-Step-Down-Modul-A-/301988858332?hash=item464ff049dc:g:5MgAAOSwYmZXEehH off ebay set to 5v and 12v from the 24v input.

Measuring the DC on the output side I get the correct voltage from the output + and – connections.

My question is in my project I have a need for a lot of 5v and GND connections.

Can I just join all the GNDs together?

Common GND

Will this work or is this a stupid thing to do? What would happen?

The 12v device is an Arduino and the 5v device will be connected to the arduino pins.

Best Answer

This is okay, except that your 240 vac negative terminal is NOT ground. The wiring diagram is a little ambiguous there, but I think you understand.

Best in this case would be a large bread board or something similar to give you a nice working surface, as well as plenty of access to your 5v rail.

Ideally, you want you ground path (current return path) to be reasonaby near your power source or power path.