Damaged Spike
 

We have two VEX Pro Spikes that do not respond to the control signals. The wiring looks correct and we are able to detect +4V on the A and B wires at the correct time. The LED glows orange all the time. Both had been plugged into the PWM outputs of the DSC before. The students did not read the DSC documentation and had never used a Spike in previous years. Is it likely that the Spikes are now damaged?

We are not using the ribbon cable for the DB37 connection to the CRio.

Thanks.

Phil

Re: Damaged Spike
 

Make sure the PWM cable is properly seated in the Spike.
With the robot enabled and the Spike set to one direction-to see the change if it occurs (and the motor disconnected for safety if necessary), try removing and reinserting several times in slightly different directions ech time.

Re: Damaged Spike
 

That is the exact behavior of a dead spike. If moving the wire doesn't help, then it is probably dead.

Re: Damaged Spike
 

We had the exact same failure this weekend. Orange light on all the time, good fuse, good wiring but no actuation. We changed the spike and nothing else and now it works perfect. I suspect the female pins for the signal cable inside the spike are widened out from all the years of use and could be fixed by pressing them back together, but that would require opening the spike and making modifications which would not be legal. The spike is now in the box of illegal practice parts and if we can fix it will be used as such.

Re: Damaged Spike
 

It looks like the problem was the PWM cables not being pushed in far enough. I took the Spike to work and tested it using a DC supply. I was able to get it to work with input voltages much lower (1 V) than what the specifications say is required (3 V).

I don't think that the socket for the PWM cables were worn out since these were brand new. This team has also never used Spikes in their robots before.

Thanks for the tips.

Phil

Re: Damaged Spike
 

Spike should be plugged into relay PWM section of the DSC. check if you have doe that because it is really IMPORTANT!!!

Re: Damaged Spike
 

[R58-M] Devices may be repaired, provided the performance and specifications of the component after the repair are identical to those before the repair.

New rule this year. You're allowed to repair broken electrical parts back to factory specs. I think it's thanks to the massive amounts of blown FTC motors last year.
I think he already discovered and rectified that part of the problem.