[Mike Betts]

Originally Posted by BitTwiddler

... Ay-yi-yi! We've been running ours directly off the 12Vdc terminals. It still works but I hope we haven't somehow damaged it...

I doubt if it was damaged. I think the main reason for powering from the dedicated terminals is to provide a kind of UPS function. The battery voltage can crash to very low levels when you put large demands on it (like four cim motors at near stall...).

FIRST is trying to make the communications as robust as possible.

Change the wiring to their recommendations and move on...