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Unread 30-12-2013, 16:00
Unsung FIRST Hero
Al Skierkiewicz Al Skierkiewicz is offline
Broadcast Eng/Chief Robot Inspector
AKA: Big Al WFFA 2005
FRC #0111 (WildStang)
Team Role: Engineer
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Rookie Year: 1996
Location: Wheeling, IL
Posts: 10,795
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Re: Powering the Robot From the Battery Charger

Ether, just testing to see who picked up on that. You pass!
I should have mentioned that it is never a good idea to power anything from a battery charger, particularly smart chargers. These devices generally test to see if a battery is connected and then will alternately turn on and off to supply current and then test for terminal voltage changes. In any case, the amount of current the charger can deliver is generally much, much less that that delivered by the same battery. In the case of the FRC battery, the charger is limited to about 6 amps max while the battery can deliver 100 times that amount when fully charged. In the case of the FTC system, the charger may be designed for NiMH batteries or the old NiCD and in either case, the charge voltage may just exceed the motor controller, it may open a fuse in the charger or it may just permanently damage the charger, controller or both. A 20 amp, 12 volt power supply might be able to run the motors but don't be surprised if the start current causes even that larger charger to shutdown on over current. An FTC motor as I remember is about 7 amps stall current.
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Good Luck All. Learn something new, everyday!
Al
WB9UVJ
www.wildstang.org
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Storming the Tower since 1996.