Thread: We fried an 884
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Unread 18-07-2003, 12:12
Andrew Andrew is offline
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Quote:
Could you describe the situation? How long had you been running? Was that motor being used frequently (as in, was the breaker/Victor already warm)? 'Bot acting abnormally? Any problems with retrofitting the
40 amp breakers? Had you been using cool-in-a-can? Could you describe the Victor?

-Andy A.
We had just transported the robot across town. The robot was turned on and was being driven about 20 feet across the room. Some screws had backed out of our gearbox during transport. As the robot reached the end of its travel, the gearbox bound up, stalling the drive motor. Arcs and sparks ensued. No breaker trippage.

This Victor was our competition speed controller on our competition drill motor. We tested the no load current of the motor after all competition had ended and saw no significant degradation. All of our Victors have looked and acted normally during competition and since.

We have never used foreign substances on the breakers (they're too embedded in the robot). We have also never heard or experienced the 40 A breakers trip. Last year, we routinely tripped the 30A breakers, so we hopefully know what to look and listen for.

We have not yet opened the speed controller for inspection. However, the odor of burned speed controller is still detectable. The input section of the Victor continues to function (the power light comes on and gives a solid signal when a valid PWM is present, blinks when no PWM is present). However, we have no output to the motor at all. There are no metal chips that we can see in or around the Victor.