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Unread 03-03-2004, 12:41
caffel caffel is offline
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AKA: Charlie Affel
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Join Date: Jan 2003
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Smile Re: Drill Motor + Gearbox + Breaker Problems

One suggestion that's simpler than the great current sensors.
Go to JC Whitney and look for their $10 ammeter that straps onto the outside of a wire (used for testing starters & alternators).
Attach this to the battery cable and watch it as uyou run the robot through some of the moves that load the motors the most.
Last year we had no luck until we did this test and realized that the many theoretical calculations were misleading us. We were simly drawing too much current. At the end (November) we had a slower, more powerful and completely reliable drive train.
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