[wilsonmw04]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

Osc,
I wish I could agree with you but...
Many of those that are posting questions here have exhausted their ability to find the answer somewhere else. In many cases they are looking for quick answers that support their own thinking or interpretation. When the first answer that appears to be in agreement shows up, they stop reading the thread or ignore all other posts that have the answer. In the years that the moderators have been watching the forums I can tell you of many incidents were the answers were not only misleading but downright harmful if implemented. For team members who have not made themselves familiar with reading the rule book or getting a team member to post the question on the Q&A, the answer provided here may get implemented to the detriment of the team. I am particularly vigilant of false beliefs showing up in the motor, electrical or technical forums as these tend to produce the greatest effect on teams and robots. However skilled we are at watching the answers, we are all working on teams and have other interests that may keep us from seeing a post that has received 20 replies in an hour, and all of them untrue.
For a real world example, a poster of several years ago specified that a 50 amp charger not only charged the battery faster, but that it was completely safe. He went on to state that it was allowed by FIRST and that his team had used it for years without any damage or ill effects on the battery. His signature was "electrical engineer". What this post was, in fact, was a young student in his first year on the team after a few days on the electrical sub team, who had heard something about 50 amp charging and filling in the blanks assumed it referred to his teams charger. Readers of that post immediately began ordering 50 amp chargers and some went out and purchased them that same day. All of this took place before a moderator was able to check out the post. Then, as now, 6 amp charging is the max allowed. Any current higher than 6 amps will damage the battery and 50 amps will likely result in battery damage or explosion. Not only were the higher current chargers not allowed, the rulebook specified that only the provided KOP charger could be used. Thankfully that charger did not end up at a regional event where an explosive battery could have harmed other students or caused a fire in the pits. If you don't know specifics hold off posting until a knowledgeable person can respond. If you are only vaguely familiar with the rule book, state "Rule Rxx states ... but I am unsure whether that fits your situation" or "That has been answered in the Q&A" and give the link.

Is this the fault of the poster or everyone who read the post in CD and took it for "fact" without checking for themselves first? The only real way to deal with misinformation on CD is to stop answering questions completely and just redirect everyone to the Q&A forum on usfirst.org, or having every post vetted and fact checking by mods before posting. Neither of these are good options. Personally, the public needs to take EVERY post on CD with a grain of salt. Read everything you want. Weigh the information and make your own judgment. If anyone makes a design choice on their robot based solely on a post/posts on CD and they run afoul of the official rules, they have no one to blame but themselves.