Spike Red Light?

[sand500]

I have one of the Innovation First Spikes hooked up to the PD board. Nothing else is connected to the spike, nothing to the M+ and M- and nothing to the pwm port.

When I turn on the robot, the spike has a solid red light.
According to the User Guide for the spike, red means reverse. However, if I take a multimeter to the M+ and M- terminals, i get 0V

When I take the multimeter to the 12V and GND terminals, I get 12V so the spike is definitely getting power. And definitely no chance of reverse polarity because 12V terminal is connected to the red on the PDB and GND is connected to black on the PDB.
Also, fuse looks intact.

I am really puzzled by this and I hope you guys can help.

[RufflesRidge]

I seem to remember getting a solid red light with no PWM cable attached, but I can't say for sure. See if the light goes out when you plug the PWM cable in to the Relay port on the Digital Sidecar.

[sand500]

Originally Posted by RufflesRidge

I seem to remember getting a solid red light with no PWM cable attached, but I can't say for sure. See if the light goes out when you plug the PWM cable in to the Relay port on the Digital Sidecar.

Nope, they dont change color.

[Trez]

Have you tired a different spike and got the same problems?

[sand500]

Originally Posted by Trez

Have you tired a different spike and got the same problems?

we have 3 spikes and they all do the same thing.
2 are innovation first, one is the vex pro one.

Is it maybe because we aren't sending it a signal?

The B on the spike PWM port is where the GND of the PWM cable goes right?

[plnyyanks]

When the spike outputs +12V, the LED will be green. When it outputs -12V, the LED will be red. It will be yellow when it outputs 0V.

But IIRC, the light is red when it doesn't have signal.

[DonRotolo]

Note that Spike Relays do NOT get connected to PWM outputs on the Digital Sidecar; instead they must be connected to "Relay" outputs. And yes, B indicates Black (Ground)

Also, actually remove the fuse and check it, or measure its continuity.

[dakaufma]

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

Note that Spike Relays do NOT get connected to PWM outputs on the Digital Sidecar; instead they must be connected to "Relay" outputs. And yes, B indicates Black (Ground)

Also, actually remove the fuse and check it, or measure its continuity.

In my experience the "yellow" for no signal looks very red. If it turns green when you set it to forward and red (generally a slightly different red, although I don't think I could say which is which out of context) when you set it to reverse then you're fine.

It sounds like the spike is operating correctly.

[BitTwiddler]

Actually, according to the user guide on the IFI website, the OFF state with both M+ & M- at ground is indicated by the LED glowing orange.
Is the LED really red or does it look somewhat orange?

[sand500]

Originally Posted by BitTwiddler

Actually, according to the user guide on the IFI website, the OFF state with both M+ & M- at ground is indicated by the LED glowing orange.
Is the LED really red or does it look somewhat orange?

I guess you could say it is orange.

[nitneylion452]

Originally Posted by sand500

I guess you could say it is orange.

Then it's definitely that you have a lack of signal. If when you connect a motor, or whatever your desired application is, and apply a signal, you should see green/red lights. Seems like you're okay.

[Mark McLeod]

I'd vote that the neutral color of the signal light just happens to appear to be a shade of orange/red.
We have debates about what color the real neutral shade is all the time.

The fuse is also good if you have a light. It goes out altogether if there's no fuse. The Spike circuits are protected by the fuse.