circuit breakers....

[archiver]

Posted by Anton Abaya at 2/1/2001 12:08 AM EST


Coach on team #419, Rambots, from UMass Boston / BC High and NONE AT THE MOMENT! .



when the circuit breakers trip...do i assume that the speed controllers wont get power either? (meaning it doesnt run or have any lights at all?)

i ask this because our motor stopped working and i had to open the case up to figure out if it was the wiring. so i never really figured out what the heck was wrong... heh...

-anton

[archiver]

Posted by Steven Tine at 2/1/2001 1:32 AM EST


Engineer on team #111, Wildstang, from Wheeling & Rolling Meadows H.S. and Motorola.


In Reply to: circuit breakers....
Posted by Anton Abaya on 2/1/2001 12:08 AM EST:



From past experience, the 30A circuit breakers do not straight trip when there is a short across the output, instead they flicker on and off rapidly. So, the breaker will get hot enough to trip (since they are thermally triggered) for about a second, then during that second it cools enough to return to the regular connected state. Then it repeats the above steps...getting hot then tripping for about a second over and over again. The best way to tell if your circuit breaker is tripping is to quickly feel its temperature. It will be quite hot if the breaker is your problem. You will also hear a slight clicking sound as it turns on and off.

Basically, it does not sound like the circuit breaker was your problem.

Hope that helps!

[archiver]

Posted by Al Skierkiewicz at 2/1/2001 1:44 PM EST


Engineer on team #111, Wildstang, from Wheeling High & Rolling Meadows High and Motorola.


In Reply to: circuit breakers....
Posted by Anton Abaya on 2/1/2001 12:08 AM EST:



: when the circuit breakers trip...do i assume that the speed controllers wont get power either? (meaning it doesnt run or have any lights at all?)

If you have wired the circuit breakers in series with the speed controllers as required by electrical rules then the answer is yes, no power will be supplied to the controllers. However the normal trip mode is as Steve described.(See Steve's post) A total death (no lights at speed controller) may be due to a bad crimp, bad circuit breaker, shorted motor or bad speed controller. Check the first three before swapping out the speed controller.