Putting a Vex spike onto a jag

[Camren]

Is there anyway i can take my vex spike and hook it up to my jaguar because we are having problems with frying issues or is there any relays that are legal that i can put on my robot?

[Vikesrock]

Putting a Spike on a Jaguar makes no sense. Let's slow down and answer some questions.

1. I get from you post and another I just saw that your team has an issue with Jags failing. Is this correct?
2. How exactly are they failing? Plumes of smoke? Blinking red fault light that clears? Failing in one direction?
3. Are they grey or black jags that are failing?
4. What are the jags powering? Please include details like what motor, what the mechanism is like and what gear ratio/gearbox is being used?
5. Is it possible that the failing jaguars got metal shavings in them?

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Camren,
Spikes can only handle 20 amps of current. While that is enough for some of the motors, it will be destroyed by the current demands of others.
I moved the thread into electrical where more people are likely to see and be able to answer your questions.

[Camren]

oh ok thanks also I read that spikes can be used as motor controller but it dosnt say if they're variable

[Camren]

Originally Posted by Vikesrock

Putting a Spike on a Jaguar makes no sense. Let's slow down and answer some questions.

1. I get from you post and another I just saw that your team has an issue with Jags failing. Is this correct?
2. How exactly are they failing? Plumes of smoke? Blinking red fault light that clears? Failing in one direction?
3. Are they grey or black jags that are failing?
4. What are the jags powering? Please include details like what motor, what the mechanism is like and what gear ratio/gearbox is being used?
5. Is it possible that the failing jaguars got metal shavings in them?

1. yes are jags are failing
2. one was fried, 2 stopped working no smoke no sound of components popping, one lost calibration ( we reset it it works). and one for some reason flips the values.
3. the black ones are failing
4. 12v DC motors on a CIMple box
5. the two that stopped working suddenly might have gotten metal shavings in them

[PAR_WIG1350]

Originally Posted by Camren

oh ok thanks also I read that spikes can be used as motor controller but it dosnt say if they're variable

Spikes can act as non-variable, reversible, H-bridge motor controllers. When used as such, no additional components are needed. Jaguars also contain H-bridges, but they are MOSFET H-bridges which means that they can be used for variable speed motor control. As such, if a jaguar is used, a spike would be redundant. Also, spikes are relatively low current devices (compared to jaguars) and aren't really ideal replacements. I would definitely try to figure out what is happening before doing anything else.

[Jon Stratis]

Originally Posted by Camren

1. yes are jags are failing
2. one was fried, 2 stopped working no smoke no sound of components popping, one lost calibration ( we reset it it works). and one for some reason flips the values.
3. the black ones are failing
4. 12v DC motors on a CIMple box
5. the two that stopped working suddenly might have gotten metal shavings in them

Metal shavings are often the cause of failing jags - they really don't like them.

When you say "one for some reason flips the values", do you mean it's driving backwards from what you want? If so, just flip the motor leads on that one to fix it.

When you say 12V DC motors... what motors, exactly? Are these CIM's? Are they some random drill motor you guys found? Without knowing the exact motor and it's specs, we can't really know whats happening.

What are your motors driving? Is there a lot of friction in it, which would cause the motors to wok a lot harder than you would expect? Is it chain driven, and if so, is there a lot of slop in the chain that may be causing short-term stalling when changing directions? Do you have any way available to measure the current the motors are drawing?

Is there a possibility of a short anywhere? Can you check resistances between your frame and the positive/negative terminals on the power distribution board? Can you check the internal resistance (aka between the two motor leads) of your motors, to ensure they are shorted internally?