spike relay problem?

[student 1254]

you should try and bypass the spike and use a victor control. we just did that today and it solved our problem. Now we can go forward and reverse.

[coreyjon]

Did anyone ever figure this out? I am having the same problem. In the programming I have it set that one button is forward, another reverse and when nothing is pressed it is off. The digital side car responds as expected, green light forward, red light reverse, and no lights when off. The spike (blue label IFI) responds to forward (green light on spike, +12 volts), but does nothing when reverse is sent to it. no clicking no nothing. Sending the kOn command turns on both the green and red light on the digital side car and the green light on the spike.

Why no reverse? such an odd problem.

when the command kOn is sent is it activating both internal relays? so I should be getting 12 volts from both output pins when compared to ground on the power distro panel? Just trying to figure out a way to trouble shoot and see if one of the relays are bad, I do not have another spike on hand at the moment to test by just swapping them out.

[Mark McLeod]

Originally Posted by coreyjon

when the command kOn is sent is it activating both internal relays? so I should be getting 12 volts from both output pins when compared to ground on the power distro panel?

Your code passes muster if the Digital sidecar Relay LEDs are performing as described.

The Spike should reflect what the Sidecar LEDs are doing, although I think the Spike should be yellow for neutral when the Sidecar LEDs are both off.

It sounds as if the code is working through to the Sidecar.
Any of the parts after that could be causing a problem:

• Sidecar itself (test the Relay pin outputs with a multimeter- relays are a constant 5v on both the red & green signal pins when they are active, 0v when not)
• PWM cable (test at the far end with a multimeter)
• Spike (test 12v output on M+ & M- lines to ground)

P.S. It sounds like the red signal line isn't getting through for some reason.

[coreyjon]

all sound like excellent troubleshooting techniques, will perform and report back.

[philso]

Either one of the wires in the PWM cable may have a poor connection or the SPIKE is damaged.

Make sure that the PWM cable is seated all the way into the spike with the black wire (- on the Digital Sidecar) next to the "B" on the SPIKE.

Pull the PWM cable out completely. Check each wire end-to-end with an Ohmmeter to make sure there is not a broken wire.

There may be a dirty connection. Unplug and replug the PWM cable 5-10 times at each end. Try rubbing a red pencil eraser on the pins of the PWM cable to clean them.

Set your voltmeter to DC Volts. Hold the black probe on the pin with the black wire of the PWM cable. Hold the red probe on the middle pin and have your software enable forward then reverse. You should see about +4 V in one direction. Move the red probe to the third pin and have your software enable forward then reverse. You should see about +4 V in the other direction. If this is OK, your signals are getting to your SPIKE but it is not responding due to a bad connection between the SPIKE and the PWM cable or damage to the SPIKE.

In the "Braking Mode", both relays in the SPIKE should be energized. Set your voltmeter to DC Volts. Put the black probe on the "-" terminal of the spike (input from the PD Board). Put the red probe on the "M+" and "M-" terminals. You should see +12 V relative to the "-" on both output terminals.

It is possible that the circuitry for one direction is damaged in your SPIKE. The circuitry for forward and reverse are largely independent so it is possible to have a SPIKE where only one direction works. Replace it with another SPIKE.

I just noticed Mark has posted similar advice.