Compressor will not start!

[Andy A.]

Originally Posted by Jasmine Zhou

Forward and reverse aren't the same as on; someone who knows more can explain that.

The simple answer is that 'on' means both output terminals of the spike are at +12 volts, as opposed to 'forward' or 'reverse' where one is + and the other -.

The utility being that 'on' allows you to power two loads connected to a shared ground. It's not a common thing in FRC, to the point I wasn't really aware of the functionality till it showed up as a 'bug' in this years code. The obvious use would be running two solenoids with one spike. In that case, 'forward' or 'reverse' would power one load but not the other, and 'on' would power both.