Clicking and bad-smelling electrical

[karanesu]

We have hooked up our control system, and the wires are clicking and a bad smell is being produced. We have checked all our connections, and everything looks good. Ideas?

[IronicDeadBird]

Originally Posted by karanesu

We have hooked up our control system, and the wires are clicking and a bad smell is being produced. We have checked all our connections, and everything looks good. Ideas?

Got pictures of your electronics layout?

[thinker&planner]

It's a little hard to help without more information,
Can you identify which specific part(s) is (are) clicking? How fast/often are the clicks? (Relays?)
What does it smell like? Melting rubber?

[karanesu]

I think we just figured out the problem. Some of our team needs to be informed that black is negative and red is positive. I'll post again if the problem continues. Thanks!!

[philso]

Please, please, please have the person doing the wiring check their work, wire by wire when they are done. Ensure that the wires are the correct colour, the correct size/gauge and that they cannot be pulled out. Then have a second person, knowledgeable about electronics, perform these checks a second time. Then, and only then, should power be applied.

We all want to see you on the playing field.

[Amar Shah]

Could the clicking be from the snap action circuit breakers opening and closing?

[NorviewsVeteran]

Originally Posted by karanesu

Some of our team needs to be informed that black is negative and red is positive.

Aaaand that is how you kill Jaguars.

[IronicDeadBird]

Originally Posted by NorviewsVeteran

Aaaand that is how you kill Jaguars.

Its actually why they Jaguars are endangered...
But yeah generally be very careful when testing electronics out.

[Christopher149]

Originally Posted by Amar Shah

Could the clicking be from the snap action circuit breakers opening and closing?

Upon reading the thread title, my very first thought was that positive and ground were switched input side, and the breaker is clicking (since we pulled that off with one Jag in 2013).

[nighterfighter]

Hopefully it was ONLY a few Jaguars...not something more important.

[steinra]

Just a reminder, ALL the speed controllers are not reverse polarity protected and will smoke if connected backwards. Yea, we had it happen to us in the past too ... *sigh*.

Randy

[nixiebunny]

I noticed that one of our students had wired up the main battery cable backwards on our practice electrical panel. I pointed this out to the other electrical persons and they corrected it. I will make sure to let the person who did the backwards work know that it was not a good idea.

And... always have two other people check any wiring before allowing a battery to be connected. Teach the students that this is a rule to follow always, lest they have to pay out of pocket for $400 worth of motor controllers.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Following several people looking over the wiring, we follow this procedure. We first power up with all breakers out of the PD. If that passes, then we add one breaker at a time, checking each branch circuit before moving on to the next one.

[philso]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

Following several people looking over the wiring, we follow this procedure. We first power up with all breakers out of the PD. If that passes, then we add one breaker at a time, checking each branch circuit before moving on to the next one.

This is a great way to find any faults. I am doing something similar with a new circuit board design, populating one section at a time. Be aware that there may be more than one fault in a system.

[2508electronics]

Someone on my team (not electrical) put the connector on the battery the wrong way last year. Nothing was damaged however the PDB was quite obnoxious.