has anyone burnt out a joystick??

[ICE MAN]

last year we had a slight problem with one of our joysticks. two of the buttons jammed and later those two buttons never worked again. so yes you can burn out a joystick. but both joysticks in 5 minutes, that is ridiculous.

[Andrew Blair]

I'm not sure that is really burning out the joysticks though. Our buttons have stuck, permanantly before, but that seems to be a mechanical problem, not actually releasing magic smoke. Perhaps a manufacturing defect could screw up a pot, but thats it really.

[scitobor 617]

I've found out the hard way that joysticks do not take kindly to long drops but blue smoke ? I must commend you for such enthusiasm for a finished robot that you unleashed the blue smoke from such a generally docile device .

[KenWittlief]

Find out exactly what those SW programmers did, they may have made a major scientific discovery

because up until today it has been impossible to 'program' the user interface to send power out the analog input ports, and burnout input devices.

could they have tapped into the invisible forces of the universe, and inadvertantly opened a window that flooded Zero-Point-Energy into the joystick?

[CmptrGk]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

could they have tapped into the invisible forces of the universe, and inadvertantly opened a window that flooded Zero-Point-Energy into the joystick?

[OFFTOPIC]
is this a reference to Stargate (sg1 or Atlantis)
[/OFFTOPIC]


is it possible for one to actually be able to burn out a joystick?

[sciencenerd]

Originally Posted by CmptrGk

is it possible for one to actually be able to burn out a joystick?

Oh sure. Send enough current through any electrical device, and you'll overload it and burn it out. I think the question is whether the operator interface is programmed to be able to send that much current. According to KenWittlief, it is not.

[Eldarion]

Originally Posted by CmptrGk

[OFFTOPIC]
is this a reference to Stargate (sg1 or Atlantis)
[/OFFTOPIC]

Nah. If it was, they would've blown up our entire planet along with their joysticks!

(The last Atlantis episode)

[Leo 1529]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

Find out exactly what those SW programmers did, they may have made a major scientific discovery

because up until today it has been impossible to 'program' the user interface to send power out the analog input ports, and burnout input devices.

could they have tapped into the invisible forces of the universe, and inadvertantly opened a window that flooded Zero-Point-Energy into the joystick?

i will have to ask them tomorrow...

i dont know about all that invisible stuff though

[KenWittlief]

The joysticks have 100k ohm potentiometers connected to 5VDC. At most they will draw 50uA dissapating 250 microWatts.

there is no way to program the user interface to send more power out the joystick input connector

my last post was tongue-in-cheek.

I would guess they were connecting new input devices (switches or pots) to the user interface, and either decided to add external power, or they got the wires seriously crossed with something else?

[Leo 1529]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

The joysticks have 100k ohm potentiometers connected to 5VDC. At most they will draw 50uA dissapating 250 microWatts.

there is no way to program the user interface to send more power out the joystick input connector

my last post was tongue-in-cheek.

I would guess they were connecting new input devices (switches or pots) to the user interface, and either decided to add external power, or they got the wires seriously crossed with something else?

maybe, our joysticks were inside a metal container that was our controller box and the edges on it really arent sharp enough to cut a cord but they might have had condsiderable wear on them from being hauled all around the shop...

[SoftwareBug2.0]

Originally Posted by Leo 1529

maybe, our joysticks were inside a metal container that was our controller box and the edges on it really arent sharp enough to cut a cord but they might have had condsiderable wear on them from being hauled all around the shop...

If that is the case, I suspect it would be the OI and not the joysticks that burned up.

[coldabert]

My first year, I burned a few potentiometers by shorting the leads. The high current then melted and burned the resistor. The blue smoke prolly came from the burning plastic.

"Its only Rock and Roll"

[Jared Russell]

Make sure the joystick connector is clear of conductive debris (solder, spare wires, metal shavings).

It's unlikely that was the problem, but it's still a good idea.