Some questions and answers...

[Joe Johnson]

Folks have asked me in person the following:

Question #1:
Where are the "Transorbs" required by FIRST on Victors with red labels?

The Victors used in the systems we provided do not require external transorbs. If the label is red is either one of 2 things:
#1 Innovation First gave us "blue" Victors with "red" labels -- this is possible since the CDI was used as a full scale trial run of the control system prior to FIRST using them.
#2 We have mistakenly put an old Victor in a CDI box when we reworked the boxes.

#1 is no problem at all. #2 could be a problem.

SO... ... I am asking teams to look in their boxes very closely at the Victors. Check to see if you have a blue label on your Victors. If you have a red label Victor, it may still be a "blue" Victor. One easy way to see this is to look for a tall capacitor beneath the cooling fan. As I recall, it is in the middle of all the FET's and is almost as tall (or perhaps even taller than) the FET's.

Please respond to this message once you checked so that I can see if this is a problem or not.

Question #2:

Can we run a Globe motor and a Drill motor off 1 Victor?

No, this is not allowed per the Application Notes (again, I want to remind folks that the APP-NOTES are part of the RULES and must be followed -- Have you read them? )

Question #3:

Where are the fuses for the Victors?

The batteries we use have a 27 Amp internal circuit breaker that is smaller than the 30 Amp circuit breakers we use in FIRST to protect the Victors. This breaker is sufficient protection for the Victors. beyond this, it seemed silly to have a 30A breaker on a circuit that was already protected with a 27A breaker.