Jaguars Blinking Red

[shaggy0928]

We are using a tank drive system with one motor on one jaguar. The problem we seem to be having is some kind of current overload. Whenever we attempt to run the motor, the jaguar almost instantly locks up and blinks red for a few seconds, however if you EXTREMELY slowly ramp up the speed from 0-100% you can avoid this lock up.
The motor is not currently connected to anything, as we were thinking strain was causing it to lock up, but even without driving anything, we encounter the same problem.
If anyone knows any possible causes of this problem or solutions, the help would be extremely appreciated.

[Joe Ross]

Are all your electrical connections tight and your battery charged?

[Joe6391]

When we encountered this problem, it was a low battery.

Try swapping out or charging the battery and make sure to check that all your connections are secure.

[shaggy0928]

Alright, I'll try both of those things, thanks guys.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

The symptom you describe is the Jaguar going into current protection. If the jaguar remains inoperative with the Red LED for about 4 seconds, this is the wait time for the Jaguar to reconnect after a fault. If this is what is happening in your robot, it is a good indication that the CIM motors are geared so high that start current is at or near stall current for a length of time. If this is the case, a wise designer will change the gear ratio to slow things down and keep the CIM away from stall.