Victor 884 PWM problem

[m-boyer]

Hey everybody!
We have a fisher-price motor hooked up to a victor 884. Everytime we turn on the robot it starts flashing orange, meaning that there is no PWM signal. We've tried different PWM cables, switched connections in the Victors and in the DSC, used a different battery, different Victors, different positions on the PD board, and it STILL flashes orange.
Any ideas? The programmer claims that it's not a programming problem, but does it sound like one?
My apologies if this post has already been made somewhere else.

[EthanMiller]

Try flipping the PWM cable around. I've only gotten them right on the first try vey recently...

[electron]

I'm the other electronics guy for 2753, and We have already tried both ways.

[jsasaki]

If you tried both ways I would suggest looking into the pwm connecter part of the victor and then figuring out where the 3 pins should align in there because from trial and error I had I figured out that I had 2 pins in but not all three because of how big the hole for the connector was. Do you get it?

[Chuck Glick]

If you are using LabView, take a look at your code. Make sure that you have set that PWM port to "Victor" and not "Jaguar".

That would be the next most likely culprit.

Can you also post some pictures of your setup for us to attempt to troubleshoot the problem? Makes it easier if we know what we are working with.

[Ramiro_T]

Why don't you try bending the pins on you pwm cable so it will make a tight fit on the connector. And remember to plug your pwm right. The Victors have connectors that have a stubborn mind of its own.

[Joe Ross]

It can be quite difficult to get a PWM cable to seat properly into a Victor 884. I suspect that is the problem. You can prove it's not a software issue by plugging a jaguar into the same PWM cable.

[fsgond]

In the past I have removed the pins and shaved down the plastic. This allows the connector to go in further and make the connection.

[omalleyj]

On our test robot we had one channel to a Jag suddenly stop working. It turned out the cable between the cRIO digital module and the DSC had become slightly askew. Other PWM channels both before and after it on the DSC worked fine. You may want to check the cable is still fully seated. (especially if your robot has been going over the bumps at high speed )

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by omalleyj

On our test robot we had one channel to a Jag suddenly stop working. It turned out the cable between the cRIO digital module and the DSC had become slightly askew.

There were two threaded standoffs for the Digital Sidecar in the Kit of Parts (top of page 14 of the checklist). They are there to let you connect the 37-pin cable firmly.

[electron]

Thanks everyone for the speedy replies!

just to let you all know that it was mostly a programming problem, but neither the programmers nor the electricians are exactly sure what it is.

but it does work now.