I’m working on a non-FRC robot that has Victor SP controllers. I’d like to run it at 24V rather than 12V, but noticed the Victor SPs have a 6-16V operating range. Does anyone (maybe one of the CTRE folks on here) know what the limitation in the victor is? I’m guessing it’s either the control electronics regulator or being conservative about the FETs inside.
I have a Victor SP apart on my bench right now to repair damage we did to it.
There is a large electrolytic capacitor inside which is rated for 16V. It will almost certainly grenade at 24V. The MOSFETs have a VDS max of 30V.
I can’t speak for the Victor, but the SPARK is rated at a 30 Volt Max, which is the limit for both our mosfets and LDO.
We have done quite a bit of testing of the SPARK at 24v and they work just fine.
Wow. Thanks for the info, Ken. That sounds pretty reasonable since Victor is clearly targeted at FRC 12V systems. Do you have any pictures from the disassembly?
I just heard about the SPARK during this season. It sounds great, especially since I’m not space constrained as an FRC electrical board would be. I would use those if I hadn’t already bought Victors with someone else’s money.
I don’t know how much the nice folks at VEX or CTRE would like me posting photos of the Victor SP innards. I’ll PM a couple photos instead.