Wiring

[kronicstorm]

I have 2 drill motors and a car fan motor for my weapon.
I am using 2 Electroniz for my drive(drill motors)
I am using a Sadertooth for my fan motor
I want to wire them all up using 2 9.6v batterys

I would like some help wiring them all up like a diagram or some pointers.

Thx

[zoll]

Hi just a quick sketch but something like this is what you need.



I think you will also need a battery for the reciver as I dont think the esc's your using have BEC's

[geeza]

Hope this helps

[typhoon_driver]

the best way i can advise is to create a terminal block at your batteries using a couple of bolts on a piece of plastic and crimp connectors on the connections to the block. Then you are basically paralleling everything up from this terminal block. If you need to then refresh your knowledge of series and parallel circuits.

Whats the weapon? I would be hesitant to use the sabretooth with a fan motor.

[kronicstorm]

Why would you not use a sabertooth with a fan motor?
What would you suggest for a replacement?

Thx for all the help from every one

[daliad100]

I'm assuming car fan motors can draw too much current for a sabertooth depending on what you've got attached to it.

You should check the current draw on your motor whist spinning up the weapon and at constant speed to check if you will damage the speedo.

Edit: Also there are single channel sabertooth speedos now? I've only seen dual channel ones.

[RogueTwoRobots]

Car fan motors can produce up to 1hp, depending on the model. To put that into perspective, the popular Bosch 750W motors used to drive heavyweights are 1hp, and you wouldn't have much luck controlling one of them with a Sabretooth controller (or SyRen controller, the single channel equivalent).

I am assuming you need variable speed control? If not, then car fan motors can be operated by a relay or even a toggle switch moved by a servo (I believe this is the method used by Dragonstrike) and this control method wouldn't cost very much.
If you do need variable control, you'd be better off purchasing something like a Victor 883 or 885. They are more expensive but they would cope with a car fan motor (the 885 being capable of handling twice as much current as the 883)

http://www.robotmarketplace.com/products/IFI-V883.html
http://www.robotmarketplace.com/products/IFI-V885.html

Also, what Gary mentions about using some bolts to make a terminal block is a very effective way of distributing power throughout your robot and is one that I have used in all my robots since I learned about it. For a bit of visualisation:



The bolts at the top of the picture with all the wires and yellow connectors going to them are power distribution bolts (as I call them). Basically I take the negative battery connection and fit it to one bolt and fit the positive to the other. This way, my full power supply is available from these bolts. Anything that needs powered (drive ESCs, weapon ESC, LED etc) is simply bolted positive-to-positive, negative-to-negative to these bolts and then they get the power they need. The ones in the picture are maybe a little close together, a small length of metal falling across them could easily short the circuit. So maybe mount them a little further apart, wrap insulating tape round them when everything is wired up, and only use non-conducting materials as the mounting points for your bolts, not metal surfaces!

[typhoon_driver]

if you do the sums with a 1hp electric motor, 1hp = 750w (ish)

Now as power = current x voltage

so lets say that you are running a 12v system with a 750w motor.

750/12 = 62.5A - far more than a sabretooth can handle.

Another thing you have to bear in mind with electric motors is that when they are stalled they will draw far higher currents. 1hp motors can draw as much as 200amps when stalled before they burn out. For a split second before the motor starts to rotate it is effectively stalled. Now it won't quite draw the huge 200amps or so but it still will draw more current than its regular running current.

You haven't said what you are going to be running with the fan motor so I am going to assume either electronic axe or spinning disc?

If you are looking for on/off control then using one of these relays

http://www.jaycarelectronics.co.uk/prod ... BCATID=754

along with a battleswitch (see technobots) will give you on off control of a motor. I have used these relays with magmotors and they have handled them even when stalled!

Proportional control gets a bit trickier and more expensive. The victor as Jamie mentions would do the job along with a number of other controllers.

But whatever you do, please don't wire a sabretooth to a fan motor!!! They are nice speed controllers when run within their range. I ran one towards its limits and smoked two of them and that was only with drill motors.

[kronicstorm]

I am wanting to run a spinner with my fan motor, i want it to run both ways not just one.

[typhoon_driver]

Don't use a sabretooth for that application.

Why do you want it to run both ways? There isn't much point in being able to do that and if you switch the direction in the arena when its spinning one way suddenly you'll throw a huge amount of current through the speedo and probably kill even a victor.

With spinners you want things to be as simple as possible. I've tried both variable speed and on/off and always found the variable speed to be rather pointless and nothing more than a distraction when you are trying to drive your machine.