fiduciary

Author Topic: Motor Connected to L4 always on after Battery Installed  (Read 493 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Mulanzo

  • No Force
  • *
  • Posts: 4
  • Um...Hello?
Motor Connected to L4 always on after Battery Installed
« on: November 16, 2020, 11:08:01 AM »
Hello,

I'm working on wiring up my first saber and have a motor I want to use to drive some spinning elements in my custom saber.  For some reason, the motor is always on even when the saber is powered down.  I have it wired to L4 and have strippower=1110.  Not sure if I'm doing something wrong, but some help would be greatly appreciated.  Am I right that when I have a Motor on L4, it will be sharing the L4 pad with one that is connected to my Neopixel Hilt connector (-ve) terminal?

Thanks, friends.

Offline Nemezis

  • Padawan Learner
  • **
  • Posts: 60
  • Hello there..
Re: Motor Connected to L4 always on after Battery Installed
« Reply #1 on: November 16, 2020, 11:11:12 AM »
Do you have à drawing or a  photo of your build ? Do you use neopixel Blade?

Offline Mulanzo

  • No Force
  • *
  • Posts: 4
  • Um...Hello?
Re: Motor Connected to L4 always on after Battery Installed
« Reply #2 on: November 16, 2020, 12:49:23 PM »
Here is a drawing.  The soldering job is very terrible and I%u2019m embarrassed to show it  :sad:  Here is how it is rigged up so far.  It works, but it turns on immediately after installing the battery and not when I power up the Saber as intended.  I am using a Neopixel Blade by KR Sabres - the Pixelstick. 

[nofollow]

I basically copied the way it is shown in the CFX guide.  Knowing me and my soldering skills, I probably did it entirely wrong, but I cannot seem to find anything wrong on general inspection. 

Thanks in advance
« Last Edit: November 16, 2020, 12:51:53 PM by Mulanzo »

Offline Nemezis

  • Padawan Learner
  • **
  • Posts: 60
  • Hello there..
Re: Motor Connected to L4 always on after Battery Installed
« Reply #3 on: November 16, 2020, 01:07:30 PM »
You use ports 1,2,3 to control the power supply of the neopixel blade, which is good but on your drawing, port 4 is also "bridged" to port 3 which will trigger the motor as soon you will activate CFX.

Connect the ground of your motor directly to Port 4 without bridging.

Motor will be triggered by the "4th color" of your blade -> you must set it so that it meets the voltage needed for your motor (most prolly 3,3V).

Offline Mulanzo

  • No Force
  • *
  • Posts: 4
  • Um...Hello?
Re: Motor Connected to L4 always on after Battery Installed
« Reply #4 on: November 16, 2020, 02:50:08 PM »
Ahh I see.  I was under the impression that all L pads 1-4 had to be connected to the pixel stick to provide enough power.  Thank you for your speedy help. I’ll give it a try and report back shortly.

Offline Mulanzo

  • No Force
  • *
  • Posts: 4
  • Um...Hello?
Re: Motor Connected to L4 always on after Battery Installed
« Reply #5 on: November 16, 2020, 04:27:31 PM »
So the problem still persists. 

I now have L4 wired only to the motor and L1-3 to the Pixelstick. Strippower=1110.   Anything else I’m missing?

I have the red positive wire of the motor wired directly to the battery.


Offline Nemezis

  • Padawan Learner
  • **
  • Posts: 60
  • Hello there..
Re: Motor Connected to L4 always on after Battery Installed
« Reply #6 on: November 16, 2020, 11:31:51 PM »
Strange, I'll test it this afternoon and hopefully will come with a solution.

Offline erv

  • Plecter Labs Inc. "Keeper of the Buttered Toast"
  • Manufacturer
  • Master Force User
  • *
  • Posts: 4920
  • Formerly known as Irvin PLECTER
    • Plecter Labs - Props Electronics
Re: Motor Connected to L4 always on after Battery Installed
« Reply #7 on: November 16, 2020, 11:32:39 PM »
Ahh I see.  I was under the impression that all L pads 1-4 had to be connected to the pixel stick to provide enough power.  Thank you for your speedy help. I’ll give it a try and report back shortly.

if you bridge L3 and L4 you can't expect L4 to be independant.

Motor will be triggered by the "4th color" of your blade -> you must set it so that it meets the voltage needed for your motor (most prolly 3,3V).

Rumbling motors are usually more around 1-1.5V but in this case, for spinning chambers, I don't know. Ensure you have enough drive so the motor can start properly. You can also set a lockup color / foc color with specific drive on channel 4 so that you motor spins faster during lockup.

Offline Nemezis

  • Padawan Learner
  • **
  • Posts: 60
  • Hello there..
Re: Motor Connected to L4 always on after Battery Installed
« Reply #8 on: November 17, 2020, 01:59:59 AM »
Ok, I tested it and it works 5 squares.

1. Check your schematics

     

     I suspect you're using a geared motor 6mm DC3V.
     Mine is draining 36mA@3v. On a single 3,7V battery full charge, you'll have 4,2V -> I used a 33Ω resistor (Orange/Orange/Black) for my test.

2.Be sure you have the latest firmware on CFX.

3.Use R.I.C.E to check your config files.

     I'm pretty sure the problem is there.
     Once you connected your CFX, hit the "read settings" button and go to Tab1 "General"
     Check that you led strip settings are showing XXX0
     Toggle the last bit -> Motor should start at "X" and stop at "O"

Well.. good luck


« Last Edit: November 17, 2020, 02:21:47 AM by Nemezis »

Offline erv

  • Plecter Labs Inc. "Keeper of the Buttered Toast"
  • Manufacturer
  • Master Force User
  • *
  • Posts: 4920
  • Formerly known as Irvin PLECTER
    • Plecter Labs - Props Electronics
Re: Motor Connected to L4 always on after Battery Installed
« Reply #9 on: November 17, 2020, 02:05:39 AM »
all the above, good stuff :-)
*thumbs up*

 

retrousse