Model Boat Mayhem
Technical, Techniques, Hints, and Tips => The "Black Arts!" ( Electrics & Electronics ) => Topic started by: sparky327 on July 03, 2013, 09:18:05 pm
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Can anyone help i am trying to run my navigation lights through a switcher unit but i cant get it to work what am i doing wrong.
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A photo of your set up would help.
I trust that you have checked all connections/joints, continuity and proved that your lights worked before installation.
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Hi sparky,have you plugged your switcher into a spare channel?
What type of switcher is it?
have you wired it on the non-latching connection?
do the lights work without the switcher?
How have you wired it?
A pic. or diagram would help to see if you have wired them correctly.
Without that info we are as stuck as you.
Have you looked on the ACtion website?
Dave has diagrams of the ACtion switcher wiring( it could help).
john
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Is it a switcher that has a relay contact output?
or is it a solid state device?
Plus all the previous questions.
The following are possibilities from the information given so far -
1 The unit is broken
2 The lamp circuit is broken
3 The unit requires that the lamps be connected with a negative behind them but has a positive
4 The unit requires that the lamps be connected with a positive behind them but has a negative
5 The lamps may be sensitive to which way round they are connected
6 The unit may be sensitive to the polarity of the load
7 The unit may have been overloaded
In the cases of 3-6, either the lamp circuit or the unit may have failed due to incorrect connection. In the case of 7 the unit may have failed due to overload
8 If the unit is not plugged into the channel associated with the expected TX control, it won't work.
Any one of the above will prevent it working, some until the mistake is corrected, some until the broken bit is replaced, depending. If more than one applies, it just makes it trickier to find. A careful read of the instructions usually helps.
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Can anyone help i am trying to run my navigation lights through a switcher unit but i cant get it to work what am i doing wrong.
If the switcher unit is like a robbe one you may have to adjust the little pot (s) to get the unit to latch when you operate the channel control.
If your using a stick to operate then hold the stick to its full position and then turn the pot so that the relay clicks then when you move the stick to that position again it should switch off / on
I use this type quite often as you can select at what position of the stick throw the unit will switch so I have two separate switchers on the same stick but one works at half throw while the other works at full throw.
R
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Many thanks for your replies. the bulbs im useing are 3v 100ma but the switcher unit is rated at 50mv will i have to get 50ma bulbs. I am running the bulbs on 6v i assume the bulbs will share the voltage equally or do they need seperate power supply.
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Many thanks for your replies. the bulbs im useing are 3v 100ma but the switcher unit is rated at 50mv will i have to get 50ma bulbs. I am running the bulbs on 6v i assume the bulbs will share the voltage equally or do they need seperate power supply.
That is the weirdest switcher I've ever heard of. 50mV?? Are you sure?
The scant information you have given doesn't enable anyone to make an informed reply to your question, so could you tell us exactly what type of switcher it is (i.e. name and type) and from where you bought it? Did it not come with any instructions?
DM
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That is the weirdest switcher I've ever heard of. 50mV?? Are you sure?
The scant information you have given doesn't enable anyone to make an informed reply to your question, so could you tell us exactly what type of switcher it is (i.e. name and type) and from where you bought it? Did it not come with any instructions?
DM
50mV is 0.050 volts. Not much, in fact, sweet *o* all. As an output parameter, its either a misreading (50mA, perhaps?) or an indication of something totally different and probably irrelevant. Just something to fill a space on the page in the hope that a buyer lacking knowledge will be impressed by a technical looking number.
If it was 50mA, as could be the case with a fully solid state device intended to work either a relay or just light a few LEDs, trying to run 100mA bulbs will, if it switched, probably have killed it.
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Couldn't agree more, Doc. 50mA wouldn't handle any more than two standard LEDs, while 50mV wouldn't put the light into a gnat's eyeballs.
DM
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My apologies to everyone the switcher unit is 50ma and it is called a microSWITCHER made by Mtroniks i have wired it as instructions with one light coming out of output B going to the live side of the batteries and the other light coming out of output A and going to negative side in my mind this makes up a circuit hope this helps you help me.
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Hi Sparkey, the MTRonics microswitcher units switch to the
negative Through your receiver
you will have to connect 1 bulb coming out of A going to battery +
the other bulb coming out of B going also to the battery+Not NEGATIVE
hope this is clear.
The 2 bulb circuits start at the battery+ through the bulb to the switch
in the Mtronics unit and when switched by the Tx goes to ground /neutral/negative.
follow that and all should be well.
john
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My apologies to everyone the switcher unit is 50ma and it is called a microSWITCHER made by Mtroniks i have wired it as instructions with one light coming out of output B going to the live side of the batteries and the other light coming out of output A and going to negative side in my mind this makes up a circuit hope this helps you help me.
As john44 says, both lamps will need to connect to battery+ve. Connecting a 100mA bulb to a supply capable of 50mA will do the switcher no good at all. The output is intended for LEDs (and not too many of them in parallel) or a relay with a current rating for the coil of less than 50mA. If the B outlet is still working, call it lucky. If the A outlet is connected, it should work, but only if connected to an appropriate load.
http://www.mtroniks.net/resources/microswitcher.jpg (http://www.mtroniks.net/resources/microswitcher.jpg) very clear on the instructions, a diagram showing that the unit controls a connection to the ground line and that both loads need to be backed by battery +ve, and a clear statement that the lamp load must not exceed 50mA.
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Hi all, have got the switcher unit working ok no damage done. Is there anyway i can make the ligths brighter as they are a bit disappointing to say the least. Wired up the motor but when i push the stick forward the motor starts to buzz before it turns same as in reverse is this normal.
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Yes the motor will hum or buzz depending on ESC type before the pulses get long enough to start it moving.
3 volt 100mA bulbs will not be blindingly bright at the best of times. How did you wire them?
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i have wired the lights through a 50ma switcher unit so i cant use any larger than that, unless i scrap the switcher unit and go the way of a normal switch. many thanks for everyones help.
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i have wired the lights through a 50ma switcher unit so i cant use any larger than that, unless i scrap the switcher unit and go the way of a normal switch. many thanks for everyones help.
Not so at all. The switcher can drive a relay, which can operate as many lights as you want.
suitable relays on here - http://www.maplin.co.uk/pcb-mount-low-profile-10a-relays-2512 (http://www.maplin.co.uk/pcb-mount-low-profile-10a-relays-2512) - the RP68Y requires 6 volts to operate the coil, the contacts can handle up to 10 amps.
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If you go with that relay ,you may require a flyback diode.
a simple 1n4001 or a 1n400x in that line up ..it wont take much..but it does a lot to supress back EMF and voltage spikes.
(http://www.douglaskrantz.com/Flyback_Diode/Diodeacrossrelay.jpg)
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Of course, in that drawing, the positive is at the bottom of the page.