Author Topic: Electronics and microcontroller question  (Read 14005 times)

Offline ka9q

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Re: Electronics and microcontroller question
« Reply #15 on: December 07, 2015, 12:38:10 PM »
What voltages are involved? If you don't feel confident about your abilities, please use a solenoid valve coil with a low voltage rating, e.g., 12V DC, rather than 120V AC. Naturally the relay coil will have to have the same rating as the coil. You marked the top of your schematic with a (+) so I hope it's low voltage DC...


Offline nomuse

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Re: Electronics and microcontroller question
« Reply #16 on: December 25, 2015, 12:46:27 PM »
I feel like throwing in a bit of relay logic I ran into on a job that was done wrong. Cable-driven wagon (aka a platform with wheels) in a production of "A Christmas Carol." Operator-cued, but with safety limit switches at each end of the track that would cut the motor power (the motor was self-braking).

The upstage limit switch, as I discovered afterwards, was wired to supply power to a relay that broke the motor connection. And they'd supplied this power by running an extension cord along the floor under the pinrail. Which got kicked out of the outlet by a railman during tech rehearsal.

So of course the next time they ran the wagon all the way upstage, it over-ran the limit switch and smashed into the back wall -- crushing the very same relay box that was supposed to prevent this.

Wiring to the other side of the relay would have, of course, prevented this. I've noticed, though, how many people can only think on the positive side. How the thing is "supposed" to work or how it works when it is working correctly. The scientific equivalent of only looking at data that proves the hypothesis. Takes training and effort to properly plan so your devices fail safe instead of catastrophic.
« Last Edit: December 25, 2015, 12:50:21 PM by nomuse »

Offline ka9q

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Re: Electronics and microcontroller question
« Reply #17 on: December 25, 2015, 08:26:29 PM »
Takes training and effort to properly plan so your devices fail safe instead of catastrophic.
Yup.

Offline ka9q

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Re: Electronics and microcontroller question
« Reply #18 on: December 25, 2015, 09:04:58 PM »
Naturally the relay coil will have to have the same rating as the coil.
Actually, they can be different if you use a relay with two poles. One pole latches the relay, the other actuates the valve.

Offline Glom

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Re: Electronics and microcontroller question
« Reply #19 on: December 26, 2015, 09:22:05 AM »
Finally Tapatalk allows me to upload.

Anyway I have a demo circuit. The green LED represents the load. The single push of the push button turns it on and it stays on.

Now I'm just waiting on more details on the valves from the vendors before I can build the actual device.

In the meantime, I can focus on other work.

Offline Glom

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Re: Electronics and microcontroller question
« Reply #20 on: February 19, 2016, 01:27:17 PM »
More stupid questions.

I have a transistor that had a Vebo of 6V. My power supply is 24V. Now this is how much greater the emitter can be that the Base. So does that mean that it's okay as long as the Base is connected to ground?

Offline ka9q

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Re: Electronics and microcontroller question
« Reply #21 on: February 20, 2016, 09:21:37 AM »
Vebo refers to the maximum reverse voltage the emitter-base junction can withstand without breaking down. It's a limit.

Bipolar transistors are normally forward biased in their base-emitter junctions, and in this direction it behaves essentially as a diode, with a forward voltage drop of maybe 0.6 volts.

Offline Glom

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Re: Electronics and microcontroller question
« Reply #22 on: March 08, 2016, 08:54:28 AM »
Just so you know. The thing is being put into practice. God help us all.

Offline bknight

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Re: Electronics and microcontroller question
« Reply #23 on: March 08, 2016, 10:35:50 AM »
Just so you know. The thing is being put into practice. God help us all.
Fail Safe? :)
Good luck
Truth needs no defense.  Nobody can take those footsteps I made on the surface of the moon away from me.
Eugene Cernan

Offline BazBear

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Re: Electronics and microcontroller question
« Reply #24 on: March 08, 2016, 02:19:25 PM »
Just so you know. The thing is being put into practice. God help us all.
Sinister looking thing, isn't it?;)
"It's true you know. In space, no one can hear you scream like a little girl." - Mark Watney, protagonist of The Martian by Andy Weir

Offline Glom

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Re: Electronics and microcontroller question
« Reply #25 on: March 08, 2016, 05:30:28 PM »
Just so you know. The thing is being put into practice. God help us all.
Sinister looking thing, isn't it?;)
The police didn't like me waiting at the bus station with it.

Offline smartcooky

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Re: Electronics and microcontroller question
« Reply #26 on: March 08, 2016, 07:39:01 PM »
Just so you know. The thing is being put into practice. God help us all.
Sinister looking thing, isn't it?;)
The police didn't like me waiting at the bus station with it.

...and looking at it, I can well understand why!
If you're not a scientist but you think you've destroyed the foundation of a vast scientific edifice with 10 minutes of Googling, you might want to consider the possibility that you're wrong.

Offline Kiwi

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Re: Electronics and microcontroller question
« Reply #27 on: March 09, 2016, 08:12:56 AM »
The police didn't like me waiting at the bus station with it.

Would it be correct of us to instantly assume that that was not at a bus station somewhere between Mexico and Canada? And that otherwise you would be dead because of the unfortunate conjunction of, at a minimum, 27 super-swift bullets and your soft, pink body?  :)
« Last Edit: March 09, 2016, 09:48:16 AM by Kiwi »
Don't criticize what you can't understand. — Bob Dylan, “The Times They Are A-Changin'” (1963)
Some people think they are thinking when they are really rearranging their prejudices and superstitions. — Edward R. Murrow (1908–65)

Offline Glom

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Re: Electronics and microcontroller question
« Reply #28 on: March 09, 2016, 09:37:08 AM »
Yeah good thing our cops don't carry guns.

Offline Glom

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Re: Electronics and microcontroller question
« Reply #29 on: March 10, 2016, 06:19:12 PM »
BTW what are people's experiences with soldering iron tips? Are they supposed to last a while? I've been cleaning my tip with a mild kitchen wipe. Seems to help restore the heat a bit but it is diminishing returns every time.