Clippard valve and RCABS questions

[bigdave]

I am no electrinoic expert

I am no electrinoic expert but you do need a diode on the valve and the pump.
Any of the 1N4001 diodes that Radio Shack sells will work.
When CI said the the banded end was the minus end he was correct. He did not say it was the end that you connect the minus wire to.
Just that the band was the minus end of the device.
The + lead from your battery does indeed have to be connect to the banded or - end. If not you will blow up that diode.
Trust me on this, I have done it many times. BD.

[fgroza]

Dave,
Do you put caps and

Dave,
Do you put caps and a diode on the pump? I've just put supression caps on motors.
Frank

[petn7]

I am no electrinoic expert

I am no electrinoic expert but you do need a diode on the valve and the pump.
Any of the 1N4001 diodes that Radio Shack sells will work.
When CI said the the banded end was the minus end he was correct. He did not say it was the end that you connect the minus wire to.
Just that the band was the minus end of the device.
The + lead from your battery does indeed have to be connect to the banded or - end. If not you will blow up that diode.
Trust me on this, I have done it many times. BD.

Ahhh, yes, that makes sense.

Thanks!

[bigdave]

Hi Frank,
It never hurts

Hi Frank,
It never hurts to add the diode to the motor. I always do. But this is only on unidirectional motors. You can not do it on motors that you will reverse. Because obviously you will destroy the diode. BD.

[Guest]

The idea of a diode

The idea of a diode is to prevent back emf (flyback) from knackering your switch contacts.

If you're using a modern ESC to control your pump, it'll have a diode built into the MOSFET already, so fitting a diode isn't necessary. If you're using a microswitch or equivalent, then you should definitely fit one.

[bigdave]

We normally use an electronic

We normally use an electronic switch like an SES-3 to control the pump not an ESC. I am not sure if they have the device pre-installed as they ask you to add the diode in the instructions. BD.

[wayne frey]

I saw that when I

I saw that when I was on that part of building the RCAB. But it is no biggie to throw on the diode and call it done. Took a few minutes, then on to the next item.

[Guest]

We normally use an electronic

We normally use an electronic switch like an SES-3 to control the pump not an ESC. I am not sure if they have the device pre-installed as they ask you to add the diode in the instructions. BD.

That product has been around for quite sometime. Never having seen one, I can't say what the components are inside, perhaps it just uses an ordinary BJT in the output, in which case you'd definitely need a diode fitted across the output

[petn7]

We normally use an electronic

We normally use an electronic switch like an SES-3 to control the pump not an ESC. I am not sure if they have the device pre-installed as they ask you to add the diode in the instructions. BD.

That product has been around for quite sometime. Never having seen one, I can't say what the components are inside, perhaps it just uses an ordinary BJT in the output, in which case you'd definitely need a diode fitted across the output

I used the SES-3 without diodes on the air pump motors for a few minutes with no problem with 6 and 7 cell NiMH battery packs. I don't know if "non-diode failures" are instantaneous or if they happen over time.