Can't get motor block to work

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markgimein
 
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Joined: Tue Oct 08, 2019 2:25 pm

Can't get motor block to work

Post by markgimein »

I'm trying to get the motor block in the Crickit foir Microbit to work--my son and I bare trying to build Anne Barela 's Capsela motor project.
The motor and fine, and starts up from another power source. The Microbit connects to the Crickit. The code is simple -- it's supposed to start up the motor and turn the neopixel green with the A button, stop it and turn the pixel red with the B button. Program downloads and neopixel works as intended.
But the motor block is not sending a signal. I have tried several kinds of wires and connections. Nothing has worked. Right now I have a neatly stripped wire plugged into the Crickit, with an alligator clip at the other end. And it's not working. I don't have much experience with electrical connections, so I'm wondering what i could be doing wrong.
I'm including of the connection below (I know I've stripped a little more of the wire than optimal)
Anyone have ideas about how to fix this?
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motor2.jpeg
motor2.jpeg (160.2 KiB) Viewed 117 times

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:11 am

Re: Can't get motor block to work

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

The excess bare wire is a real danger. Even momentary electrical contact between the two wires would be enough to burn out the motor driver.

I would trim those down so you only have 1/4" or so exposed - just enough to fit into the screw terminal blocks. In the event that the one motor driver channel is already toasted, you can try the second one to see if it still works.

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markgimein
 
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Joined: Tue Oct 08, 2019 2:25 pm

Re: Can't get motor block to work

Post by markgimein »

I am pretty sure there was no contact (and this is about the 5th set of wires I tried; this one was exposed much more than the others, I was afraid I wasn't getting a good connection. I i tried this with wires that were thinner (and less exposed).
I did trim the wires as you suggested, and switched it over to the other motor block. Still nothing. You can see how it's plugged in below.
Is it possible that there is some way the wire s are not making a good connection? Is there some part of this I'm missing?
PS: Thanks for replying so fast the Sunday after Christmas!
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motor3.jpeg
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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Can't get motor block to work

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Looks like you have a short circuit in your most recent photo. There is a strand of wire between the two sides.
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Screenshot 2021-12-26 132238.png
Screenshot 2021-12-26 132238.png (656.89 KiB) Viewed 113 times

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