Ways to damage a basic stamp
Matthew Burmeister
Posts: 49
i would like to know all of the possible ways that could damage the basic stamp(s) so i don't make them when i get my BS2p. Also i have heard that you should start with the BS2. why is that?
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print "connecter"
input "Which com"; com$ ' opens com
open com; com$ for read
close #com ' closes com
print "Com closed" ' displays text
end ' ends or stops the program
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print "connecter"
input "Which com"; com$ ' opens com
open com; com$ for read
close #com ' closes com
print "Com closed" ' displays text
end ' ends or stops the program
Comments
Seriously though, a hammer will kill it! [noparse];)[/noparse]
The BS2 is fairly rugged. You want to operated it dry, you don't want to run too much voltage/current in to it's pins. They have some protection, but too much current will kill those pins. Obviously shorting the pins is bad (power to a pin)....if you try to draw too much power from the stamp, you may end up "sagging" the power and the stamp would reset, not a big deal, but definately a pain!
If you are using a Board of Education, you want to make sure you don't put too high a wall-wart else you'll probably kill the little regulator that changes that input voltage to 5Volts for the stamp.
Not sure what you were really after....check your connections, at least, twice before turning things on. Watch when direct driving a relay; when the relay coil discharges, it could come back to the stamp pin....so look at a flyback diode on the relay or just make sure everything you connect is opto isolated!
Cheers
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<FONT>Steve
What's the best thing to do in a lightning storm? "take a one iron out the bag and hold it straight up above your head, even God cant hit a one iron!"
Lee Travino after the second time being hit by lightning!
- putting too much voltage through the on-board Stamp regulator (like 17v from a wall-wart)
- setting a pin to output when it should be an input and when there is no 220ohm resistor for protection on the pin
- having large bypass caps on power rails that do not discharge when power is removed (i.e., you think everything is powered down, then you accidentally short the power rails with a screwdriver or the like)
- drawing too much current through an entire bank of pins
- connecting power to your board backwards
- spilling a drink on a powered board
Basically, I've found it's hard to damage a Stamp if you double-check your connections, put current limiting resistors on any output pins and on any input pins that may be connected to circuits that can sink/source a lot of current, and be careful in your work area. In short, I've found that USER ERROR is usually what does the dirty deed.
As far as BSP vs. BS2 -- they are very similar and one is no easier than the other. The BSP is faster. The BSP contains additional commands (such as I2CIN and I2COUT) -- if you don't know what they are, don't use them and it's all the same. The BSP contains extra RAM space (scratch pad) -- again, if using the scratch pad is beyond your skills (at this point) don't use the feature and it'll be like having a very fast BS2.
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When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. -- HST
1uffakind.com/robots/povBitMapBuilder.php
1uffakind.com/robots/resistorLadder.php
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print "connecter"
input "Which com"; com$ ' displays text and lets user chose which com
open com; com$ for read ' opens com
close #com ' closes com
print "Com closed" ' displays text
end ' ends or stops the program
' JBASIC code www.justbasic.com
Thanks,
Dave
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Dave Andreae
Parallax Tech Support·