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Why is the power connector on the Stamp HW board stiff — Parallax Forums

Why is the power connector on the Stamp HW board stiff

Buck RogersBuck Rogers Posts: 2,187
edited 2013-02-05 15:18 in BASIC Stamp
Hello!
So I bought this fellow http://www.parallax.com/Store/Microcontrollers/BASICStampDevelopmentBoards/tabid/137/CategoryID/12/List/0/SortField/0/Level/a/ProductID/781/Default.aspx from a Radio Shack in Manhattan on Friday. The sellers there are capable Gordon, Bean, but only just.:lol:

Now Mike Green I remember an earlier discussion regarding power on the Stamp2 requires over 5V to work properly. So the presence of the 9V snaps makes sense. But they are rather stiff.

Why are they that stiff? (In this context I mean they are difficult to separate from the battery when I'm done using the board.)

Comments

  • garyggaryg Posts: 420
    edited 2013-02-02 20:13
    The 9v snaps are Always very stiff on any snaps that you will purchase.
    I tend to put a toggle switch between a 9V battery and another 9V snap that is connected to
    the Parallax board.
    What that does is enable you to turn off power to the Parallax board without disconnecting your 9V battery.
    If you like, I could make another post with a photo of my Super Carrier board and 9V battery clips.

    If you connect battery clips to battery clips - Be careful of the Polarity change that happens.

    I hope this helps you out.
  • Buck RogersBuck Rogers Posts: 2,187
    edited 2013-02-03 14:01
    garyg wrote: »
    The 9v snaps are Always very stiff on any snaps that you will purchase.
    I tend to put a toggle switch between a 9V battery and another 9V snap that is connected to
    the Parallax board.
    What that does is enable you to turn off power to the Parallax board without disconnecting your 9V battery.
    If you like, I could make another post with a photo of my Super Carrier board and 9V battery clips.

    If you connect battery clips to battery clips - Be careful of the Polarity change that happens.

    I hope this helps you out.

    Hello!
    It does indeed. I'll probably visit my local (what else?) Radio Shack sometime tomorrow and track down a fresh bag of 9V battery clips and the classic holder. Also some hook and loop fasteners as they call them.

    Here you say:
    If you connect battery clips to battery clips - Be careful of the Polarity change that happens.
    Would you mind elaborating on that? Also please do take that photo of your Enterprise grade board. (The carrier not the starship was a super carrier. She defined the term by being one of the oldest active carriers in the service. When she retired she set a record that very few Mavericks in the service will meet. In fact I routinely get into wrangles over the definition of the term as applied to certain products sold by those daft people at Microsoft.)
  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2013-02-03 15:03
    The battery clips sold at RadioShack and other consumer places are intended for connecting a device to a battery and the wire colors (red and black) are connected appropriately (red to + and black to -). When the battery clip is used to connect a power source to a device to supply power, the connections are the opposite from what is needed (red to - and black to +) ... very nasty ... you have to be careful how you connect things.
  • garyggaryg Posts: 420
    edited 2013-02-03 15:43
    This is how I connected my Super Carrier Board and battery switch.
    After wiring up the connectors and switch, I checked the polarity on the plug before connecting it to
    my Super Carrier Board.
    You'll notice on the photo that red wires are tied to black wires.


    9v battery switch.jpg


    I hope this helps you out
    1024 x 768 - 131K
  • Buck RogersBuck Rogers Posts: 2,187
    edited 2013-02-03 16:39
    garyg wrote: »
    This is how I connected my Super Carrier Board and battery switch.
    After wiring up the connectors and switch, I checked the polarity on the plug before connecting it to
    my Super Carrier Board.
    You'll notice on the photo that red wires are tied to black wires.


    9v battery switch.jpg


    I hope this helps you out

    Hello!
    Considerably. Before I connect my idea to the board, I'll check the polarity on it, twice actually, before continuing. My switch won't be that conventional toggle-switch, it'll be a slide one.
  • Buck RogersBuck Rogers Posts: 2,187
    edited 2013-02-03 16:47
    Mike Green wrote: »
    The battery clips sold at RadioShack and other consumer places are intended for connecting a device to a battery and the wire colors (red and black) are connected appropriately (red to + and black to -). When the battery clip is used to connect a power source to a device to supply power, the connections are the opposite from what is needed (red to - and black to +) ... very nasty ... you have to be careful how you connect things.

    Hello!
    As I said earlier, I remember that from an earlier discussion regarding an unmounted stamp. Now the interesting problem will of course be connecting everything appropriately. And respecting the polarity of course.

    I figure that I'll pick the appropriate clips (or snaps) first and worry along later. They sell two styles. One is a style that resembles the ones used in regular radios and a few other devices. The other style is one that they claim is fully insulated. Gary If I am interpreting your photo correctly, you used style #1 for your connections. But no matter. If it works for you then fine. If my idea works for me, then okay.
  • Buck RogersBuck Rogers Posts: 2,187
    edited 2013-02-04 18:59
    garyg wrote: »
    This is how I connected my Super Carrier Board and battery switch.
    After wiring up the connectors and switch, I checked the polarity on the plug before connecting it to
    my Super Carrier Board.
    You'll notice on the photo that red wires are tied to black wires.


    9v battery switch.jpg


    I hope this helps you out

    Hello!
    Problem solved. I've wired together an approximation of your idea with your Nimitz there. It turns out that my slide-switch and the two snaps work perfectly. (Incidentally while writing that I realized that the whole business wasn't tested. It is now.)

    I wrapped the soldered ends, both the black and red leads direct from the snaps and the ones going to the switch in heat shrink tubing. And then shrunk them using a heat gun that I bought from Sparkfun for a completely different reason.

    It has now been solved. (Friendly word to the good people behind our gear, please add a simple switch to the next revision the HW board.)
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,257
    edited 2013-02-05 15:02
    (Friendly word to the good people behind our gear, please add a simple switch to the next revision the HW board.)

    Much like the BS1 Project Board... http://www.parallax.com/StoreSearchResults/tabid/768/List/0/SortField/4/ProductID/119/Default.aspx?txt
  • Buck RogersBuck Rogers Posts: 2,187
    edited 2013-02-05 15:18
    erco wrote: »

    ***Glares at Robby for being right.**

    Hello!
    In actuality yes. The two are similar despite one being the project board for the BS1 and the other being a (reasonably) simple project board for the BS2. So the idea Gary had, which in hindsight I also developed at the same time, that of using two 9V snaps, and wearing a switch (for obvious reasons) and its all good.

    And as it happens yet another problem surfaced. And with a solution. I shall start a new thread.
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