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As my name implies ... — Parallax Forums

As my name implies ...

NewbieNewbie Posts: 5
edited 2006-04-28 23:03 in General Discussion
Hi guys, first I'd like to say hi to everyone and start by letting you know that I am "THE" newbie here... I just received my BASIC Stamp Discovery Kit this week and I'm just starting to get my feet wet, so please excuse my ignorance.· What I'm wondering is this... is there a way to send a 9v current to a small fan that I have through the BS2 and use it to turn the fan on and off?· If I connect it to one of the I/O pins (ie: pin 3) and use High 3 in my code it sends a 5v current to the fan but it's not enough to get the fan moving.· If I spin the fan with my finger and give it a "boost" it will continue on it's own at the reduced voltage of 5v.· If I plug the fan pos wire to the Vin connection it gets the full 9v but I have no way to trigger it on/off.· I am afraid to just go plugging wires from the Vin to the I/O pins because I don't want to fry my one day old BS2.· Like I said, I am a complete noob but find this an exciting hobby and wish to learn more.

Comments

  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2006-04-28 20:14
    Newbie,

    ·· Two things right away that you should do.· First is to read the "What's A Microcontroller?" text which is a free download from our website.· A link is below.· Second, always use a descriptive subject line when posting messages so people know what you message is about.· Some people don't know about certain subjects or are very good with others.· So the subject line helps them decide whether to read your message.

    ·· Now, you cannot drive a fan directly with a BASIC Stamp I/O pin.· If you haven't already damaged the I/O pin you soon will.· You need a transistor to switch the 9V on/off for the fan.· Also keep in mind you are switching voltage not current.· You still need the 9V source for the fan since you cannot get the 9V from the BASIC Stamp.

    http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=28123

    Bottom of the page...

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    Chris Savage
    Parallax Tech Support
    csavage@parallax.com
  • NewbieNewbie Posts: 5
    edited 2006-04-28 20:17
    Thanks Chris, I am half-way through the WAM book at the moment but as always jumping ahead of myself ... I am prone to "what if" attacks lol.· Sorry for the general topic header.
    ·
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2006-04-28 20:20
    Before I forget...You should still read the WAM text first, but once you have a handle on interfacing the following link (at the bottom of the page) is the free PDF of the Industrial Control text which has examples of driving a fan from a BASIC Stamp (12V Fan).

    http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=27341

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    Chris Savage
    Parallax Tech Support
    csavage@parallax.com
  • SSteveSSteve Posts: 808
    edited 2006-04-28 23:03
    Another good source of information is The Microcontroller Application Cookbook (volumes 1 & 2) by Matt Gilliland. It has a lot of example circuits with very short code snippets. I got both volumes and they've been very helpful for me.

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    OS-X: because making Unix user-friendly was easier than debugging Windows
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