Lesson If the mushroom button fails...

The emergency switch is required for each simulator. Never drive w/o an emergency mushroom button.
But what happens when the time is not enough to push the switch? In this case your last chance to save your rig is a car fuse if you have no other "emergency barrier".

Today by a certain fact there was not enough time to use the emergency switch while the motor began to operate out of its range. As a result of this failure the lever (or crank) hit the case (although it should not, but nobody is perfect...). Due to the sudden high demand of current the fuse was blown immediately. In this way great damage could be avoided.

@All happy testing...

Regards
Pit

Do you guys use circuit breakers or thermal overload protection devices on your sims? I only ask because I install them at work all the time, one per motor and rated to the individual full load current for each. I install them for conveyor lines and things like that. I haven't quite begun my sims full size build yet, but I was going to use these type of protection devices. To be fair, I don't know what they are worth, the invoicing at work is above my pay grade, but I don't think they are too expensive. What do others use? I am curious. Are there more cost effective options?

I am using a simple car fuse 20A or 30A. TL (200W motor) = 20A, seat motor (up to 450W and more) = 30A (each +/- wire got a dedicated fuse). You know there could be some very short current peaks higher than 30A but the fuses are "tolerating" that for a certain time.

@dontcarefilmer: I do not use circuit breaker, too expensive and not adjustable. But why not?

Hi,
thanks for the infos. You wrote you put a fuse in each wire + and - to the motors.
I'm thinking very much about my electronics at the moment. I would like to use 2 fuses on the + power rail to the motorcontroller. Is this the wrong setup and i should fuse it after the controller at the motors like you?
If i'm correct you use the motion control products motor for tractionloss and fused it with 20A?
I'll use the same motors but haven'tany experience how much current they draw. The label says 27A. Is this under load or normal?
I have no tools to meassure amperage over 10A so i don't know what fuses to use. I'll use them in a fullframe design under the frame You think the 30A fuse will be enough?
I thought about something like this http://www.ebay.de/itm/121548716577
or will this be totally overpowered?

Hi tombo I am at work will give you a feedback later, but my fuses are BEFORE the controller

Hello,
thanks for your reply i just made simple sketch of how i would like to set it up. Why should i fuse the groung powerline too?

Limit Switches to kill power is a nice safety item too.

a limit switch? how you use it?

fer

Sorry for the confusion, at work is at work and not at "rig" . I use two different wiring and they both work great. The first one the fuses are between controller and motors. Due to the switching polarity all 4 wires are "fused". For TL I use a fuse before the controller, only the + polarity is protected by a fuse.

yes, 20A, but that would be too weak for the winches which are moving the seat.

27A seems to be realistic for me under current load. peak will be more.

Buy the very cheap car fuses described above and try out, f.e. you begin with a 30A, than reduce to 25A etc. The first which will blow shows your needed current.

50A? Your rig will burn down before this fuse begins to blow off!

Hello,
thanks for your detailed reply. Sorry for asking that stupid questions but i don't have any experience with such big motors. So if 30A will be the max for the motors, without some peaks, i can use other fuseholders like this http://www.ebay.de/itm/4-Fach-Siche...316377812?pt=DE_Autoteile&hash=item1e9310e8d4

I'm also interested in installing some limit switches. I want to use smc3 firmware, i take a look at it and didn't find something so far.
Maybe you have to code it yourself, but this will be to hard for me.

@Pit I can pick up circuit breakers from my local electrical wholesaler for between $5 and $10 each. The standard ranges in Australia are: 6, 10, 16, 20, 25, 32, 40Amps and so on. Most CB's are standard C curve classification, but when protecting motors it is better to get D curve (higher tolerance for in rush current). Only one is needed per motor, regardless of polarity.

I have often wondered why there aren't variable circuit breakers as well. This would solve a lot of hassle. The closest I can recommend is a motor protector like this:

http://m.ebay.com.au/itm/301427517478?nav=SEARCH

It is a variable thermal overload, and there are many options for different motor sizes and types.

SMC3 has a switch built in and works great! Has been tested many times and I'm happy about that feature (no damage so far):

Clip Input Used to create a band at either limit of the target range beyond which any values sent to the SMC3 are clipped. In addition to this clipping, if the motor feedback does move beyond this range (typically through inertia), the SMC3 will attempt to brake the motors hard by driving them in reverse until they are back out of this limit zone. The value can be anything from 0-255 (however can’t be less than the current limit setting). Reverse braking is applied in the band between the Clip Input and the Max Limit settings. Reverse braking can be disabled - refer to PWMrev.

Max Limits Used to create a band at either limit of the feedback range beyond which if the motors move (typically through inertia) the SMC3 will automatically shutdown the drivers and keep them disabled until reset. This is essentially a safety mechanism if something goes wrong. The value can be between 0-255 (however can’t be greater than the current clip setting).

Wow, a must have item

See posting #13 above.