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So, I know how to build electronics. It turns out that I don't know how to build electronics for the harsh environment of generator power and spark ignitors and such. I think I understand how to solve that now, but I've taken this lesson to hear, and realized that what I don't know is what the playa does to home-built circuitry.
Does anyone out there have any experience taking custom electronics to the playa? What goes wrong? Are some construction techniques more reliable than others? What kinds of parts tend to fail?
I need to know the problems *before* we get out there.
- Jonathan
Does anyone out there have any experience taking custom electronics to the playa? What goes wrong? Are some construction techniques more reliable than others? What kinds of parts tend to fail?
I need to know the problems *before* we get out there.
- Jonathan
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Re: Electronics on the playa
Mon, July 18, 2005 - 6:39 PMi dont know if any of this will help but...
As far as running on generator power, you may need to do a couple things...
!. You will need to know your total current draw. (peak amperage) Which will help you select a generator that will run all of your total loads. its is best to run everything on the same generator. If you split power on seperate generators you may have interference problems as each generator will be putting out slightly different voltages and will be on different phases.
2. You may want to filter generator power through an uninteruptable power supply which will help to clean up any noise in the signal. Gasoline generators have an ignition system which may make quite a bit of noise. Diesel generators have no electrical ignition system, and are best for running electronic devices. the other solution is to use a gasoline generator and instead of being direct drive, use a belt drive.
3. How far is the generator going to be from the setup? you will need heavier cord like 10ga. for running a long distance. if the cord is too small the available voltage will drop due to resistance in the length of the cord. electronics can tolerate a little higher voltage but do not work well with low voltage. and generators get hot and will burn out the windings in that situation, or worse cook the control box.
4.do not let a generator shut down under a load (or run out of fuel), if the unit shuts down with a current draw on it it has a good chance of either losing polarization on the rotor (read: no more electricity) or hurting whatever is running on it at the time.
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Re: Electronics on the playa
Tue, July 19, 2005 - 9:38 AMThis is all good advice, thanks. Indeed, we have been carfeul with our current consumption, and we already have a UPS for the computer and electronics. The tip about not shutting down under load is a good one!
Really, my question was more about circuit design and construction techiques. -
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Re: Electronics on the playa
Tue, July 19, 2005 - 10:13 AMI've taken lots of stuff up there (like the MCU based sequencer for our BYB sign)
My own bottom line is fairly simple - solder everything. Use perfboard or custom PCBs, not breadboards. That being said, if a breadboard is sealed up and will never be opened on the playa, then it should be fine.
Try to use solder instead of crimps and wire nuts. One extra word about this though - these joints often are fine for a week on the playa, but degrade over the following year in storage. If you are only ever planning to run DDI on the playa, then unsoldered connections _can_ be okay for the week. Rain can tip that equation though :) Note the emphasis on "can" there - they can also fail, where a soldered joint will not.
The playa has a somewhat overblown rep for messing things up. Dry playa is fairly benign - wet playa, however, is caustic to the things we love. -
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Re: Electronics on the playa
Tue, July 19, 2005 - 1:30 PMHmm. Seems like good advice. Certainly I'd never use a breadboard.
Do you have an opinion on wire wrap? It's not soldered, but it's pretty secure. I have a board I bult 14 years ago that is still operating.
Or maybe I'm just being lazy.
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Re: Electronics on the playa
Tue, July 19, 2005 - 1:41 PMafter all the work you (and your team) has put into this project, I would hardly call anything you do (or don't do) as lazy.
oh wait...this is Jonathan I'm talking about.
slacker! ;-P
seriously, can't wait to see this out there.
it's going to be amazing!!!
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Re: Electronics on the playa
Wed, July 20, 2005 - 1:38 PMIf we decide to solder over the wire wraps, I don't mind doing it.
I mean, what's that gonna take, 2 hours? Seems worth it for the security, no?
What was it you build when you were 14, anyway? -
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Re: Electronics on the playa
Thu, July 21, 2005 - 12:54 AMYeah, we can solder. You can solder :) I'm buying the parts tomorrow.
The thing I built when I was 14 was just this board with lots of blinking lights and stuff, I'll show you some time.
- Jonathan
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Re: Electronics on the playa
Mon, July 25, 2005 - 4:52 PMSoldering over wire wrap might not be such a good idea. Wouldn't that create a stress point for the wire to fail? But I'm not a wire wrap guy (I don' t trust it outside of the workshop... seen a wirewrap project fall apart into a total nightmare)
I generally solder everything now (though last year I took out some sealed breadboards for a one-off and they were okay). You absolutely need a dustproof enclosure and you need to think how your connections will get manhandled by you or others. An enclosure and strain relief is essential. I generally do battery-powered so I don't know about power filtering.
Also remember the general rule that doing anything in your shop is 10x easier than doing it on the playa, so investing some time to make things bulletproof is totally worth it. (2 hours in the shop means a whole extra night playing around instead of futzing with stuff.)
We used some un-enclosed commercial EL sequencers for the Ambience Ambulance the first year with some 'twisted wire plus electrical tape' connections for the EL and it was a disaster. I built some sequencers from scratch and moved to soldered spade lugs and terminal blocks for the next year and those went three years with no problem. -
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Re: Electronics on the playa
Sat, July 30, 2005 - 2:15 PMIn what way did the commercial sequencer and the "twisted wire plus electrical tape" fail?
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Re: Electronics on the playa
Sun, July 31, 2005 - 8:47 PM>>>Soldering over wire wrap might not be such a good idea. Wouldn't that create a stress point for the wire to fail?<<<
nah - it wouldn't create a new stress point, and if it was built and soldered properly it would be fine.
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