EQ3/5 motor handset voltage protector

[SteveBz]

Hi Guys,

Has anyone made a voltage/polarity protector for the EQ3 or EQ5 motor handsets?

I feel it is just a matter of time before I plug the wrong thing into it?

I'm going to buy a project box and have a go, I would have thought a couple of diodes should do it, don't you think?  Maybe something for surge protection too.

Please tell me if you've already done it and what I should do/avoid.

Regards

Steve

[Alien 13]

If this is the standard 6 V motors then you can add a 2 A diode in series but you will need 6 V not the 4.8 V you get from a set of rechargeables, a better option is to connect the handset to a mobile phone/tablet power bank these are cheap and will work fine with the 5.1V they produce.

Alan

[SteveBz]

3 hours ago, Alien 13 said:

will work fine with the 5.1V they produce.

Great.  I did buy a 6v charger to do just this, but a standard phone charger would probably have more safety checks and if 5.1 v works, it's less likely to do damage.

I have some old Nokia(?) chargers in the roof with the right 2.1mm plug on them.

Steve.

[SteveBz]

3 hours ago, Alien 13 said:

will work fine with the 5.1V they produce

And the motors don't run more slowly?

[Alien 13]

38 minutes ago, SteveBz said:

And the motors don't run more slowly?

The motors are fine, if you touch them you will feel that they are being pulsed that sets their accuracy. I use just a single axis motor that draws a max of 340mA when slewed will give me over 10 hours use with with the 4800mAh battery bank that I paid £5 for, the whole thing is very light.

Alan