Tie pin 10 to the positive supply of the motors directly. Joe -----Original Message----- From: pic microcontroller discussion list [mailto:PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU] On Behalf Of Gustaf J. Barkstrom Sent: 27 February 2004 14:35 To: PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU Subject: Re: [EE:] Release of magic smoke Roland and all, Okay, I don't feel too stupid now. I was going to post a question about separate power supplies, but then this happened. So, here's my question about power supply separation: Where is the separation? What I mean is, I understand using two areas of the board, but do I need two wall-warts, two regulators, etc? Do I have to separate them back up to mains AC? Yes, I chose the ULN2803A because it has the 2.7k resistors on input; the datasheets say this is specifically for 5v TTL/CMOS connection, so I thought I was good on inputs. Again, I'm using a 15V Zener to pin 10 (common) on the ULN2803 to prevent back EMF. Is that sufficient? Thanks again, Gustaf > -----Original Message----- > From: pic microcontroller discussion list > [mailto:PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU]On Behalf Of Roland > Sent: Friday, February 27, 2004 7:00 AM > To: PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU > Subject: Re: [EE:] Release of magic smoke > > > The 2803 has a 2K7 series resistor on the input, so that should be OK. > Whats more likely happening is that flyback from the stepper coils is > causing the 5V to spike, and the pic is doing the clamping! > > try and use separate supplies, as shown in the diagram, or adequately > isolate the two regions, logic and power. > > Regards > Roland > > > At 02:45 AM 27/02/04 -0500, you wrote: > >One of my 16F84A's just died after some high duty-cycle running > of stepper > >motors. The circuit I built is basically the one found at the bottom > >of this page: http://www.dakeng.com/u2.html Source code is also > >available on that page. > > > >However, I buffered the inputs of the PIC with a 74LS244 (octal line > >driver), and used a Darlington array (ULN2803) on the outputs to > drive the > >steppers instead of the discretes shown in the schematic. Note > also that I > >am not using a resistor between the PIC output pins and the > Darlington array > >input pins. > > > >An ASCII block diagram of my circuit: > > > >[parallel port data pin] -> [74LS244] -> [PIC] -> [ULN2803] -> > >[Stepper] > > > >The entire circuit, including motors, is using the same 5+/GND > >regulated power supply. PIC is RC clocked, and the power/gnd pins are > >not > bypassed on > >either the PIC or the line buffer/drivers. Pin 3 of the PIC floats, > >as the page linked above says "leave this pin floating if you like." > > > >I ran two steppers (Vexta 2-phase, 5V/1A nominal) on this circuit for > >several minutes, but no more than 30 seconds at a shot. So, I > got brave and > >told my software to run the motors over a long distance, and they ran > >continuously for about 4 minutes. After that, the chip froze (motors > >stopped); held MCLR low and released it high again, still nothing. I > >touched the top of the Darlington arrays and the buffer/drivers, > >barely warm. I touched the PIC and about got a 2nd degree burn. > > > >I turned everything off, went to bed, and turned it back on the next > >day. Normally, the motors lock into an initial position at power-up, > but now no > >power is going to either of them. Before I troubleshoot further, I > >would like to get some input on the flaws of my circuit. PCB art and > schematics > >available at your request, if the flaws of the circuit are not > >already blatently obvious... > > > >I think (in a sophomoric way) that my question is: why is so much > >current going through the PIC? > > > >By the way, the circuit worked very well until I turned up the > duty-cycle. > > > >Thanks, > > > >Gustaf > > > >-- > >http://www.piclist.com hint: The list server can filter out subtopics > >(like ads or off topics) for you. See http://www.piclist.com/#topics > > > Regards > Roland Jollivet > > > JeM Electric cc > PO Box 1460 > Kloof > 3640 > Kwazulu Natal > South Africa > Tel: +27 31 7024412 > Fax: +27 31 7011674 > Cell: +27 83 255 6017 > Email: enquiries@caon.co.za > > -- > http://www.piclist.com hint: The list server can filter out subtopics > (like ads or off topics) for you. See http://www.piclist.com/#topics > -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The list server can filter out subtopics (like ads or off topics) for you. See http://www.piclist.com/#topics -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The list server can filter out subtopics (like ads or off topics) for you. See http://www.piclist.com/#topics