I’m trying to run my SSC32 by first time and i’ve some questions:
I setup the SSC32 to non-single mode and powering it with 9V battery, no servos connected and no VS power applied.
When i connect the battery, the D1 LED lights on, but after about 1 minute, it lights off.
Is it normal?
before the led lights off, i try to connect with putty through the COM5 setup for that. I’m using a USB to serial cable, propertly setup and configured. Ok, when i connect, i can’t write anything, and some times it start to write at console some unreadable stuff.
I don’t know if both questions are related to the same problem. Maybe the adapter is not good for SSC32, or maybe it’s not working fine and the LED lights off.
Is the 9v batt a fresh battery or is it one you had lying around? If the battery is weak, it can cause crazy results. Just because the LED is lit does not mean the battery is good by any means.
Assuming the battery is ok, the green light indicates everything is ok when turned on, why it goes out on it’s own, I’m not exactly sure. The light will go out when a command is sent to the SSC-32. It’s been a long while since I played with my SSC-32 so I can’t remember the exact behavior of the LED lights.
Another thing you can try is connecting the SSC-32 to a computer with standard serial port to see if it is your USB-to-serial adapter. If it works fine with a standard serial port then that might be your problem area.
The way the LED works is it will light up on power up. It will remain lit steady until it receives some serial data. Then it will go out and then blink while it’s receiving data.
If you are seeing garbage on the screen it’s likely that the program you are using to talk to the SSC-32 is using the wrong baud rate.
If the LED goes out by itself then the battery must be bad.
Finally i solved the problem by using single powering mode, but when i try to move the servo throught the control bar at the right part on Lynx Term, the servo vibrates, but can’t move
I’m using a USB to serial cable Model Manhatan V2.0.21 and it works, because it can get the SCC32 firmware version…
You are apparently trying to power the servo and the servo controller from a single 9vdc battery. The battery can not supply the required current so the SSC-32 is resetting.
Power the VL with the 9vdc battery alone. Power the VS with 4.8 to 6.0vdc. REMOVE the VS1=VL jumper. This will fix your problem.
No, no, sorry for my bad explanation. I were using a 9V battery for VL and extra power for VS, and it was not working fine. Now i’m using the single mode using the extra power from a DC adapter, and it works fine because it starts good, get the firmware version with the propertly command, but when i try to move the servo, it only vibrates and can’t move…
Current Drain (6.0V): 11.9mA/idle and 450mA no load operating
But there could be a decent current spike when starting a move. While the wiring is not difficult you could have made some common errors such as little bitty wires, or insufficient connectors. Many things can effect if the current needed by the servo is actually making it to the servo.
The problem you are describing is in fact the SSC-32 resetting due to an insufficient power delivery system. The known solutions are:
Power the VS1 and VL (VS1=VL jumper installed), and use a powerful 6.0vdc supply.
Power the VL with a separate 9vdc battery, power the VS with a 6vdc 2amp or more supply, and REMOVING the VS1=VL jumper. But you insist that you must power it from a single source, which sorry, is wrong.
oh man like 1/2 an amp when you tell them to move with no load! I’d bet them babies stall at near 5A. Maybe find a 6V alkaline lantern battery or something BEEFY and don’t be wiring it up with 24AWG wire between the battery and the VS1 and VS2 terminals.
mm ok, i’ll try that.
Lookig at the specifications i couldn’t think the problem was the power. I couldn’t find any power supply stuff in the same websites where they sell the servos, so i thought it was not a problem.
Do you think i can use a PC power suply for that ?
Maybe, but how many of those bad boys are you wiring up? For just 1 or 2 it is probably overkill.
The reason I suggested the 6V lantern battery is you can get them from like K-mart / Walmart / Costco easily enough in the camping areas, if you get the version with screw terminals it’s real easy to hook nice 18-20 AWG wire up to them, and they are like 15-20 amp-hours (depends on the brand) which is just all kinds of beef at a nice safe voltage.
Another approach might be to use a cheap normal hobby servo, get it working to prove it’s all wired up right, then replace the servo with the actuator and any problems from there are most certainly power related.
Great idea using regular servos. I assumed they were standard too. A dying 9V threw me for a loop for a while even when I had a separate power supply for the servos so power delivery does need to be consistent
What are you doing with these huge ones anyway? Just curious. Whatever it is, I’d like to see the end result.
*> One question about servo limits… at SCC32 manual it’s explained that servo have limits and i can damage it if i don’t take care of it. I put a wrong command on lynx term and it got rotating for twice 360º.
Where are the limits?
what can be damaged?
I was looking for the PC power supply and it have a red wire that can give 5V 32A, i could try it.
Now i’m using every servo once, not simultaneous, but the systen will have three big servos, i hope it’s enough.
I don’t need batteries because it’ll be static and i can have wall pack power or somthing like that.
Finally i used a 6V, 2A power supply and it started to work, i could move in both directions with different speeds. The problem now is that the servo isn’t responding with precision to the commands. Sometimes it move fast but not exactly to the point i want, some other times, it moves only a bit on every command i put.
Quick test. If a normal unmodified servo responds the way you think it should, then you are probably dealing with an issue with the linear actuator.
If it’s using a standard (non specialized) servo control board. Meaning a standard Hitec or Futaba control PC board. It may be that the PID isn’t matching the motor / gear reduction / potentiometer combination. You see the control PC boards are designed for a specific motor / gear reduction for a good response. Because this device has a lot of gear reduction it may be slowing the motor in it’s normal acceleration / deceleration way too early. Also, they say the dead band is 8uS. So you will have to move it farther than that to see any motion at all.
I seriously doubt it’s got anything to do with the SSC-32.
Can you be more specific in the description of the problem. What position values are you using to get what results. The more accurate the information the better we can determine the problem.
, I pictured tiny standard servos in my head. 
