My Tri-Track RC Combo just arrived today, and after putting it together, wiring it up, and turn the robot and the remote on, it didn’t move. I moved the dip switch to Independent Control to see if that would get the robot moving, only to hear some sizzling and to see that the capacitor on the Sabertooth 2X5 motor driver had leaked. I immediately turned it off, disconnected the battery, moved the dip switch back to the default position, and turned the robot back on. This time it moved, but I had to turn it off when the capacitor began smoking again.
I’m DEVASTATED as I spent hours assembling the robot on the day it arrived only to break it by accident. I wired everything up correctly, but just moving that dip switch fried the capacitor.
What can I do? Can I replace the capacitor or do I need to replace the whole motor driver altogether?
Can you provide us with pictures of your assembly and wiring ?
The easiest way to setup the DIP switch is to run their Wizard, it handle all the possible solutions.
Almost all the time, the problem does come from incorrect wiring.
Once we know the problem exactly, we will look for an exchange if possible.
I actually just ordered two new Sabertooth 2X5 R/C motor drivers, with the other one being a spare just to be on the safe side. I also contacted Dimension Engineering and just sent the broken one out for them to repair or possibly replace. Unfortunately, I’m unable to take a pic of the wiring at the moment, but the wires from the motors were connected positive to positive and negative to negative along with the wires from the battery connector. The connections for the RC receiver were also done as instructed, but I recently learned why the robot didn’t move the first time; the receiver was not wirelessly connected to the remote via the bind plug.
The receiver was entirely powered by the Sabertooth, so it was not connected to a separate battery, especially since it was running only two motors and no servos or additional motors, which would then require additional power. The receiver was also damaged in the resulting short, but luckily the RC equipment included an extra, although smaller 4-channel receiver, so I’ll use that one.
Turns out the capacitor on my Sabertooth 2X5 R/C motor driver may not have been damaged, but the real damage was burned IC’s. I discovered the cause when I pried off the heat spreader from the bottom; an improperly soldered lead made inadvertent contact with a nearby IC, therefore resulting in a short circuit that also damaged some of the other IC’s. Fortunately, I purchased two new motor drivers, the other being a spare just as a precaution, and sent the broken one out to Dimension Engineering, which they replaced under warranty. Currently, my Tri-Track runs fine and I’m really satisfied
It was all taken care of a little while ago, I just haven’t gotten around to writing an update till now.
