I'm wondering whether I'm being a total noob and have been misunderstanding the Road Rage - I've been trying to use it to switch between different voltages, but have been running into problems.
Is the Road Rage intended to supply a single voltage only - i.e. to be partly populated according to whether you want -9 *or* 15 *or* 18 volts from a single board? I've fully populated a Road Rage with the intention of switching between the different voltages on-the-fly, expecting all voltages to be available from the respective pads, but the pesky voltage isn't behaving the way I was expecting/hoping.
Feel free to slap me with a metaphorical wet fish if I've got the wrong end of the stick...
Each voltage output is always available on a fully populated RoadRage. Before I built a multiple output power supply, I used a RoadRage exactly that way to work on breadboards. I didn't ever do live switching, but I can't see how that would matter since the switching should be after the RoadRage outputs.
I think it should work so, maybe more of a description of how you are using it what's going wrong would help figure things out. Also, maybe some photos would help.
It's possible it will misbehave if your current draw, i.e.what you are supplying, is too high. The MAX1044 taps out at about 20mA and the LT1054 at about 40-50mA, I think.
What kind of voltage readings are you getting, and are you taking them with no load (IOW not connected to anything)?
Thanks for the replies!
Quote from: RobA on October 25, 2013, 02:11:35 PM
Each voltage output is always available on a fully populated RoadRage. Before I built a multiple output power supply, I used a RoadRage exactly that way to work on breadboards. I didn't ever do live switching, but I can't see how that would matter since the switching should be after the RoadRage outputs.
I'm relieved, thanks. I'm planning to use a break-before-make rotary switch for switching the DC when I get it working.
Quote from: madbean on October 25, 2013, 02:19:10 PM
What kind of voltage readings are you getting, and are you taking them with no load (IOW not connected to anything)?
I was getting erratic voltage readings, and was taking the readings with no load. It would work for a few seconds, and then stop working.
I depopulated half the board, following up the theory about using it for a single voltage, and lifted some of the pads in the process, so it's now an 18v only Road Rage.
Anyway, following further testing where I still wasn't getting voltage, and couldn't understand why, I picked up the 9v battery I was testing with, and found it to be hot... I had some intermittent shorting on the base of the board that I just couldn't see. After running my iron between all the pads (probably not best practice) and cleaning up the board it started working again.
The upshot: I plan to clean my populated boards after soldering in future. (note to self: order some more road rage boards)
Update: I built another fully-populated road rage last night and this time with no shorts (the board, not me), all voltages work perfectly, as hoped! Happy days!