A Question About Wire

Question

Hi I recieved my first kit today yeah I would like to know if there is a max length on the wire I use to control servos and such from the controller.thank you

DJ Sures · Answer

That's a neat question I don't think i've ever considered that before. You can use the EZ-Robot Peripheral cables to extend the servos... The longer the wire, the higher resistance - and that will make the regulators get pretty hot. But honestly, i think you'd have to have pretty long wires for that to happen. How long are you thinking?

fert · Answer

I was thinking about ten ft.Also can the contcoller be put in a box, and if so do I need a case fan ?

Rich · Answer

Fit a small 1" fan to the EZB regulators, a PC fan is fine and plug it in to a spare Digital ports +5v and Gnd. It can be fixed to the regulators with a cable tie (there was a photo floating around of this setup somewhere). And yes, it can be put in a box, bit if you do I'd put in a fan or two for air flow, even if it doesn't get hot it's better to be safe than sorry.

fert · Answer

Thank you, get ready for the terminater coming soon.

Dave Schulpius · Answer

The longest I'm running wire is about 3 feet for my servos. I've looked into this a little and found that if you want to run a longer distance you need to use bigger wire. However I dont have any details. Do a web search and you should find some answers.

jstarne1 · Answer

Anything more than three feet you need to go up a couple gauges in wire to compensate for length. The average servo ext cable are probably 22 -24 ga wire , with that length you may want 18-20 ga Still not huge wire but with Ten foot wire you may want to consider making your own cables and use external power instead of ezb that way your not running your equipment hot. It is better to have larger wire than too small and things get hot. Guys who are into high end car audio already know what im talking about.

DJ Sures · Answer

If you find your regulators getting hot, check out this hardware page: https://synthiam.com/Tutorials/Hardware.aspx?id=29 Shows how to add a fan to the EZ-B. And there is a link to order the fan from eBay

Rich · Answer

I needed that page yesterday, didn't realise it was in the tutorials... Longer runs need bigger cable. If the cable is undersized the cable will get hot and no amount of cooling will counter the effects, you will end up with burnt cables. Use a cable calculator to ensure you use the correct size cable. There are many free ones on the internet, one example is Solar-Wind's DC cable calculator here While not required and probably more costly I always use trirated cable whenever I am working with DC.

fert · Answer

Thank you all very much , may I say I'm very impressed with the ez robot company and the support structure !

fert

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