9 replies to this topic

[JerseyJohn]

Does anyone know what the amp load is on a typical brake circuit such as perhaps on it the falcon controller. Imagine it varies somewhat depending on the motor but let's talk about ACR 102 is the load in Milla amps amps just trying to get a feel on what the load is through the normal break circuit. Thank you very much JJ

[Jim Difalco]

Falcon controller?

[Bridgehampton66]

I think that's the Di Falcon controller to which JJ is referring.  LOL

[mreibman]

It's not a lot. We use 2 watt rheostats, aand I use 5a fuses on many controllers.

[JerseyJohn]

Falcon controller?

Typo Jim. Difalco. It seems your one of the few controller builders that put an electronic resettable breaker on the brake circuit. I noticed several controller builders when controllers are hooked up wrong that the brake pot pretty much disintegrates and explodes depending on how long you stay on the trigger however yours always seems to come out OK and I do notice you have that automatically resettable breaker on the circuit. So I was just thinking of myself if adding it onto the brake circuit of controllers that don't have it would be a viable solution and I and to the point what amp load unit should be used I was thinking that if perhaps it's like a .8 amp load what I wanna use a 1 amp breaker or larger I guess the closest to the running amp wouldn't be the most beneficial

[Bill Seitz]

Jersey, the thing is, on brakes, the current is just a short pulse, so not an easy thing to measure. The diode brakes use 1-amp diodes. Fuses and circuit breakers require the current to occur long enough to heat them, and there's really not enough of a current pulse in the normal brake circuit. The 5-amp Mike suggests definitely works, and you could probably get away with as low as 1 amp.

[John Luongo]

i have installed difalco automatic resettable cb in the brake circuit of every controller i own. they work as designed very well, great insurance policy. esp nice to have when grand kids are using them. be well

[Jim Difalco]

The electronic reset fuse I use holds at 1.35 amps and will blow at 2.7 amps. Both 3rd Eye and Carsteen use resettable fuses. Any fuse you install will be a compromise as you have to balance the internal resistance of the fuse versus the amount of time it takes to blow. The lower the amperage to blow the higher the internal resistance of the fuse that is added to the brake circuit. The 1.35 amp fuse I use now is lower than the fuse I was using 5 years ago as the slight gain in brake resistance was worth better protecting the components.

 

The compromise in using a reset fuse, which will take longer to blow, versus a standard fuse that will blow fast but leaves you with no brakes during the middle of a race pretty much rendering the controller useless. Using a fast blow fuse may also increase nuisance blowing if you simply spark the wrong alligator clip or your heatsink contacts the wrong hook up terminal.

 

Early Genesis 1 controllers had a lower power transistor fuse amp value and occasionally I would get an email from a G7 racer saying their controller would shut down then start working again. Once that fuse value was raised these nuisance tripping stopped happening.

[JerseyJohn]

Thank you everyone for your response and Jim thank you for the technical explanations that was spot on to the information I was looking for so I guess the safest bet would be to just mirror the same ones that you're using as you've done all the homework already LOL I appreciate it there are a bunch of euro controllers that do not have that kind of circuit protection

[Ramcatlarry]

FYI:  Professor Motor uses (and sells) a 3 amp breaker for the brake circuit on both controllers and track wiring kits. A 6 and 10 amp version is also available for power circuits.  The ten amp model cover the base for most 100 watt systems per lane.