Hooking up the D100-B/D100-B25 Motor Driver Board

Before continuing with this instruction page, YOU MUST visit the:
5 volt power supplies and warranty issues pages

Actual physical wiring locations on the D100

Wiring configuration in which everything is powered by a 12V supply. The 5V supply required by the control board and the D100, is obtained by means of a 5V regulator. In this case, the Motor B+ can not be under 7 volts, that's because the 5V regulator requires a supply of at least 7 volts and no higher than 25 volts. < Fig 1

Wiring configuration powered by a separate 12V supply and a 5V supply. Notice that even though separate supplies are used, they still share the same ground. In this case, since we're using a separate 5V supply, the Motor B+ can be under 7 volts, even 1 volt if needed. < Fig 2

D100 Connectors

For the 5V B+ line and the control lines, the D100 is equipped with a 4-pin male connector.
From our part number:
"FHC" 8-pin female header connector, a 4-pin female connector can be easily cut to match the D100's 4-pin male conector.

For the Motor B+, Ground and 2 motor lines, the D100 is equipped with .187" quick disconnect female connectors. Our part number: QDM-187 .187" quick disconect male conector, can be used to match the D100's female connectors.


IMPORTANT PERFORMANCE GUIDELINES:

Other than the guidelines stated in 5 volt power supplies, be on the lookout for electrical noise and loose connections.

Electrical Noise:
Electrical Noise is caused by many different things: Poor Filtered or Weak Power Supplies, Loose Wires or Connections, not using the .1uf capacitors at the output lines, etc...

As shown on the drawings, for noise supression, make sure that you install two .1uf capacitors from each motor line to ground. These can be of either monolithic or ceramic type. Not installing these capacitors will lead to a malfunction of not just the D100 but also to other boards in your system.


IMPORTANT NOTE: The wiring in Fig 1 may cause the D100 or its master control board to malfunction. If this is the case, it is recommended that the D100-B/25 and its master control board be powered by a separate 5 volt power supply from that of the D100-B's motor B+, as show in Fig 2.
This problem is usually caused by noise from a poor filtered or weak power supply or the motor. Even if you don't have a noisy power supply, some motors create a lot of noise at start up or at the change of direction.


Loose Connections:
Loose connections are a very common cause of any electrical system malfunction. NONE of the D100's connections should come loose or disconnected during opperation. Any of these becoming loose or disconected during operation will instantly create a sytem malfunction.

If by accident, any wire or wires, being: ground, power, motor or control lines become disconnected, turn off ALL power lines before reconnecting them.

ALL WIRING: GROUND, POWER, CONTROL LINES and MOTOR, MUST BE INSPECTED FOR TIGHT CONNECTIONS PRIOR TO POWER UP!!!

Heat and PWM:
Be on the lookout for the MOSFETs screws, the tend to come loose very easy, if this happens the MOSFETs will overheat and get destroyed.

Pointing a small 12V DC fan at the MOSFETs, will help disipate the heat of 25A without adding heatsinks.

Can MOSFETs be Burned with 3 or 4 amps of Current?

Yes... This happens if a PWM higher than 1Khz is used, at such, even with only 3 or 4 amps, the MOSFETs are forced to handle a lot of watts which in turn creates a lot of heat, thus destroying the MOSFETs.  

AS A RULE OF THUMB...
If you have no way of measuring the MOSFET's temperature, you should periodically touch them as their temperature rises, once their temperature feels extremly too hot to touch, you should stop


Amperage:
The D100-Band D100-B25 are15A and 25A boards respectively, this current rating is based on the fact that it must be shared by ALL 4 MOSFETs on the board.
In other words, the motor can not be in one direction at 15/25 amps for long periods of time, let's say longer than 2 minutes, it must switch directions back and forth to allow the 4 MOSFETs to disipate the heat generated by the 15A/25A rated current.

8A/13A is the current rated to drive a motor for long periods of time in one direction.

If it's needed to drive a motor for long periods of time in one direction, then, as stated before, pointing a small 12V DC fan at the MOSFETs, will help disipate the heat of higher amperages without adding heatsinks.


Remember, in the D100-B/D100-B25, only 2 MOSFETs are used at a time.

Hooking up the D100 is very simple:

The first thing to notice is that the D100 has only one Ground to worry about.
The D100's main Ground is shared by the 5 volt B+, Motor Control Input Lines and the Motor B+. As seen on the top drawing, this connection is located at the bottom of the board.

The 5 volt B+ required by the on-board digital and MOSFET bias circuitry goes connected at the top pin on the 4-pin header located at the top-left corner on the board, on the top drawing, this is pointed to by a green line.

The IN1, IN2 and ENable lines go connected at the lower 3 pins on the 4-pin header located at the top-left corner on the board. On the top drawing, this are pointed to by 3 blue lines.

The Motor B+ goes connected at the top of the board, on the top drawing, this is pointed to by a red line.

The 2 power motor connections are located right next to the source pins on the top MOSFETS, on the drawing, this is pointed to by 2 yellow lines.

Input Lines Truth Table:

If needed, the enable line can be tied to the 5 volts B+, the motor can still be controlled with the 2 direction input lines.

Speed with PWM:
To control speed, just apply a PWM signal at the enable input line. When doing so, it is strongly suggested to use a low frequency PWM signal of 1Khz or less.

Another Note: An "X' at about the center of the board points to a mounting hole, to avoid shorting 2 nearby connections with a metal screw you must use plastic washers and/or a plastic screw.

Instructions for Viewing the D100 Schematic 

Request the schematic from us by email.
Rules:
1) The schematic is free ONLY if you keep the board, otherwise the cost for it is $10.00.
2) Schematics are not returnable.

To view it, you must first unzip the schematic file and then download the schematic viewing software at:
http://www.tecel.com/files/supercad.zip

Once downloaded, make a directory for it and unzip its contents in it. Once unzipped, the program to run is called 'super.exe'.

To view the D100 schematic, once SUPER.EXE is running, open the unzipped file: D100.PIC

For Troubleshooting Purposes

On the following chart, the green area is the input lines state, the yellow area is the state of IC U1's pins 16-19, and whether Q1-Q4 are ON or OFF in response to the inputs.

Chart's Legend:
H = High(2.0V-5.0V)
L = Low(0.0V-1.0V)
ON = A voltage of 10.0 between pin 1(gate) and 3(source) of the respective MOSFET.
OFF = A voltage of 0.0 between pin 1(gate) and 3(source) of the respective MOSFET.

A voltage of 10.0V-20V should be measured at the following spots:
Between the main ground and the cathode of D3.
Between the heat sink of Q4 and the cathode of D1.
Between the heat sink of Q2 and the cathode of D2.

Note:
The motor B+ doesn't have to be on when taking any or all of the above measurments.