[Dprglist] [Dprg_roborama_committee] Circuit Breakers

[Carl Ott]

Keep in mind that

   - some Lion and LiPo packs have protection circuits built-in.  Such
   circuits often protect against over-charge, over-temp and short-circuit
   events. I personally strongly prefer such packs, as they provide a layer of
   protection as close to the risk (energy source) as possible
   - Especially if you use batteries w/o such protection circuits,
   fast-blow fuses and circuit breakers can help prevent catastrophic battery
   events, in addition to load issues
   - But even if you DO use batteries with built-in protection circuits,
   fuses and breakers should help avoid damage to loads / circuitry /
   your-fingers /
   things-which-could-be-damaged-by-super-heated-wires-and-chips-acting-like-heating-elements-before-they-fuse

It's all about managing the unique benefit of Lithium chemistries compared
to earlier chemistries - Lithium based batteries have relatively higher
energy storage density per weight and volume -and can typically deliver
considerably higher peak and sustained amperage...  So be careful about
what you 'ask the battery to dump power into' - whether you 'ask on
purpose' or 'by accident'...

Food for thought...

Carl





On Fri, Nov 20, 2020 at 9:48 AM Ron Grant via DPRGlist via
Dprg_roborama_committee <dprg_roborama_committee at lists.dprg.org> wrote:

> Thanks for sharing -- they look pretty handy.
>
> Funny thing is when I started using fuses on my robots was about the same
> time I 'stopped' having short circuits, overload conditions.
> Just me saying...  Maybe humor intended.
>
> Would be nice to know if a lipo is concerned with duration of current
> surge from say accidental short. Just thinking fuse can blow quicker, but
> maybe not important.  Maybe having both fuse and breaker in series for
> ultimate safety?  Or just live on the edge?
>
> Nice polarized power connectors sure are handy. In the early days I think
> things like screw terminals prompted me to use inline fuses to after
> popping a few lipo packs.
>
> Ron
>
>
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