Death Is In The Air....

[JonnyMac]

How's that for a title?!

Okay, kidding aside I had the opportunity to speak with two customers today that did dastardly things to their EFX-TEK products. 

Customer #1 used his own 24v supply but connected it backward.  The result: dead Prop-1 and dead AP-8 (he was powering the AP-8 from the Prop-1 through a pigtail).

Lesson: If you didn't buy the power supply from us please don't assume it has the correct polarity.  We hate when our products get blown up, especially this close to Halloween.  You can buy inexpensive digital multimeters at auto parts stores; you really should have one in your toolbox while building your props/displays.

Customer #2 connected 120 VAC (Zoinks!, Shaggy) to a Prop-1 output terminals.  This is NEVER okay to do.  The documentation states, somewhat emphatically, that you should not connect any power greater that 30 volts DC to the the Prop-1 (or Prop-2 or Prop-SX for that matter).  Interestingly, customer #2 got lucky.  It seems like the 120 VAC simply blew the ULN open like a fuse and the rest of the board seems okay.  This is really lucky.  Let me say that again: he got really lucky; I would have expected 120 VAC to a Prop-1 would let out a lot of blue smoke.

Lesson: Our controllers only work with DC, and only up to 30v (the regulator wants to shut down to protect itself at the point).  If you need to control 120 VAC from the Prop-1/2/SX then use a relay or the RC-4.