S2000 Hopper optics question

[stayouttadabunker]

Yeah...The adjustable BK Precision Bench top power supply station is a real blast to use
because I can apply zero voltage up to 32 VDC - perfect for what I do around here.
I'd like to pick a VAC bench top in the near future as well.

I would do as Foster suggested and apply 5vdc 1st and see if it counts.
Of course, I showed you how to check the output signal with a cheap china scope.

Optics are basically LED lights in a way....they can withstand a certain threshold of voltage before flaming out...
A couple of volts over specs won't kill anything but the lifespan of the lamps and receiver optic will be shortened somewhat.
Think of it as applying 130 volts to a 100 watt light bulb....it won't burn out right away but it will be
very very bright for a very very limited amount of time....lol

[BCD]

Good advice, 5V it is to start.  In fact I hit my favorite Goodwill today and bought a 5V wall wart for $0.80...HOO-HOO!  Hope the blasted thing works.

I'm gonna look for a BK Precision bench top power supply; 0-32V should give me a wide enough range to really get in trouble.  Wait a minute, on second thought, I'll look for an extension cord with a 20 recep head.  That way I could plug in my increasingly impressive collection of wall warts and hit about every voltage requirement I've come across .

Thanks for the info!  Y'all have a good weekend.

[stayouttadabunker]

lol...I'll betcha the farm I have more Wallwart's adapters than you have!!!  

[StatFreak]

...That way I could plug in my increasingly impressive collection of wall warts and hit about every voltage requirement I've come across .

Thanks for the info!  Y'all have a good weekend.

lol...I'll betcha the farm I have more Wallwart's adapters than you have!!! 

                                            
                          

   

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/1tqxzWdKKu8&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/1tqxzWdKKu8&rel=0</a>

[BCD]

lol...I'll betcha the farm I have more Wallwart's adapters than you have!!! 

.

 Aw man, now it's getting ugly!  Alright, yours is probably bigger than mine.  BUT, never underestimate the Goodwill Power Shopper.  The gauntlet has been thrown down.  I'm gonna sharpen up my knife so I can roam the electronics aisle amputating wall warts in addition to cleaning out the wart bin.

It grieves me greatly thinking of the dozens of wall warts I scrounged up for firefighter training earlier this year.  They made great entanglements for the blindfolded SCBA (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus) confidence course.  'Course that was before I became addicted to this all consuming notion of Rube Goldberging a coin sorter from parts & pieces, the majority of which, never intended to end their lives as a coin sorter. 

That said, Bunker, your collection probably is bigger.  BUT, as long as the Goodwill store remains open your perch atop the hill is precarious at best.  At the rate I'm buying warts the local Goodwill will probably be the most profitable in their system and you will be at the bottom looking up  . 

Then there's StatFreak stirring the pot  from the sidelines!  THANKS buddy.  Me thinks he suffers from Wall Wart Envy  .

[poppo]

Just a little info on the wall wart thing. They come in two types, the more common transformer type and the switcher type. The switcher type will always be regulated and whatever voltage it says it is will be pretty accurate. The ones that use transformers will have a voltage that is 'nominal' for a load that is close to the max rating. In simple terms this means that a 9V wall wart that is rated at 500ma will put out close to 9V when the current draw is around 400-500ma. With no load or a light load, the voltage may be as high as 15V. What this means is that it you are using a wall wart to power a voltage sensative component (i.e. a TTL IC chip that wants to see 5V + - .2V, then you really need to use a switcher type. A 5V transformer type will probably be outputting around 9V or so with no load. Thus you stand a good chance of frying the IC even though the wall wart said it was 5V. Best thing is to actually measure the voltage first with no load. Not always, but it's not that hard to tell what type it is just by looking at it.

Note: Technically a switcher power supply also uses a transformer, but it will be much smaller.

[BCD]

BIG TIME THANKS POPPO !!

You answered a question I have but hadn't asked.  I have seen both designations and wondered what the difference was.  I am going to test the warts I have under no load.

Again, THANKS!

[stayouttadabunker]

Poppo,
You've certainly touched upon a problem I had a few years when working with a Wallwart's for one of my projects.
That may explain why I was burning out a small board I was trying to power up.
I had always wondered why the voltage outputs varied so much...Thanks!

[BCD]

Evening all,

If an adapter has Input of 100-240V AC and Output of +12V, 1.5A BUT DOES NOT STATE WHETHER THE OUTPUT IS AC OR DC what should I assume it is?  I have prowled the web trying to find the answer and can't.

[poppo]

It says it's a switching power supply, so it is DC.

Plus there is this.

[BCD]

GREAT poppo  !

We just got back from a short trip and I jumped into testing wall warts based on your previous post.  I hooked a 12V to my  multimeter and it read 24V!!  GOOD GRIEF!  I then tried the 12V switching adapter and got NOTHING.  I looked at the wall wart again and noticed there was no AC or DC designation for the output.  I thought, "Oh great, I just used the multimeter DC voltage mode to test an AC output...goodbye multimeter.  But, if "switching" means it's DC output then it shouldn't affect the multimeter.  Very strange...

When I tested the 12V adapter that read 24V the multimeter was set on 25DCV so that should have handled 24V...shouldn't it?

Thanks again poppo for the great help.   

[poppo]

You won't hurt a meter by measuring AC on the DC setting or DC on the AC setting. Even having the wrong range normally won't hut it. You just won't get the right readings.

Sometimes those barrel plugs are too small to fit the meter lead into and get a reading. For those I'll stick a paper clip or something in the center and stick the lead on that.

BTW, my resettable meters are still sitting in China. 

[BCD]

Oh no poppo!  Sorry to hear about your counters still in China.  I got an e-note from the seller last week that mine had been shipped but now I wonder where they were shipped to...some intermediate point in China????  Oh well, at the rate everthing else is progressing on  this SIMPE project, I sure the devil won't need the counters anytime soon.  I'm now questioning whether my power supplies are safe.

Thanks for the explanation on what WON'T kill a multimeter.  I tried the multimeter on a wart that has a barrel connector and one I'd cut the connector off.  Neither the barrel connector nor the bare wires brought the multimeter to life.

I'm gonna go make a drink!

As always poppo, thanks for the help.  You saved me a bunch of Googling and swearing time.

[poppo]

Oh no poppo!  Sorry to hear about your counters still in China.  I got an e-note from the seller last week that mine had been shipped ..

Oh, mine were shipped. They just have not made it out of the county yet.

I normally prefer to buy from US sellers, but sometimes you just can't beat the China prices. I'll pay a little more for a US based item, but not 4 or 5 times as much.

[BCD]

AMEN to that one poppo!

[poppo]

My meters finally arrived today. Two weeks, not too bad. Here is a picture of them along side a quarter for scale. They have little plastic mounting brackets and detachable wire harnesses. I'll post when I get a chance to test them out.

[BCD]

Hi poppo,

I was thinking of the counters this morning, wondering if you'd heard/seen anything of yours.  Thanks for posting that yours arrived.  Mine should show up within the week...I hope.

As an aside, I Goldberged a counter using a RadioShack miniswitch and an old cheapy calculator from Goodwill.  Works great as long as I run the hopper on 12V, about 12-13 rpm.  Figured I use it until the high end electronics rolled it.

Again thanks for the note about your counters.

[stayouttadabunker]

oh...COOL Poppo!
You got the ones with the reset button in between the "A" and "B"... NICE!!
Mine didn't have those manual resettable buttons...
I had to use a momentary switch.

[poppo]

No video like Bunker made since it's pretty much the same thing. First picture shows that it counted 29 coins, which was correct. The second picture just shows it wired up to the hopper plug (S+). Bottom two pins are 115VAC, the middle ones are ground and +5VDC (which are also connected to ground and +V on the meter). and the top left one is the 'A' counter in (yellow) which goes to the coin out of the optics (also yellow).

It should be noted that these meters do retain their memory when power is removed.

Click on pictures to enlarge

[BCD]

The slow boat from China arrived today  and I've been trying to get the counter to count since  .

Poppo, my optics has two collectors, should I be able to connect the positive line of a 5VDC power supply to optics pin 1, ground line from the power supply to optics pin 6, and the yellow wire from the counter to pin 2 or 4 of the optics and have the counter work?  The counter is hooked to a 12VDC power supply and powers up fine.  The optics wiring diagram is attached to an earlier post by Foster. 

Should I do anything with optics pin 3 (cathode 1), optics pin 5 (cathode 2), and the collector pin NOT hooked to the yellow wire of the counter?

Thanks,
Bart 

[poppo]

First make sure the counter will count by grounding either the yellow or blue wire on the counter. Is there some reason you are using 12v for the counter? It works fine off of 5v. Make sure you are using a common ground between the counter and the optics if you do use a seperate power supply. But I ould just power up the optics and meter with the same power supply.

I'm not sue if internally the optics are like this or not, but it looks like you would ground the cathodes and connect the collectors to  the counter.

[BCD]

Good morning poppo,
I'll try grounding the yellow or blue wire of the counter.  When I was changing connections, trying to get the whole shebang to work, the "A" counter did advance.

I tried 12V after trying 5V.  I was powering the optics and counter with the same 5V power supply and couldn't get it to work so I thought I'd try them separately.  I didn't want ANOTHER power supply so I used a 12V that was already powering the coin sorter.

Another person suggested using a 200ohm resistor on the power line to the optics as a precaution against frying the optics.  I tried this, with no luck, and removed the resistor.

Assuming the optics are OK to begin with, I'll use your wiring diagram and suggestions to see if I can get the counter to countin'.

Poppo, I really appreciate your help, knowledge, and PATIENCE.  I know I'll get this rascal to work but only because of your, and everyone else's, help.

Once again, thank you.
Bart

[poppo]

Ok, first, what did not work? The counter did not power up or it just didn't count?

[BCD]

Counter powered up but did not count when I wired it to the optics.  HOWEVER, as I was changing either the power supply from 5V to 12V or I inadvertently crossed a wire(s) the counter did count.  I think it would be a good idea for me to start from square one and wire the counter to the optics following your instructions and diagram then see what happens.

[stayouttadabunker]

It sounds like at 1st, he had gotten the "A" (in) counter to advance on 5V.
But when he added 12V, it's possible that the emitter optics burned out
                                         or
                          hooked it up backwards?

I'm pretty sure optics do mind which side is the "hot" line.

If the optics are shot, then I'd go with a wire micro-switch in place of the optics's lever -
to ground the yellow "IN" or "A" line of the counter.

I'd be checking first to see if the emitter optic is working at least -
by viewing it through a video camera.