One of my Cub Scouts recently built this project but is expeincing problems.
Even with sensitivity turned right up on both motors, bug hardly seem to move.
In fact left hand motor sometimes does not turn at all.
If I turn up the speed, motors seem to turn faster but have less power and the left hand motor stalls when placed on table.
On slowest speed in syncronised mode pulses are about 2 every second.
In alternating mode probably 4 or 5 every second.
All this, even in bright sunlight!
Batteries are fresh.
I have checked his soldering work and it seems good overall - although he did lift the a track at the one LED - this may have been a bump to the LED rather than a soldering problem. It is however not shorted and both LEDs still flash.
I have checked the voltage at T7 and T8 and it is 2.8V dropping slightly when the motors energise.
If you have any ideas what the problem is, please help…
All seems to be OK. Strange problem. Did the motors suffer from excessive heating during soldering ?
If problem persists, please return kit for inspection.
Thank you for your prompt reply.
When I got the bug from the Cub who had built it, the motors had not been soldered to the board. They were being held in place by the connecting wires only. There is no melting, etc of the nylon brush holder/connector blocks that I can see. I believe that a professional soldering station had been used for the job (borrowed from an uncle). I subsequently soldered the motors in place to prevent any physical damage should they be bumped - but I was careful not to overheat the magnets.
If you suspect the motor, I may first try to disconnect a lead from each motor and run some tests to check current and power.
If that fails to uncover the problem I will ship the kit - from South Africa so it will take a while.