Did I Fry My L293D H-Bridge

Using Arduino Motors, Mechanics, Power and CNC
1

Hi All,
I'm working through the starter kit and attempted to do the zoetrope tutorial.
I set up all the connections and plugged it in and nothing work.
I then realized that the 2 grounds from h-bridge (4 and 5) were actually going to the power, not the ground. Crap!

Did I fry the h-bridge?
Is there any simple test to determine if it's toast?

Thanks,

2

Is there any simple test to determine if it's toast?

Yes wire it up correctly.
Does it work?
No -> toast

3

Hi,
The 2 grounds on pins 4 &5 are also connected internally to the 2 grounds on pins 12 & 13 (and should be on the PCB), so perhaps you created nothing more then one big short circuit, that would'ent have done you batteries much good, but might mean your L293 is OK. I have used the L293 a number of times and made similar mistakes I'm sure.

As Grumpy Mike says redo the job, double check the wiring and give it a go!!

Hope it helps.

Mel.

4

I would suspect the power supply being damaged, but the 293 is probably a survivor. Maybe the power supply had self protection, so you would have no damage.

5

Either way the 293 chips are cheap. You can always buy a few more.

6

Thanks All,
Turns out I did NOT fry it! Yeah!

I think an number of factors caused the problem - and by looking at other sections of the forum it looks like they are common problem with the startup kit.

  • connections on breadboard for buttons don't fit well
  • the leads to the battery connection were flimsy and not making good connection.
  • the back of the breadboard was falling through the hole in the mounting area.

In the end I simplified the circuit and got it to work.
Thanks again for the help!