CMB16D DC Controller and motor usage (inductive circuit)

[dave carlstedt]

I am using a cmb16d -DC Controller. I plan on mainly controlling LEDs at 12v. Is it possible to run any small low voltage dc motors on this board, or will the inductive circuit "blow" a transistor? I wish to power the motor directly, without using a relay. Ideally, control the speed of the motor. Thanks for the help. If you have done this with small motors for your setups, please let me know what you used...I am not using servos in this particular operation. If you have done this in perhaps, halloween props. etc. please let me know how you did it. (Is servo dog the only option?)

[-klb-]

The key thing is you need a reverse biased diode in parallel with the motor, sized for the full motor current. This effectively shorts out the motor when power is not applied, and allows the stored energy to loop through the diode instead of making a voltage spike tbat can damage the controller.