Optical shaft encoder not recording all pulses

Is the optical shaft encoder supposed to record all pulses? Because when we attached it to a motor running at full speed, our encoder seemed to record every 6-11 pulses not every single pulse.

Is the encoder old? We’ve found that after a while the encoder will have dust and debris build up inside which can block the holes and cause the encoder to not work properly. To resolve this we would take a can of air, the stuff you use to clean dust out of computers, and carefully spray out the inside of the encoder. Be CAREFUL though it is possible you could damage the encoder.

It’s brand new. Its about 2 weeks old.

If cleaning does not help and since the Encoder is new, I suggest you call our Tech support line (903-453-0802) for a RMA # for the product to be returned to us so that we can repaired/replaced the unit.

Wait, i though that was normal. Both of mine do that too. it only happens at full speed, though, so my robot can get a rough idea where it is, and i can make it slow down to get an accurate measurement.

I imagine at some point, the encoders (like an old fashioned mouse) just can’t keep up. I would have assumed that the “max” would be a little above the typical vex motor though, since that seems a likely measure to use.

You could connect it via a down gearing, that way you’d get a smaller (say, half?) speed and no skips.

Or RMA them as they suggested :slight_smile: