Circuit Safety

Short Circuits

Short circuits occur when a wire connects two different voltage levels together, allowing a lot of current to flow through.

How to Avoid Short Circuits

Insulate Connections: Use heat-shrink tubing or electrical tape to cover exposed wire joints and prevent them from touching neighboring conductors.
Verify Polarity: Double-check your connections before powering on, ensuring that the positive and negative leads are correctly routed to the load.
Practice Clean Soldering: When working on PCBs or breadboards, ensure there are no "solder bridges" (stray blobs of solder) connecting adjacent pins or traces.
Use Fuses and Circuit Breakers: Integrate protective devices into your designs. Fuses act as a "weak link" that breaks the circuit if the current exceeds a safe limit.
Breadboard Management: Avoid "bird's nest" wiring. Use pre-cut jumper wires that sit flush against the board to minimize the risk of wires accidentally crossing.
Test Continuity: Use a multimeter while the circuit is powered off. If the meter beeps when touching the power and ground rails, you have a short that needs to be fixed before applying power.

Voltage, Current, Power Limits

All circuit components have a rated maximum amount of voltage, current, and power for safe operation. If exceeded, you will significantly reduce the part’s lifetime if not burn it out entirely. Use component datasheets specifying its absolute maximum to ensure that you are always operating well below these limits.

Working with High Voltages or Current

The Mercer X Lab requires that you notify staff and wait for approval if you plan on working with voltages above 24V and currents over 10A.

Power Off when Changing Circuit

Nearly all cases when you are rewiring your circuit you should already have all your power sources turned off. If working with a live circuit is necessary you should have already set up your circuit to make changes safe and easy.

Restricted Items

Extra precautions and approval are required if you plan on working with these:

LiPo Batteries - You must store these in LiPo bags when you aren’t actively working with them