74" Edge 540

[gyro]

Hey guys. Happy holidays!

This is my first internal combustion powered build and I had some difficulty specifying the electrical system I was going to use. I ended up buying the Power System 2 from Troy Built. I started to hook everything up last week and found out that the voltage regulator and switch was faulty. I made a short video showing the issue and the manufacturer is going to take care of it.

But now I'm thinking I don't really need that regulator anyway. What I think I'm going to do now is this:
1) Run unregulated 2S Li-Ion battery to receiver.
2) I'm using 4 HS-5565MH servos (control surfaces) and 1 HS-5665MH (throttle) servo which are all rated "High Voltage"
3) I'll use an Ignition Battery Eliminator Filter (IBEF) with opto kill switch to power the ignition system.

Here's a sketch of what the configuration will look like. Do you guys see any problems with this setup?

View attachment 19744

Thanks,
Marc

Perfect plan.

 

[Diggity]

Hey guys. Happy holidays!

This is my first internal combustion powered build and I had some difficulty specifying the electrical system I was going to use. I ended up buying the Power System 2 from Troy Built. I started to hook everything up last week and found out that the voltage regulator and switch was faulty. I made a short video showing the issue and the manufacturer is going to take care of it.

But now I'm thinking I don't really need that regulator anyway. What I think I'm going to do now is this:
1) Run unregulated 2S Li-Ion battery to receiver.
2) I'm using 4 HS-5565MH servos (control surfaces) and 1 HS-5665MH (throttle) servo which are all rated "High Voltage"
3) I'll use an Ignition Battery Eliminator Filter (IBEF) with opto kill switch to power the ignition system.

Here's a sketch of what the configuration will look like. Do you guys see any problems with this setup?

View attachment 19744

Thanks,
Marc

If your using HV servos, why not take advantage of them and run 2s Lipo unregulated.? This will eliminate the need for your regulator . Trust me, your won't regret it.

 

[AtomicFlyer]

Perfect plan.

If your using HV servos, why not take advantage of them and run 2s Lipo unregulated.? This will eliminate the need for your regulator . Trust me, your won't regret it.

Thanks guys. I went with the unregulated 2S Li-Ion and just finished setting up travel and throws and everything seems to work good. One less component to fail in flight.

Marc

 

[njswede]

Perfect plan.

Almost perfect!

What I don't like is that he seems to have a single wire from the battery to the receiver. Each servo wire can only handle a couple of amps and if you max out the current on all your servos (think "KE spin" or "tumble") you'll get a lot more current than that. There are two solutions to this: Either use a power distribution board or feed the receiver through spare channels. The receiver can usually pass through a few amps, so the single cable becomes an issue before the positive rail in the receiver does. The problem here is that with a 7 channel RX you don't have that many spare channels left, but if you can feed it through at least two channels, I'd feel a lot better about the setup.

 

[AtomicFlyer]

Almost perfect!

What I don't like is that he seems to have a single wire from the battery to the receiver. Each servo wire can only handle a couple of amps and if you max out the current on all your servos (think "KE spin" or "tumble") you'll get a lot more current than that. There are two solutions to this: Either use a power distribution board or feed the receiver through spare channels. The receiver can usually pass through a few amps, so the single cable becomes an issue before the positive rail in the receiver does. The problem here is that with a 7 channel RX you don't have that many spare channels left, but if you can feed it through at least two channels, I'd feel a lot better about the setup.

Thanks for the reply NJSwede. If I understand your concern correctly, you think I should have a second power cable from the battery to the receiver? My reasoning for using only a single power lead goes like this:
-I'm using 5 standard Hitec digital servos (4 for control surfaces and 1 for throttle)
-Hitec's rule of thumb is 2A max for a digital servo, so my servos will draw 10A max (probably less because throttle servo won't ever draw max current)
-I'm using the "JR" servo connector on my battery (see photo) to run power to the receiver, which has 18 gauge wire
-The 18 gauge wire can easily handle short bursts of 10 amps since it is run like "chassis" wiring with plenty of air cooling

In addition, it'll probably be a while before I get really comfortable enough to toss around this big (a relative term) gasser.

Does that all sound reasonable or am I deluding myself?

Marc

 

[wedoitall]

You could use a BattShare?

 

[gyro]

Thanks for the reply NJSwede. If I understand your concern correctly, you think I should have a second power cable from the battery to the receiver? My reasoning for using only a single power lead goes like this:
-I'm using 5 standard Hitec digital servos (4 for control surfaces and 1 for throttle)
-Hitec's rule of thumb is 2A max for a digital servo, so my servos will draw 10A max (probably less because throttle servo won't ever draw max current)
-I'm using the "JR" servo connector on my battery (see photo) to run power to the receiver, which has 18 gauge wire
-The 18 gauge wire can easily handle short bursts of 10 amps since it is run like "chassis" wiring with plenty of air cooling

In addition, it'll probably be a while before I get really comfortable enough to toss around this big (a relative term) gasser.

Does that all sound reasonable or am I deluding myself?

Marc

View attachment 19750

Marc,

When I use the ps2 from TBM (I have 2), I connect the battery via deans plug to the regulator, and then two jr servo plugs into the rx.

While your assumptions above are relatively sound, please also consider malfunctions.
Should one servo have trouble and bind or seize, it could quickly draw more amps that the one jr plug can handle. This could cause the jr servo plug/wire to short or fail, and lead to total power loss.

Redundancy is a good thing! So I run a minimum of 2 power inputs (jr plugs) into my rx on 30cc size planes, and 3 (or spektrum powersafe) on 50cc and above.

 

[AtomicFlyer]

...

Redundancy is a good thing! So I run a minimum of 2 power inputs (jr plugs) into my rx on 30cc size planes, and 3 (or spektrum powersafe) on 50cc and above.

The redundancy argument sold me. I'll solder a JR connector onto the Deans (or make an adapter) and feed it into a spare RX channel. Thanks.

Marc

 

[AtomicFlyer]

I haven't put on any vinyl yet, but she's 99.9% ready to fly. Time and weather might delay the maiden a couple weeks.

Marc

 

[gyro]

I haven't put on any vinyl yet, but she's 99.9% ready to fly. Time and weather might delay the maiden a couple weeks.

Marc

View attachment 19783

View attachment 19784

Looks awesome Marc, congrats!