Why do you use HV and / or why don't you?

[Terryscustom]

Not really looking to start the SF vs PS vs standard RX debate but I will add my $.02. With some folks the use of power expanders is almost akin to which oil is best.

The power safe rx's work like a power expander in that they have a fail safe switch (unplug the switch and RX turns on), they have dual heavy gauge wires that feed it, and it keeps the batteries balanced. When used with the proper batteries they can hold a 35 amp load with 50 amp spikes. I have personally used the 12 channel power safe in 40% birds and done full throttle rolling loops with no feeling of blow-back. This is running standard voltage Hitec servos and dual 5000mah A123 packs. This to me is a testament to their ability to handle pretty much anything out there. Now, running on a more hungry HV servo, I don't know, can't say for certain. And this is in no way saying anything bad about your views and process @stangflyer I know lots of people feel exactly like you do. I've seen power expanders in more than one 50cc plane and shake my head though.

- I guess my question is with a regulator (that has dual leads in and dual leads out) that is doing servo matching and isolation feeding a receiver that is also doing servo matching and also has dual leads in.......is there any way these two can fight each other?

 

[ericb]

Not 100% sure about the matching reg, but I use a smartfly reg in my viper with a powersafe rx. Works great.

 

[stangflyer]

Not really looking to start the SF vs PS vs standard RX debate but I will add my $.02. With some folks the use of power expanders is almost akin to which oil is best.

The power safe rx's work like a power expander in that they have a fail safe switch (unplug the switch and RX turns on), they have dual heavy gauge wires that feed it, and it keeps the batteries balanced. When used with the proper batteries they can hold a 35 amp load with 50 amp spikes. I have personally used the 12 channel power safe in 40% birds and done full throttle rolling loops with no feeling of blow-back. This is running standard voltage Hitec servos and dual 5000mah A123 packs. This to me is a testament to their ability to handle pretty much anything out there. Now, running on a more hungry HV servo, I don't know, can't say for certain. And this is in no way saying anything bad about your views and process @stangflyer I know lots of people feel exactly like you do. I've seen power expanders in more than one 50cc plane and shake my head though.

- I guess my question is with a regulator (that has dual leads in and dual leads out) that is doing servo matching and isolation feeding a receiver that is also doing servo matching and also has dual leads in.......is there any way these two can fight each other?

Oh heck no. I too don't want to start any debates. Just my .02 worth also. As for your actual question, I myself, do not think they would fight each other. But.....again, I don't use Spektrum.

 

[Bemeson]

Terry,
Give me a ring and we will set you up. Another factor to consider when using a regulator is how many leads come out of the regulator. On a 50-60cc plane I use a min up two power leads coming from the regulator to power both sides of the receiver bus. On 100cc and up I use a min of 3 to 4 leads to spread the power across the receiver bus. I have a spare Fromco Sahara that I am sure I can let you try and see for your self. Fromeco Sahara reg's are near bullet proof in our testing. We have tested the crap out of them both on the bench and in our test planes.

Brian

 

[ericb]

Also if you use the fromco reg, your rx will plug right into it So you still have the benefits of a ps rx.

 

[Terryscustom]

Terry,
Give me a ring and we will set you up. Another factor to consider when using a regulator is how many leads come out of the regulator. On a 50-60cc plane I use a min up two power leads coming from the regulator to power both sides of the receiver bus. On 100cc and up I use a min of 3 to 4 leads to spread the power across the receiver bus. I have a spare Fromco Sahara that I am sure I can let you try and see for your self. Fromeco Sahara reg's are near bullet proof in our testing. We have tested the crap out of them both on the bench and in our test planes.

Brian

Power safe RX uses dual 16g wires feeding it so there is no need for multiple standard wires. I'm between two different regs right now. The Fromeco is nice and from what I see the specs are good but the Fromeco website is out of date for the MK-II one that is adjustable to 6.6 volts. Link to the page for it shows an error. All of their re-sellers also don't have proper specs for the new "black version". I see it can be ordered with deans in / EC3 out which is what I need for the power safe RX but they don't list the gauge of wire used.

The one I really one is the Booma that has digital readout, deans in / out and has an absolute crap ton of options compared to the Fromeco. Just unsure about the batt share part: http://www.boomarc.com/en/intellireg-pro

 

[jhelber08]

OK, so here is a dumb question. I'm thinking of trying a couple of LiPo's but I need to put a regulator in my plane because I'm not going to rush out right now and buy new servos for 8 GS planes. I will have to slowly switch over. I am looking at two regulators from two different companies that I can regulate to 6.6 volts. One of the regs also has internal battery matching and isolation features.

- So my question is, has anyone heard of any issues with a Spektrum power safe RX that is fed by a regulator that also has power safe features??

My simple way of thinking is the answer is no, because the RX should not care less how it is being fed.

I can tell you this if you haven't already figured it out, stay away from the spektrum regulators. My first GS plane had a spektrum ps rx with 2 spektrum regulators and I was constantly replacing the fans and had both of the regs completely crap out within the one year that I owned the plane. I ended up ditching them and going with life batteries until I sold it.

As for my setups now I'm running all HV with PS receivers and have yet to have any issues with that setup. I have been accused of having my ailerons on an on/off switch through full throttle maneuvers and have never had any issue with voltage drop affecting the crispness of the controls or any brownout issues. Just my .02 when it comes to the effectiveness of a power safe system vs a power expander.

 

[Xpress]

OK, so here is a dumb question. I'm thinking of trying a couple of LiPo's but I need to put a regulator in my plane because I'm not going to rush out right now and buy new servos for 8 GS planes. I will have to slowly switch over. I am looking at two regulators from two different companies that I can regulate to 6.6 volts. One of the regs also has internal battery matching and isolation features.

- So my question is, has anyone heard of any issues with a Spektrum power safe RX that is fed by a regulator that also has power safe features??

My simple way of thinking is the answer is no, because the RX should not care less how it is being fed.

You should not have issues. The PS receiver will only see the 6.6 volts through the input leads, they can't see the regulator or any of that. If you do have issues, maybe it's time to switch to Hitec and use all of our gear

Sarcasm aside, I would consider slowly starting to convert your fleet over to HV. For me, it's just the simplicity of not having to use a regulator in the system, another component that could potentially fail with enough load on it. It's not such a big deal for smaller airplanes that only use 3-4 servos with low current draws, but on these big airplanes you definitely want to eliminate as many failure points as possible. Plus, running a direct 2S LiIon/LiPo setup gets you some serious power to your servos. The difference between a servo running at 6 volts and 7.4 volts (or rather 6.6 volts and 8.4 volts) is quite astronomical. You go from having to be careful with your energy management in order to keep from stalling the servo to now being able to crack out of high speed maneuvers without coming close to the servos stall speed. Or from having to roll out of your knife edge loop to now being able to dip that airplane down onto the runway with pinpoint precision

 

[ericb]

You should not have issues. The PS receiver will only see the 6.6 volts through the input leads, they can't see the regulator or any of that. If you do have issues, maybe it's time to switch to Hitec and use all of our gear

Sarcasm aside, I would consider slowly starting to convert your fleet over to HV. For me, it's just the simplicity of not having to use a regulator in the system, another component that could potentially fail with enough load on it. It's not such a big deal for smaller airplanes that only use 3-4 servos with low current draws, but on these big airplanes you definitely want to eliminate as many failure points as possible. Plus, running a direct 2S LiIon/LiPo setup gets you some serious power to your servos. The difference between a servo running at 6 volts and 7.4 volts (or rather 6.6 volts and 8.4 volts) is quite astronomical. You go from having to be careful with your energy management in order to keep from stalling the servo to now being able to crack out of high speed maneuvers without coming close to the servos stall speed. Or from having to roll out of your knife edge loop to now being able to dip that airplane down onto the runway with pinpoint precision

The irony is Hitec servos are the reason I have to use a regulator. Damn 7950's on the elevators and rudder won't stop dancing on HV so I had to add a regulator.

 

[Terryscustom]

The irony is Hitec servos are the reason I have to use a regulator. Damn 7950's on the elevators and rudder won't stop dancing on HV so I had to add a regulator.

Been there done that with the fuzzy velcro and stuff on the 7950's and I had some 7980's that were super super bad. One is toast right now, needs to be send in for life support so I can sell it.......on FG.