GS aircraft, use 6 volts or regulate down?

GS aircraft, use 6 volts or regulate down?
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All Forums >> RC Airplanes >> Giant Scale Aircraft - 3D & Aerobatic >> GS aircraft, use 6 volts or regulate down?

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GS aircraft, use 6 volts or regulate down? - 6/25/2007 9:14:35 PM

Zman39

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I am new to the world of 30% aircraft but already have a couple

. I am running all digital high torque servos. I am running 6 volt packs in both and regulate them down to 5.3 volts. Is this the proper way or should I let all 6+ volts go to the servos?

Thanks

Z

RE: GS aircraft, use 6 volts or regulate down? - 6/25/2007 11:38:11 PM

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Let it go to the servos. No big deal. Been doing it for years.

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RE: GS aircraft, use 6 volts or regulate down? - 6/26/2007 12:17:36 AM

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6V and you will be happier with more holding power.

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RE: GS aircraft, use 6 volts or regulate down? - 6/26/2007 11:37:27 AM

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For many - 6V is the regulated voltage

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RE: GS aircraft, use 6 volts or regulate down? - 6/26/2007 12:37:16 PM

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Regulate the servo's to 6 volts. Max holding power, consistent power flight after flight, and no jitters. Scott

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RE: GS aircraft, use 6 volts or regulate down? - 6/26/2007 1:29:38 PM

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regulate a 5 cell pack down to 6 volts? Why bother

I run dual NoBS 2/3A 1400 and 1500 packs. They sit nicely between 6.4 and 6.6 all day long without a servo twitch or anything. Even after a full charge they are fine. After 6 or 8 15-25 min flights they are still sitting above 6v and everything is working fine.

I have like 500+ flights on this configuration and never once had an issue.

Don't start adding points of failure for no reason at all.

Edit: This "constant power" arguement is all in your head... to notice a slight power drop you would have to memorize every single stick position for every move and see the stick took 1/32" more movement for a manuevor. Unless you fly the exact same routine hundreds of time I highly doubt anyone would be able to notice the difference. I don't know about most people but when I fly I am locked into a zone on the plane and the last thing that is on my mind is "hrmm I dont think I pushed the stick that far last time.. was that the wind or did I just have a fraction of a second drop in power".

Sorry just my 2 cents.

< Message edited by sinergy -- 6/26/2007 1:35:37 PM >

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RE: GS aircraft, use 6 volts or regulate down? - 6/26/2007 5:17:34 PM

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quote:

ORIGINAL: sinergy

regulate a 5 cell pack down to 6 volts? Why bother I run dual NoBS 2/3A 1400 and 1500 packs. They sit nicely between 6.4 and 6.6 all day long without a servo twitch or anything. Even after a full charge they are fine. After 6 or 8 15-25 min flights they are still sitting above 6v and everything is working fine.

I have like 500+ flights on this configuration and never once had an issue.

Don't start adding points of failure for no reason at all.

Edit: This "constant power" arguement is all in your head... to notice a slight power drop you would have to memorize every single stick position for every move and see the stick took 1/32" more movement for a manuevor. Unless you fly the exact same routine hundreds of time I highly doubt anyone would be able to notice the difference. I don't know about most people but when I fly I am locked into a zone on the plane and the last thing that is on my mind is "hrmm I dont think I pushed the stick that far last time.. was that the wind or did I just have a fraction of a second drop in power".

Sorry just my 2 cents.

Exactly....no need to add more points of failure

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RE: GS aircraft, use 6 volts or regulate down? - 6/26/2007 7:58:19 PM

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I am glad it works for you. I like the regulated voltage, and have noticed many times the servo's being twitchy with voltage over 6.5 volts. Also, if you fly L-ion 8.4V packs thay need to be regulated anyway. Never an issue with the regulators being a point of failure. If you fly enough, you will notice a difference in feel as the voltage drops a half of a volt, or at least I can. Scott

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RE: GS aircraft, use 6 volts or regulate down? - 6/26/2007 9:08:54 PM

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quote:

ORIGINAL: jsm77777

I am glad it works for you. I like the regulated voltage, and have noticed many times the servo's being twitchy with voltage over 6.5 volts. Also, if you fly L-ion 8.4V packs thay need to be regulated anyway. Never an issue with the regulators being a point of failure. If you fly enough, you will notice a difference in feel as the voltage drops a half of a volt, or at least I can. Scott

Well can't say I see that twitching.. I have heard it happens from time to time... but only if you come right off a full charge at the field. Which you shouldn't do anyhow.

8.4 Packs sure.. you dont have a choice. I have heard countless stories of regs failing.. all you have to do is read these forums.

"If you fly enough"? Considering I burned 17 gallons of gas in one plane between mid July and the end of Oct last year I would say I fly enough.

Next you will be telling me that you fly so much you can tell when your batteries drop .25 volt, .5 volt, and .75volt. The only move that really nails all servos at one time with an extreme force is a blender. Precision stuff isn't hitting your servos hard enough. 3D stuff.. a rolling harrier isn't putting lot of force on the surfaces compared to a blender.. the plane is at a stall.

I swear today's r/c marketing is some of the best marketing out there

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RE: GS aircraft, use 6 volts or regulate down? - 6/26/2007 10:03:12 PM

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I just wonder why some people think their way is the best and only way to do something. I'm glad your way works for you. Their is always more than one way to do something. I was just answering a post to give my opinion to help someone, and not to get into a pi$$ing contest with another person. Scott

(in reply to Jake Ruddy)

RE: GS aircraft, use 6 volts or regulate down? - 6/26/2007 10:30:50 PM

Richard D Bahmann aka/Wrongway

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My Hitec 5945's and 5955 fresh off charge are 7.1 v. By the time I can get to the field 6.85 volts, 4 birds 29 to 33% on 6v NIMH, 90 flight hours in the last 18 months...

I have never had a servo twitch or do anything odd, no squealing other than when a load is applied (it does this at 6v too).

Now I witnessed one of the guys at the field with his fully charged-unregulated 6v on 8611's and they were making all kinds of noise before he could get it airborne.

This is my experience, I hope it helps.

Richard

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RE: GS aircraft, use 6 volts or regulate down? - 6/26/2007 11:07:37 PM

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jsm: While I understand your point.. I just choose to be more outspoken about this topic because soo many people are spending so much on unneccessary products.

Not trying to knock you personally.. but when you make a comment like if you fly enough you will notice a difference, not knowing anything about how often I fly it's going to get a response.

Either way we will agree to disagree.. just so you know I have been outspoken in almost every thread on this topic in the last year.. its not a personal attack

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RE: GS aircraft, use 6 volts or regulate down? - 6/27/2007 12:40:01 AM

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I used to feel the same way as Sinergy.

My 6V MH packs are charging to 7.3--7.45 volts. I'm using JR digitals and they twitch like crazy.

I started using regulators to bring them down to 6V. No more twitching.

I used to just live with the twitching for 2 flights. Then the voltage dropped low enough that the servos wouldn't twitch the rest of the day.

If the regs fail--I got 6.5 v or whatever they happen to be at the time. No big deal.

I was beginning to worry about cooking my servos. At $100+ a pop--I can't afford to ruin them by overvolting them.

The regs seam to be doing the job now.

If your comfortable running 6V unregulated packs--then it's fine. People do it. People have done it for years. I did it. I still do it on sport/glow/smaller models with standard servos. But, if you are worried about the twitching or overvolting the expensive digital servos--a reg is a good solution.

Neither way is wrong. Just different approaches, thats all.

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RE: GS aircraft, use 6 volts or regulate down? - 6/27/2007 2:20:20 PM

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I guess that must be a JR thing... I see the guys flying JR at the field sometimes have twitches as well sometimes.

Hitecs don't do that... atleast 5645s 5945s and 5955s for me.

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RE: GS aircraft, use 6 volts or regulate down? - 7/6/2007 1:48:40 PM

jman12

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Hello Guys,

I'm also new to the giant scale scene and have a couple of questions concerning 6 volt systems. I would like to have a dual 6 volt battery system. How do I wire this system into the standard wiring harness and power switch? What size of battery do I use? I know they have to match in capacity.

As discussed in the July 07 article in RC Report, Tony Stillman champions the use of voltage regulators. The voltage regulators ensures the voltage range stays pretty much the same throughout the entire flight especially during extreme manuvers such as a snap roll. Is it needed for the average race track flyer? We probably won't notice the difference during a typical flight.

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RE: GS aircraft, use 6 volts or regulate down? - 7/6/2007 3:33:30 PM

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I wouldn't recommend using standard switches anymore. Not heavy enough. You need to look at using some heavy duty switches. Tower sells Hobbico heavy duty switches. Cermark sells JR heavy duty switches. Chief Aircraft sell them too. So does Troy Built Models.

Hooking up dual batteries is simple:

Each battery gets it's own switch. There is no pont in running 2 batteries on a Y harness and putting them both into the same switch. You just killed your redundancy. The batteries might be good--but if the switch fails--your done. Dead plane. So, run each batery on it's own switch.

The receiver (RX) can be powered by plugging into ANY port. So, all you need to do is plug in all your servos and then plug each switch/battery into the left over ports. You'll be using 2 switches, so you'll need 2 open ports on the RX to plug into for power.

That's a basic dual battery/switch setup. It will usually give extended flight times because we tend to use bigger batteries--or at least 2 of the same batteries that you would have used in the past. 6V systems drain down faster than 4.8V systems, but the 6V system also helps boost servo torque and speed. You also have a bit of safety factor built in because if one cell in a 6V pack drops out--you still have 4.8 to fly it back to the runway. If you loose a cell on a 4.8V pack, your down to 3.6V--your done. Dead plane.

If your building a BIG plane and your going to run lots of digital servos, it starts to get more complicated. Most guys flying 35% or bigger will at least consider some type of power distribution system. Powerboxes. Not every guy uses powerboxes or believes in them. It's just a choice you have to make. I've seen guys fly a 35% plane with a 100cc engine on 2 regular batteries and 2 switches, just as I described above. These planes are mostly intended for IMAC and aren't subjected to the harsh power demands that a 3D flyer will put on plane. Gentle flying with smooth inputs and low control surface movement is the norm in IMAC. 2 heavy duty bateries and switches will do the job. If your going to build a 3D monster then you probably want to look at a more robust power system.

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Airplanes have expiration dates. It''s just not printed anywhere on them.
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