Whymee

My Feedback: (13)

I am fretting over the choice of switches for my 40% Edge.

Looking for a switch that has contacts for the + & - wire. I see alot of them just break the + wire.

What are you Using in your big planes & where to get it?


TIA

Stan

Giant Scale

I've been using the JR heavy duty switches in my big planes. I have also had good luck with cermark switches.

747drvr

My Feedback: (5)

Can't seem to find anything about your "SuperRocker" on your website.

Kris^

My Feedback: (1)

I use 20 amp Radio Shack DPDT switches, and solder to both sides of the switch for the power lead. Gives me up to 40 amps of current capacity and has built in redundancy.

Whymee

My Feedback: (13)

Kris,

Good info. 40 amps. Gotta love that.

One Question though.

What do you do with the charge lead for the batteries?

I want mine accessable so I can check voltage before & after every flight. Prefer not to have it "hangin loose".


TIA

Stan

Kris^

My Feedback: (1)

Okay, THIS may seem a bit . . . "weird". . but I hard-wire Audio jacks into the wiring harness (since I'm soldering my own harness anyway) and use THEM as charge jacks. Put them right through the side of the plane below the switch, ont he battery side of the switch. Then I can monitor the battery voltage with the switch ON if I want, something you cannot do with other wiring setups. Audio cable, with ends, is very inexpensive, much heavier duty than servo wire, a bit tougher (for us heavy handed types) and much easier to plug into. Just clip the other end off and solder a couple of appropriately colored banana plugs onto the cable and you can plug into any charger out there.

IMHO the jacks even LOOK more "techie". . but hey, its my opinion.

I also do ALL wiring for main power for the switch and battery, with at LEAST 18 gauge wire, hardwire all servo power and ground leads to a common buss external of the receiver, and use 22 gauge or thicker wire for any HD servo or multiple servo lead.

okay, its overkill. . NEVER had a failure.

MHawker

My Feedback: (16)

Hey Kris,

I don't think it's overkill at all..... Especially if it works for you. In fact, if you've some pics of how you do all this, I would be very interested in them.

Thanks!

Mike

rminsk

See Hollyday Designs Switch-Jack

Kris^

My Feedback: (1)

At the bottom you can see the "bus strip" I use for external power connections. At top is the switch setup i use, with two switches soldered in series, each capable of carrying both battery packs should the other switch have a failure (dual parallel mode) along with the 'charging jacks' and wiring for them. on the right side youcan see the leads for the battery pack. . 16 AWG leads, adn all leads on the switches are also 16 AWG. This is a plane under construction, the switch and charge jacks being form a plane that was crashed a while ago, but still perfectly usable and will be installed in this plane.

Servos will be 2-5945 elevator, 2-805 rudder, 3-5735 aileron (mounted inside fuselage and use bellcranks in a pull-pull/push-pull setup for the ailerons and linking them together) and two 507JR for throttle/choke. Battery packs will be 2-2150 mah NiMH packs capable of flying for 15+ flights between recharges

Kris^

My Feedback: (1)

here's the backside of the switches, a touch blurry, but you get the idea.