I've read some posts that place the blame on their crash on a bad switch. Ok.

How would you overcome that?

Dual switches/batteries?

No switch?

Any suggestions or ideas?

I am fairly new to RC and am seeking the ideas from all of you pro's out there.

Therefore, thanks in advance.

The bad switch is usually caused by a few crashes. If you have a bad crash, throw away the switch and get a fresh one. You can go to dual batteries and switches, if your willing to spend the coin and can afford the weight in the model.

Or you can forget worrying about it until you get into really expensive stuff.

In my 9 years of flying RC I haven't had a switch failure cause a crash. (Yet!) Just don't get dumb and risk your plane on a questionable switch.
Dennis-

i have never known a switch to cause a crash. just replace it after a crash if you think somethings not right.

Switches are pretty simple devices. If you question the integrity, or are worried about corrosion; just pull apart, clean, and go.

I have actually gone as far as running 2 switches wired in parallel on one battery pack. I turn each switch on individually to make sure they both work and then I keep them both on.

Sean

Hi Sean.

Thanks for the info. A friend of mine, a Pattern flyer, uses two switches and two batteries. Each one connected separately, one goes to the batt terminal on the RX and the other on an unused channel on the RX. I guess either way would work. I like your setup. I use 1650 mah nicads in my airplane rather than the 700's that came with the radio. I also use 5 servo's on my normal plane setup (one per aileron) so the current draw is that much more. I guess the redundancy of the extra mili amp-hours gives me some security. I frequently check my batteries using a loaded voltmeter with a go-nogo analog meter movement. I also have a digital with an internal load. I hate to sound paranoid, but it seems that most of the crashes at my field lately have been due to batteries. My TX also has a large capacity battery. I just felt that the factory 700 mah was a tad bit puney.

Thanks for the input.

By the way, I noticed part of your 'signature' was UK. Are you British? If so, I flew with a bunch of great guys in Harlow (north of London) in the summer of 2003. Had a ball.

Dick.

Something to watch when installing switches through the side of the fuse is to make sure the slot is big enough to allow full travel of the switch.

If the slot is too small it is possible to get a situation where the switch is on, but is under pressure to move in the off direction.


Terry

I have seen "switch failures" that could be avoided as most have not been an electrical integrity problem, but one in which the switch just vibrates itself into the off position. I always position switch so "on" is to the rear of the plane. I have seen and used small pieces of plastic that turns to keep switch in the on position. If I mount the switch inside the plane and use a small piece of wire to turn on/off, on is always out and I place a piece of split fuel tubing over wire to keep it from moving.

John 373786

Hi Dicksoucy,
The UK in my signature is from Quick-UK heli components. They sponsor me as a heli pilot. I live in good ol' NEW england, lol. I run a 6V 1100MAH batt in my plane with a GEM 2000 battery monitor. The GEM is basically a really really bright blinking LED that I have mounted to shine down from under the nose. If I fly by and the light is not blinking, It's time to land and charge! Best part is, you can see your battery condition under actual flight loads in real time. The GEM also lets you know of a lot more things then your battery, just gotta learn how to read the light. If it starts to blink at an uneven rate, you could be having RX problems or radio hits. That you would notice on the ground during your range check.
I do plan on upgrading my 1100MAH pack soon. I plan on replacing it with 2400Mah cells. In my heli I use a 4.8V 3300Mah cells! When comes to batteries, it pays to spend. I have lost one plane due to battery failure, I won't let that happen again.

Goodluck!

Sean

Hi Sean.

Thanks for the reply and the information. I have gotten a lot of good ideas from various replies to my original posting and I do appreciate all of them. I really like the idea of the blinking LED on the bottom. Getting the right one to be bright enough to see from the ground is the key, I imagine.

BTW, FYI, I am originally from Mass, near Attleboro, now live near Atlantic City, NJ, fly with the Atlantic County SkyBlazers.

Dick.

The LED comes with the GEM 2000 module. It is very bright, as in you need to squint your eyes if looking at it directly. You can check them out at www.electrotekrc.com
They are fairly cheap considering what they do for you. What switch setup did you decide on going with?

Sean

Thanks again for the input. Great poop, that's for sure. I have been using a switch/LED/recharge combo switch from IMAX. All planes re currently set up the same with the same switch. No failures for me yet, my original post was prompted by the number of people saying they suspect switch failures. Al my switches are ON to REAR setup (that is rock the switch to the rear to turn on the RX power so that all is constant. My RC flight instructor uses dual batt/switch arrangement, putting the second batt in a spare RX channel to sort of put it on the power buss. Even thought I didn't spend 2 grand bulding my plane as he did, I still don't want to destroy one by the problem encountered by a faulty switch.

thanks again.

Dick.

I had a switch failure this weekend. I had the battery and RX wrapped up stuffed in next to the switch. I was running the engine up on the ground and started playing with the main needle. After about 3 minutes, the plane quit responding. After pinching off the fuel line to kill the motor, I pulled the wing off and found the back of the switch had come off and the one of the wires was off.

At the end of the day, this was a preflight issue, but how many people unpack the battery and stuff to check everything in the fuse before every flying day?

If this had happened in the air, I would have lost the plane and if I found the switch broke after the crash, I might not have figured it out.

Duke