Greg,Matt, & Guys/Girls
I've decided to go all out on electrics, sold all my gas stuff,never did like the mess/noise.
Can anyone recommend any books on the subject? I'm looking fo more on the electronics end; motors,esc's,batteries, etc. I know the Moderators don't like to do this,but, along with the loads of help so far off this sight, I'd like to read up as much as possible on this. Yes I do get most of the Mags devoted to flying, but it seems to me that they're more for the been there/ done that crowd, not the newbies like me. Now that I've got some empty engine/motor bays, I want the most/best info I can get to power these.
Thanks for any/all help.
BJ

Converting old ic powered models to electric power is not really the best way to go, they are usually heavier than pure built electric models. Have a go by all means, and I hope you are successful. But why not consider building a model thats designed for electric power and then experiment with low cost motors and gearboxes yourself. You will learn so much more and get greater satisfaction. If you want to confuse yourself about electric power, download the Motocal software, the combinations of motors, gearboxes, props and batteries is endless. Keep modelling ;-)

Ray,
Thanks for the advice, Yeah I know right now converting gas to elec will be tough,we'll see what the future holds for new equipment to do this. I do have an elec Cub, Stryker, and a home built "Ugly Stick", built by trial and error method you spoke of, lots of left over parts from prior trial and error builds as I first stared. What I'm looking for are some books on the electronics, specs, diagnostics etc. to help in determining problems and setups. For example, just bought a Hitec 555 receiver and crystal, 3 s55 servos, electrifly 20 esc. Did a bench check with an 8.4 900 mah battery, no motor. Esc lights up, servos twitch, when power switch is turned on. Nothing else happens. Tried a receiver battery pack in place of other battery and esc, no change. Hooked back up no motor operation. Tried crystal in another receiver, and transmitter on same, all work. Also tried esc listed troble shooting. I'm guessing esc was bad and fried receiver? Any way of doing more intense diagnostics? Or do I just get another esc and receiver and try again?
again thanks for your help.
BJ

...or just a bad receiver, period.

Diagnosing radio issues is the same no matter what's bolted to the nose. There's nothing special there. Do whatever you did to diagnose radio troubles on your glow-powered planes. If you never had radio problems, you're extremely lucky.

As you might've guessed, most people's idea of "troubleshooting" is replacing the suspect component and seeing if it fixes the problem. Then the suspect component is tossed or sent back to the manufacturer for repair or replacement. These are complicated electronic devices, so unless you're an electronics whiz, you're not going to be able to diagnose them beyond work/don't work.

For books, I can't say that there are any out there that deal with modern electric R/C technology. It's evolving too quickly. By the time a book comes out on the subject, probably two years down the line, everything in the book is obsolete, useless knowledge. The best book I can recommend is one on basic general electronics, something that you'd see in basic electronics college course. Understanding the relationship between Volts, Amps, Ohms, and Watts is not that difficult, but is extremely helpful in understanding how and why electrics work.

Thanks Matt, I kinda figured esc and receiver were toast, but like to hear from the gurus like you, to confirm before I go back to LHS and make an ASP out of myself.
P.S. Maybe the big guy was listening in also, got my new issue of FLY R/C in mail today. NEW section by TOM HUNT on electric basics, to be continued monthly!!!!!!! At least this might be the most "current" info going along with all the help from this site.
BJ