NUTNDUN

I wanted to get some ideas on a power system setup ie; batts, switches, regs for a 50cc setup. I know redundancy would be best but is it really needed on a 50cc plane. I have two setups I came up with, one which is cheaper and doesn't provide any redundancy and one that is a good bit more expensive and provides redundancy. Any help would be greatly appreciated as I am new to the gassers and what is required for a good setup. Anyway I will list the two that I came up with.

1st one:
SMartFly ignition cutoff - $59.95
SmartFly ignition regulator - $24.95
2 x Fromeco Badger switches - $35.00 ea
2 x Fromeco 2600 relions - $45.00 ea
Total - $245.00


2nd one:
SmartFly Power System plus w/ optical kill - $199.95
SF Failsafe switch and charge pack - 19.95
Superswitch for ignition - $29.95
Ignition regulator - $24.95
3 x Fromeco 2600 relions - $45 ea
Total - $412.00

rcdude7

My Feedback: (264)

You'll get all range of opinions of this. I just run two JR HD switch harneses and two 2700 mah batts on my 50cc plane. I figure the most likely failure is going to be a batt or SW anyway.
On a larger plane I would spend the money for a power dist. system. That's just my take on it, my 2 cents worth.

rcbill

My Feedback: (1)

Nutindun,
Here's what I did for redunancy. I retired my Lion bat packs. I bought VPX battery packs and made my own. Electro Dynamics has very good switchs for $18 a piece. The JR switches are great also. I have 2 of them and running a 1110mah A123 through both of them to the reciever (total 2200mah). You can get the battery packs at Menard's for $17 each. (now $10) There are web sites that expain how to make your own bat packs. It's very simple. The total voltage going to the reciever is about 6.5 - 6.8 range. Almost all recievers and servos will run fine on this voltage considering a 5 cell bat pack when fully charged is over 7 volts. Myself and many others are running these A123's without regulators because they are not needed. You can pick up a FMA CellPro for about $69-$79 and charge your batteries in and balance them in about 10 minutes. They work great. I am running these A123's in 5 of my planes. They work great.... Of course, opinions vary.... Bill

NUTNDUN

What do most of you do with power for the ignition. Just a switch and 1100 - 1500mah batt? Do you use a regulator to drop the voltage a little to work with most ignitions?

Rcpilot

My Feedback: (78)

Run 2 6V MH batteries. About 1200-1600mah each. Run 2 heavy duty switches. Plug each switch into a different port on the RX. If you run out of ports, Y-harness one battery into the choke or throttle servo.

K.I.S.S. [8D]

You don't need regulators and lithium batteries on a 50cc plane.

2- Radical RC 1500 Elite 6V MH batteries for the RX
1- Radical RC 1500 Elite 6V MH battery for the ignition
http://www.radicalrc.com/shop/index....ia=&searchCat=

3 heavy duty Hobbico Pro switches.
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXVJ44&P=0

Total cost, about $107

Thats all you'll ever need on that plane. I've been using that same setup on 50cc and 60cc planes for about 5yrs. Never had a single crash because of a power related issue. I lost a switch once, but I caught that on my pre-flight and went home with my plane in one piece.

Spend the $300 you just saved on good servos. [sm=thumbs_up.gif]

altavillan

My Feedback: (1)

SF ignition cut off-Yes
SF ignition regulator only if your ignition needs it. If it needs it a 1200 nmh will run about 2 hrs. but weigh 4 oz. I buy only ignitions that will take a straight lipo voltage. That way they work with a123's also but if I really want to save weight a 800 mah lipo weighs 2oz for about 1.5 hrs runtime.
Switches-Hobbyco's with switch mounts and push pull pins are great and priced right. To me the big Badger type switches are an eyesore. Unless on a plane with black covering so they blend in.
Batteries-If you are going to be buying new chargers and batteries just go a123's. Once you start to learn them you'll see that they out perform every other battery in every way except "lipos" weight advantage. #1 they hold a charge for months, 2 massive amounts of power, 3 don't burn up or die from being over or under charged, 4 priced better than anything close, 5 to 20 times faster recharge than anything close and more......If you already have chargers for Li-ion/lipos and the budget doesn't cover it then relions are as good as any other, but kick the ignition bat down to around 1500 mah to save weight. I'd also just run one 2800 to the rx. Unless with a123 then 2 1100's You'll have to decide weather or not to use a SF power reg for the rx.

BaldEagel

If you are into 3D than the lightest set up you can get is best as long as you don't need weight for C of G ballance. Personally I use a Fromeco Kodiak switch with A123's for the Rx supply at 2300Mah, my ignition takes a 3S LiPo just switched through a heavy duty fail on switch, no redundancy needed on a 50cc IMHO, cut out on fail safe and also throttle cut from the TX. Lightness is the key.

Mike

NUTNDUN

Thanks for the info. I would like a light setup for 3d. I think I may have something put together that could give me redundancy later on if needed.

Here is what I came up with.

2 2600 fromeco relions
1 MPI Switch & Regulator combo for ignition
1 MPI 6v regulator
1 Fromeco wolverine switch
1 opto kill


Comes out to like $250

NUTNDUN

I wanted to also ask if a JR Z9000T servo would work good for a rudder servo. It is digital and I believe it has around 300oz of torque. I used it in my 1/8th scale truggy.

BaldEagel

If you have the 9000 already then use it, I use Hitec 5955's all around with good results, some people have had trouble with JR servo gears, but the 9000 is metal geared and possibly will not cause any problems.

I don't use regulators, an opto kill or dual batteries to keep everything as light as possible, more things in more to go wrong, the Fromeco Kodiak has a cumalitive Mah read out until you re-set it, so you know when a quick boost charge is needed on site and as the 2300Mah A123's can be charged at 10Amps the top up is very quick whilst re-fueling, but to each his own.

Mike

Nogyro

My Feedback: (10)

NUTNDUN,

Are you using a 2.4 Ghz radio system?

NUTNDUN

Ya, I am using DX7 with AR7000 rx.

Nogyro

My Feedback: (10)

Since you're using 2.4, here's an alternative to what Rcpilot said.

2.4 isn't effected by ignition noise. There is a thread on here talking about powering the ignition from the flight pack battery. I had my doubts, but a buddy of mine tried it with his DX7/G62 on ignition and it work flawlessly. I recently bought the Spektrum Module/AR7000 receiver for my Futaba 8 UAFS radio and it's been great. Shortly afterwards, I changed over my 36% Edge/DA100 from a 1500 Elite NiMH on the ignition and a Sanyo FAUP 1950 on the receiver, to the new A123's. I'm running one 2300 mAh A123 and powering both the ignition and receiver from it..........You can purchase the battery from Radical RC and have them made up with however many leads you want. Mine has 3 leads.....2 for the receiver going through 2 switches, and the 3rd line goes to the ignition/switch. I am running an MPI regulator on the ignition, but it's really not necessary. The A123's do require a special charger. I purchased the FMA Cellpro 4S for $75. I believe the battery is $39. Another reason I made the switch to the A123's was because I was having problems with getting bad Elite 1500 packs. I went through 3 of them before I finally got a good one. I really think the A123's are the way to go. Everything about them is a win/win situation for use in the RC field. If you're not comfortable with them, do what Rcpilot said. It's more than enough. I ran that system for years before I switched over to just one Sanyo 1950 on the reciever. I always got 2 leads though for 2 switches going to the receiver. Like Rc, I've never lost a battery in flight in over 15 years of rc flying. (It might happen tomorrow though)

NUTNDUN

I have wondered exactly what you just said. From what I have read it seems 2.4 isn't affected. I know lighter is better and I could do it this way and be at a light weight yet still have redundancy. Let me know what you think.

Two 2300 mah A123's
1 - wolverine switch w 2 in 3 out (2 switches with balancing built in and failsafe)
1 regulator for ignition

NUTNDUN

I guess I may need a regular switch yet for the ignition. I don't have a a123 charger but I would definately like to go that route. I have had good luck with lipos but at least with the a123's if I run the plane straight into the ground I don't have to worry bout the lipo blowing up and melting everything down

BaldEagel

George

2.4Ghz is not immune to ignition noise which is RF noise just like any other interferance, 2.4Ghz is just better at filtering it out of the system.

The only two batteries I would have in a plane to keep it light is one for the ignition and one for the RX and servo supply, if going to A123's you can use 1100Mah on the ignition and 2300Mah on the Rx and servo supplies, but do look at the Kodiak switch it is much better than the Wolverine for A123's and any other battery come to that, and the quick charge facility on the field make it even more attractive, small field chargers for A123's are now available.

Mike

Nogyro

My Feedback: (10)

I'm not familiar with the wolverine switches, so I can't vouch from personal experience.... What you have listed here would be fine for a 50cc gas plane. Tom at WildHare is flying his 35% planes with the same setup. Your battery weight would be 11 oz. You could drop down to two of the 1100 A123's and your battery weight would be 5 to 6 oz. I've put probably 30 flights on my one battery for everything system and I'm using 1400 mAh's in three 15 minute flights. Charge time with the Cellpro is 23 minutes including balancing. Your 50cc plane would probably use 1100 mAh's or so for the same flying time. You could charge after every flight and only take 5 minutes. LOL My range check is supposed to be 90 ft. I'm getting 210 feet with the engine off or running, so 2.4 is very good at not being effected by ignition noise. I won't say it can't be effected, but it's very immune to it IMO. You still need to do a clean installation and don't get sloppy with ignition placement, servo wires, metal to metal contact etc.

I know I'm done buying NiMH batteries. From here on out everything will be replaced with the A123's (nanophosphate).

Nogyro

My Feedback: (10)

NUTNDUN,

We just got done setting up a friends 28% Wild Hare Edge/DA50 combo. We used a single 2300 A123 with 2/leads/2 MPI switches going to the receiver, and a 1500 Elite 6 volt on the ignition. He's on 72 mhz. for now, so we can't run just the one battery. I'll be flying with him later on in the week and I'll try to get some battery usage on his plane.

propchief

My Feedback: (65)

I'm using the identical power for the RX and a 1100 NiMh for the ignition. I've put 6 flights on my WH Yak (haven't flown more) and still had battery remaining. It's a very light effective set-up. And if you need to fly more then fast charge at the field.

John

NUTNDUN

Is there really a need for two switches on the rx side if you are using a failsafe switch?

NUTNDUN

Alright, just put my order in with radical rc. I got a 1100 A123 ignition pack and a custom 2300 rx pack with two pair of leads and some micro deans and extra shrink tube. Total was 79.00. Now I just need to figure out what switches and reg for the ignition. I still need to figure out what plane I want LOL.

NUTNDUN

I hated to do it but I cancelled my order on the A123's. Mike at radical rc was really nice. I would love to have a123 but the extra cost of having to get another charger is hurting the budget. If I go with li-ions I can stay lighter, already have a charger. I just put the order in for the SD/Toc extreme yak with troy built.

Bob_S

I don't think you can stay lighter with li-ions. The A123s are about the same weight and since you don't need regulators you may actualyl be lighter with A123s. As to the costs, the price of a A123 charger gets offset by the savings of no regulators.

BaldEagel

Field charger for A123 batteries: http://www.rcaccessory.com/index.asp...ROD&ProdID=311 for under $55.00 if you already have a ballancer of some kind it will probably work off the charger, how much is a regulator?

Mike

NUTNDUN

Can I get away with no regulator for the ignition with the a123? It is a DL50 rated for 4.8-6v