flaminheli

I am building my first 50cc plane and would like to know what everyone recommends as far as electrical setups. How many batteries? How to wire them up? What size batteries? Opti kill switch? Or one battery for the servos and one for the reciever. Should I use a power distribution board? Regular battery connectors or deans? I will be using a Futaba 7c trans and reciever. I will use a manual choke. I understand that this is just a 30% so I am not looking for overkill. Any info would be very helpful.

mrbigg

My Feedback: (21)

Last 50cc that I built, I only used one battery for the reciever/servos. If you want a safety margin, could you two. No powerbox. I do tap the power wires out of the regulator and into the servo's power wires. I just cut the positve and negative wires and solder them together. Juice comes into the splice and goes to the servos and receiver at the same time. This way the receiver doesn't have to distribute power. More work, but cheaper and no powerbox or whatever to fail. I use a choke servo for kill reasons. Was going to go Opti, but have read that some have brought planes down. They are not cheap either. Simple choke servo works for me and has not failed me.

Moki 1.8

My Feedback: (11)

Im actually about to build my first 50cc also, im going to use two fromeco 2600 mah batteries running into power regulators and then there gonna have each there own heavy duty switch harness, then there going to go into a battery redundacy unit that im going to buy from dons hobby shop. Then from there its going into the reciever. Im going to set up a manual choke on mine. I really dont know a whole lot about this stuff but, theses other guys can help a lil more. I think the way im going to set it up will be ok.

Tired Old Man

My Feedback: (1)

If I was doing it the first time I would opt for A 123 batteries for the receiver/servo electrics. One 2,500 mAh battery will fly it with tremendous amounts of amperage for roughly 6 or 8 flights before needing a recharge. Depending on where you go for the battery you can obtain the switches already adapted for the battery type, eliminating any need for plug changes. They can be recharged at the field in about 15 minutes. No reguators are needed. Battery technology keeps moving forward and for the last year or so the A 12 batteries have been leaders of the pack for power, amperage, reliability, and simplicity. Wild Hare RC and Sin City jets is where I would go for the battery, with Wild Hare being my preference.

For the ignition you can generally use a simple 4.8v AA cell nicd or nimh of about 1,000 mAh.

A power distribution is absolutely uneccessary. For the application it's a waste of money and weight. For a much larger plane they can be beneficial, so if you elected to buy one obtain one sized to deal with a much larger plane.

Ignition kill is a personal thing. In all the gassers I've built and flown I've never used or needed one other than what's avilable with the transmitter with the throttle stick and idle trim but there are some that won't get out of bed without one.

flaminheli

I guess I could hook up a choke servo plus I could use the throttle cut on the transmitter, so I guess there is no need for an Opti Kill. No need for a powerbox. The one thing I have got to hate the most about flying is charging batteries. But if it can be done in 15 minutes then I am all for it. Does anyone know of a wiring schematic that shows how to wire the battery to the servos and reciever seperately. If I can get 6-8 flights from one battery then I could use two and fly all day, right? Is there a build thread on here anywhere showing someone going into detail about how they setup their 30%. I can't seem to find one.

Tired Old Man

My Feedback: (1)

.Call Tom at Wild Hare RC. You are making things much more difficult than they need to be. His A 123 batteries come with two power leads. Plug them both into the receiver, or only one, your choice. The twin plugs provide 8 amps of power to the receiver. The receiver IS your power distribution system on a 50cc plane. There's no reason on earth to power the receiver and servos separately. I run a pair of 2,500 A 123's in my 35% planes and can get about 15 flights or so before recharging. Wild Hare's A 123 starter kit comes with a battery, switch, and Cellpro 4s charger. You don't need to look for anything else once you have it.

As for the Fromeco arrangement noted in an earlier post, you must like to spend money. If you really want to run regulators and power supplies I have a bunch of Fromeco regulators and Super Reliaswitches I've pulled out of my 35% planes because they were no longer needed with the arrival of a 123 batteries.

Sorry, but my 50cc days are a long ways behind me but I remember when I was first going there. I went over the top as well with a lot of stuff but changes in technology have made some things a lot less expensive, easier to set up, and lighter, while providing more battery capacity in amperage than we've ever had before. I won't buy all the stuff that Moki 1.8 is looking at for a 35 or 40% plane.

flaminheli

TOM, I figured I was over analyzing the situation. Thanks for the help. It is probably alot easier to setup then what I am thinking it is. The A123 battery plugs into my reciever just as the standard battery does and powers the reciever and servos just as normal. Why do they come with two leads? What would be the differance between pluging in one lead or two? I need to leave one reciever slot open for smoke. Is this going to be a strain on the circuits of the 617 reciever, in other words can this reciever handle the amperage demands of the higher torque servos?

thevirginian

flaminheli;
TOM is absolutely right about the battery set up. If you have a charger that can handle A123's, go for it. Otherwise buy a 2500 mAh Lipo from TBM along with a MPI Miracle switch/regulator. Awesome combination. But you should definitely go for a ignition kill switch. Ditch the choke servo, you don't need it. Buy a kill switch from 42-percent-products.com for 32 bucks. This is like buying a life insurance for your airplane. The throttle cut is nice but not helpful if you are flying. Which airplane are you building? What motor are you planning to use?

altavillan

My Feedback: (1)

I run two 1100mah a123 on two switches with 4 power leads running to wyes and the rx for flight controls, and 1 1100 mah a123 for the ignition. One charger does the whole plane. Same weight as a single 2500 with redundancy. The need for multiple connections is because the batteries can put out in excess of 30 amps each but a standard servo connector can only handle about 4 amps each. 22ga wire can handle burst of 20+ amps. A 50cc plane can draw in excess of 20 amps in some maneuvers.
Currently I'm flying my EF Yak on one 1100 mah a123 and get 3 flights between recharges. About 8 flights on the ignition. I'll be putting the other battery in there soon though.
On my setup the elevators get 1 power lead, the Ailerons and rudder also get a lead each and one to the rx. To explain, where you plug the servos into the rx is a buss bar. The red and black wires are + and - and are continuous through out. By making wyes you provide more ways to connect power or extra servos. Just make sure you don't connect to the white, or signal wire. I use the optic kill switches. Very easy to install and they work.
I could be wrong but I believe AMA requires an onboard engine kill system for gas engines. I do not think cutting the throttle or choking it dead are concidered on board kill devices, but if someone knows different please let me know.

flaminheli

Please don't curse me but I am going to be building the RM Yak 54 w/ RCGF 62cc. I am just waiting on them to come in. I am trying to get ideas on the rest of the setup so I can order all of it also. What would be really helpful is if someone did a setup, install thread that focused on the electrical only with lots of pics and directions. Now that would be the *****. All of this connect this to that is confusing me. But once I get started on it it probably will not be so bad. I want to keep it as simple as possible but I also don't want to put the plane in the dirt because of a simple electrical problem. I have been flying glow for over 20 years and figured it was time to make the leap to gas and hopefully never look back.

cjcyclesrc

My Feedback: (10)

I would recommend two 2300mah A123's though two switches for the RX and a 1100mah A123 for ignition if it can handle 6.6 Volts. The only sizes of A123's are 2300mah and 1100 mah. If it's not that size it's not a A123 it's a off-brand LiFe. I used a single 2300 on the RX of a 50cc plane and was pushing it to get 4 flights. The amount of Mah's you use depends on the plane, servos, flight length, and your flying style. I prefer to use a Smart-Fly Optic kill and no switch for the ignition.

The place I prefer to get my batteries is Hang Time Hobbies. http://www.hangtimes.com/ Even if you don't buy your batteries from them it is well worth your time to read through the information on their website.

flatspinjim

My Feedback: (3)

I use the same setup as T.O.M on my 35% Extra. The A123's are the only way to go! If you look at Wildhares website he has a package that is plug and play. One 2300 pack should be plenty for your plane. The battery plugs into the smart fly super switch with a deans connector, then you have 2 leads from your switch that go into 2 ports in your receiver. Really, really simple.
As far as a way to kill your motor I just use the throttle kill on my transmitter to kill mine. No extra weight of a choke servo and no opt-ikill to go bad and kill the motor when you don't want it to

cjcyclesrc

My Feedback: (10)

Have you ever had a Smart-Fly Optic Kill fail? I have had many slide switches fail so I feel more comfortable with a Smart Fly Optic kill than a Regular Switch.

flaminheli

Can you Y the two leads going into the reciever from the dual A123s so only to take up one reciever port? Or will that be to much current for one standard servo connector?

cjcyclesrc

My Feedback: (10)

It's much better to Y the extra lead into the thottle or other low load channel.

flaminheli

So if I use one 2300 123 I can hook up both leads. If I only use one lead will I stll be getting the 2300 6.6v. I thought one of them was for a balance/charge and not to be hooked into the reciever. If I use 2 2300 123 batteries for longer flight times I can hook one battery up to the reciever directly and the other thru a Y connector via the throttle.

Tired Old Man

My Feedback: (1)

Just an informational note. A 123 batteries are now available in 2.500 mAh capacities. They are not limited to 1,100 and 2,300. I have a pair of the 2,500's in my Yak, and a pair of 2,300's in my Edge. Available from Wild Hare.

True A 123 batteries have burst amperage abiity up to 60 amps. Our servo connectors max out and melt above 4 amps. Pluuging both battery leads into a wye in oder to use a single receiver port assures that you have the abiloity to melt a connector. It's not likely you will ever have a mogambo amperage burst but a poor linkage installation could cause it to happen. Why set up for disaster? You do not have to use both power leads from an A 123 battery, but it's pretty nice to have the amperage available if ever needed. The receiver can handle the amperage and the voltage is only 6.6v. All the servos and the receiver can easily handle 6.6v unregulated.

AMA engine kills requirements are similar to those of the IMAA. You must have a means of killing the engine from the transmitter, in addition to some other type of kill switch on the plane. They made those rules somewhat vague, but what it boils down to is that the electronic ignition slide swith counts as a plane mounted kill switch and the transmitter kill can be the usual and simple throttle/idle cut off. A couple of "special interest" competiton categories require a choke or isolated type kill switch in addition to the first two noted.

Flaminheli,

Your electrical installation should not be any more involved that it would be with a basic glow aircraft. The only differences are as follows. The engine has it's own electrical system for the ignition. It consists of a single separate switch, a small ignition battery, and the ignition unit. All of those components are dedicated to each other and not shared by the flight system.

The flight system consists of one or two switches. Single switch for single battery, two switches if two batteries are used. Battery plugs into the switch, switch plugs into the receiver along with the servos, just like a glow system. If you use A 123's you just have 1 more battery lead.

If you elect to use smoke the option is there to power the smoke pump through the flight battery or with a separate battery dedicated to the smoke system. The separate battery is a little more weight but greatly reduces the chance of 9interfering with the flight systme while extending flight time.

flaminheli

Gotcha. I think. It sounds simple enough. My plans are to use a 4.8v 2000 mah NiMH battery that I already have on hand for the ignition. I will use 2 2300mah A123 batteries for the reciever, one plugged into a switch then into the reciever and then the other battery plugged into a second switch then into a Y harness that runs from the throttle port on the reciever to the throttle servo. With the dual reciever batteries I can run my Sullivan smoke pump "if I elect to use it" without having to add another battery pack dedicated to the pump. Does it sound like it will work. Now, with this larger plane can I use a HD Y harness for the aileron servos. I know I will use 2 reciever channels for the elevator servos. The 7 channel reciever will be full. Throttle, ailerons, elevator, rudder, elevator, smoke, battery.

prop dust 1

Hey guys, I,m trying to balance my my23-8 prop and it takes a long time to do this. Is there a forum on balanceing props what is the best way..................prop dust

Tired Old Man

My Feedback: (1)

View Revision (1)
I'm trying to save you 6 ounces of weight and another switch. You don't need the battery redundancy. If you choose to go redundant batteries save some weight and money and go with a pair of the 1,100 mAh batteries. You could fly for a three day weekend without charging using a pair of 2,500's. Just like full scale, why bunker what you aren't going to need? It's like using a 60 ounce gas tank on a .40 size plane. You could do it, but performance takes a hit because of weight.

The switches Wild Hare markets have the dual power inputs, not the battery. My error on that. The battery itself has the power wire to the switch and the balance wire.

cjcyclesrc

My Feedback: (10)

Where did you get your information? Here is the Corporate A123 Web site. http://www.a123systems.com/products According to A123 systems they only make a 1100, 2300, and a large cell for Hybrid cars. It sounds like you got your information from a bad source.

Tired Old Man

My Feedback: (1)

Then the batteries are labeled incorrectly as well. I know what I have and what they state on the label is 2500 mAh. I generally only discuss what I have and have used, not what I've read somewhere.

I installed them three weeks ago in a 2.6m Compy Yak. If you're in the neighborhood come on over and look for yourself.

cjcyclesrc

My Feedback: (10)

Do you have any pictures of the Label or Cells? Did the label say A123 or LiFe?

Jake Ruddy

My Feedback: (40)

I was wondering about that 2500

flaminheli

About how many flights could I get out of 2 2300s or 2 1100s before needing a recharge. With the most extreme flying situation. I would like to be able to fly all day or atleast 12 to 14 flights without a recharge. Where I fly I do not have to wait my turn because I am the only person there, besides my 2 sons. So it will be back to back flights with maybe just a couple of minutes inbetween flights to check everything over. The less I have to charge batteries the happier I am. Sorry TOM but I cannot find any that have 2500mah. I read somewhere that if they are anything other than 1100 or 2300 then they are not the real deal. But I am the novice here so I can't say that is a fact.