daveculp

I have a Hobbico Nexstar I have not flown in many years and have recently pulled it out of the garage and I am in the process of converting it to electric flight - I know NOTHING about electrics and so this is an adventure. This is what I have bought so far:

1. Great Planes Rimfire .32 42-50-800 Outrunner Brushless motor.
2. Medium motor mount for above - I was hoping it would match the hole pattern of the .46 O.S that came off the plane but it doesnt.
3. APC 10X5E prop
4. Silver Series 60A Brushless ESC


I am thinking of running it off of a single 5S 3600 LiPO which should give good power and long flight times (10 minutes).

Am I missing anything? Any tips?

David

TedMo

Not very knowledgeable myself but does seem like a 5s battery is too much voltage.Check this out.

blvdbuzzard

The .32 motor will be a lot lower in the power then the O.S. .46. Have yo looked at a .46 sized electric motor?

I did a conversion with a Monster Power 46, 5s 5000 and it has all the power of a 46 glow engine. Not sure you have the room for a battery that size.


Buzz.

daveculp

Thanks for the reply guys!

 Hobbico has an electric version on the Nexstar, what I did was look to see what gear they had in theirs and planned to put identical gear in mine.  Hobbico ships theirs with the .32 motor and recommends a 5S for liPO power, however they use a 2S and a 3S in series.

I may look at the the Monster Power 46 as it is cheaper than the Rimfire.

daveculp

I also pulled info off of here in order to plan the conversion: http://www.electrifly.com/powersyste...nversions.html

spaceworm

It may be that the electric Nexstar is more lightly built as it does not have to withstand the vibration and starting stresses of fuel power. That may be why they recommend a smaller electric equivalent motor, due to a lighter airframe?

Sincerely, Richard

daveculp

That could be, I will need to do some more investigation, it does appear on the surface from reading both manulas that the airframes are essentially the same.

Chuck54sd

I fly the Nexstar EP and replaced the NiMH batteries with two lipo batteries hooked in series.

One is a 3350mw 11.1volt and the other is a 3350 7.4 volt.
I get about 12-14min of flight at 1/2 throttle with more than enough power for take-offs on grass strips.

The key is to add up to 18.5 volts and the wattage on the batteries HAS to be the same.

The motor is a ElectriFly RimFire 42-50-800 Out-Runner Brushless motor.

I love this plane.... with the price of lipos coming down it is getting more cost effective.

Although this plane is enemic with heavy NiMH batteries..... it roars to life on Lipos !!!

4*60

My Feedback: (41)

We are about to maiden a converted Nexstar which has 5 cell 3000mah combo for a pack (2s and 3s) and a 950 kv HK motor and 80 amp esc.
Draws 650 watts so it will probably be good.

Review says 42-50-800 Out-Runner Brushless Motor. Not sure why they say .32 when it can handle 925watts. Should be good.

daveculp

What did you do about battery placement? Did you cut a hatch to allow easy loading and unloading of batteries? On the Nexstar EP the front windshield comes off to allow battery and electronics access and I am thinking of doing the same.

tIANci

A5S set up is sweet for the plane, she can do with a 4S but 5S is better. Just look into the motor. The Great Planes concept is to turn the prop like a glow motor. High RPMs.

For me I would go with a 42-60 motor of about 600KV and then turn something in the 12x8 range. Two reasons ... The 42-60 can later be used for good performance in a 40 or 50 sized sport plane, we all move to bigger planes, and secondly, the bigger prop gives you more thrust at a lower RPM. No point turning a 10x5 at high RPMs. That's my 2 cents.

As for battery access, you can just stuff the packs into the tank area with access from the wing. The area in front of the canopy is rounded, cutting an access hatch may spoil the look. Watch out for CG issues when deciding on the battery capacity, I still prefer 4,500 to 4,900 mAh packs.

4*60

My Feedback: (41)

The person converting opted to just take the wing off for battery access and to see how things go.

eastcoast

Hey all.
I just picked up mine today, I have a few planes kicking around. GP Cherokee is my other Glow.
Well i have a .52 ASP glow setting in a box for it ,but i seen my friends GP Stick electrified the other day and said man that nice and clean lol

Here is what i am planning on getting for my NextStar.

Motor
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...idproduct=2099

For the mount this should work
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...idproduct=5283

And as for a ESC im looking at this one
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...idproduct=2166

And for the Battery Prob a 5S/ 3500-5000Mah Batt

I have some 3.75 rubber tires kicking around as well. i test fitted them tonight.
I makes her look more scale well also handle longer grass.

daveculp

I almost have the conversion done, I work on it a little at a time.  All I have left is to design a way to keep the batteries from shifting.  I am going to take the fuel tank, gut the top and back out of it, line it with velcro and glue it back in.  The batteries will lay inside and should not shift, balance is nearly perfect with a 5S 3300mAh Turnigy LiPO.

I fired it up tonight with a 11X7 prop and it will have PLENTY of power.

Yasser68

Did anyone try to convert the nexstar mini from electric to Nitro ?