JayCee Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Hi Recently moved from IC to electric flight. I have converted two models quite successfully using a basic ESC with BEC. Always found it a bit of a pain not being able to 'Switch Off' the model when retrieving it but waiting until I was back in the Pits to disconnect the battery not always a quick procedure on converted models. However my latest model a much larger and I have fitted a UBEC which came complete with switch. Obviously I appreciate this just interrupts the supply to the Rx and servos. My question is:- is it safe/good practice to turn off the Tx once the UBEC switch is turned off even though there is still a supply from the battery to the motor. Can the model be left like this....is there any drain from the battery? It would make life much easier for doing 'Power Down' range checks etc. JC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don9f Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 I'm sure the right advice is to disconnect the motor before cutting power to the radio. That way the radio maintains the low throttle setting.....I have a Turnigy Super Brain ESC that when it was installed in a helicopter, could keep the motor turning with both Tx & Rx switched off.....needless to say it doesn't get used now as I don't trust it ! What about a "kill switch" discreetly mounted somewhere to interrupt the motor power? It would have to be suitably rated. On another heli I have a UBEC with a switch like you describe and when switched off, there is still a small current drain ( about 1mA) which over a period of weeks can still flatten the battery.....another lesson learned ! Cheers Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayCee Posted January 15, 2011 Author Share Posted January 15, 2011 Cheers Don for your reply. 'Kill switch' not really practical power source is two 4S 5000mah in series, draws close on 70 amps at 2Kw. So many wires plugs etc to get 'Flight Ready' it would be nice to do that and leave in a safe 'Flight Ready' condition with the just the UBEC switch off. Rather wondered whether it was practical. JC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Hi JayCee, you might to look at this thread here which ran a couple of days ago and discusses this issue in some depth. BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayCee Posted January 15, 2011 Author Share Posted January 15, 2011 Thanks BEB I did actually see that thread the only reason I started another one was that this was a UBEC stand alone unit with integral switch and I didn't know if that made any difference. I notice that 'Timbo' was reported as saying that he wasn't keen on the idea of a switch "something else to go wrong" surely all IC aircraft have a switch to isolate the the Rx power supply why should it be more likely to fail in a leccy setup? JC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 The safety consequences could worse on an electric plane under some circumstances - especially if you assume the throttle is "dead" and handle the model accordingly, and it turns out not to be BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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