Batteries and receiver.

[Alan Pennington]

I can remember when I started to fly models that the battery and receiver should be well rapped in foam. But now a days I see in magazines photos of radio gear just stuck to the sides ok with what looks like a thine bit of foam????

Is it now that receivers are better made to with stand the vibrations or are we more getting a bit that will do attitude about our radio gear now a days.

Would like to know your thoughts on this, just to see how you all secure your receiver and battery.

[ken anderson.]

hello Alan...electric models I just mount the RX lightly....IC models..i still have them wrapped in foam...to be honest I cant remember when I last built an IC powered model......

ken Anderson..ne...1....... IC history dept.

[Alan Pennington]

Hello Ken. I know it seems that electric model do run with less vibration but what about the take off and landings for here you have all the bumps and things on take off and then you have the controlled crash (ha, ha) at landing time.

Anyway how you doing?

[ken anderson.]

alan-i'm doing fine up in ne...1 land here-tall ships arriving shortly so the quayside is getting a makeover...like I say the electrics aren't as prone to vibration as the IC jobs.......some may argue different...just checked -your in France-i should have said BonJour..not welcome....

 

ken Anderson...ne...1.....foam wrapping dept.

Edited By ken anderson. on 15/08/2016 18:43:47

[Peter Christy]

2.4 GHz receivers tend to be smaller and lighter than their 35 MHz counterparts, and have fewer components that are susceptible to vibration. No interchangeable crystals with their sockets, no big, heavy coils, etc, etc.

I still wrap mine in foam if the opportunity arises, but simply mounting them on a thick sticky foam pad seems to work just as well. Halfords sell some number plate mounting tape which is VERY sticky, and the 6mm thick stuff provides pretty good vibration damping as well.

--

Pete

[MattyB]

Posted by Alan Pennington on 15/08/2016 18:34:11:

...I know it seems that electric model do run with less vibration but what about the take off and landings for here you have all the bumps and things on take off and then you have the controlled crash (ha, ha) at landing time.

The occasional shock load due to landing or takeoff are relatively insignificant factors compared to the constant vibration that occurs through airframe and RC gear as soon as you start an IC engine for the full duration of the flight, particularly a single cylinder petrol. Even so I strongly suspect modern digital RXs are far more resilient to vibration than their predecessors - they are lighter and have far fewer components (most are just a few ICs on a PCB) mounted much closer to the board. Certainly true receiver failures are very rare these days; power supply failures on the other hand...

Edited By MattyB on 15/08/2016 18:45:48

[Dave Bran]

Many manufacturers say that their 2.4GHz receivers should not be wrapped in foam as this will cause overheating.

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

Receivers used to have lots of individual components waving around on spindly legs and putting strain on the PCB tracks as well as themselves. Modern components are much lighter and usually soldered directly to the board with no legs (surface mounted) so vibration is a far less significant issue. There were some instances of overheating in extreme conditions with wrapped 2.4 GHz receivers (Futaba for one) but interestingly, several makers still recommend wrapping theirs in foam.

Edited By Martin Harris on 15/08/2016 18:55:17

[Peter Miller]

I mount my 2.4 GHz recievers on Velcro. I epoxy non sticky velcro to the balsa and use self adhevie velcro on the reciever.

This does mean that you have to have two types of velcro but I find that self adhesive velcro even peels of from a skin of epoxy on balsa, Epoxied on non adhesive velcro does not move. The self adhesive stuff does not come off the Rx

I have had the odd really bad crash and the radio still works perfectly.

[Frank Skilbeck]

Posted by Dave Bran on 15/08/2016 18:50:16:

Many manufacturers say that their 2.4GHz receivers should not be wrapped in foam as this will cause overheating.

Multiplex must be one of the exceptions to this

"x Protect your receiver from vibration, especially in models powered by an internal-combustion engine (e.g. pack it loosely in foam)."

I have done this and not had any problems.

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

All my really bad crashes are odd!

I'm mainly electric these days - and I never wrap 2.4 gear in foam now. I use "No More Nails" double sided tape to fix Rxs down - not had one come loose yet, but you can get it out if you really want to!

BEB

 

Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 15/08/2016 20:57:41

[ChrisB]

I get fantastic foam from the tool man at the shows. Its about 1/4 thick by 1ft long foam with self adhesive backing and its something like 4 strips for £1. It superb stuff and I wrap receivers and batteries in it. Well worth it. I don't know where he gets them from I wish I could source them!

CB

[Bob Cotsford]

I use those foam strips too, I was told that they are the punched centres from letter box seals. Whatever, they are ideal for lining tank bays and wrapping around batteries. For receivers I use velcro pads with a velcro security strap these days, it's flexible enough to absorb vibration and still allows the receiver to get some cooling air around it.

[DH 82A]

In the "old days" the Rx was wrapped in foam to protect it in a crash !