toto Posted February 28 Author Share Posted February 28 Hi Basil, Many thanks. Just getting final agreements in place as we speak really. Should be started by mid week next week. Also tying up the year end with HMRC at the moment with my accountant. I'll be glad to get that monkey off my back for another year. Toto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 Ah! Sellafield Spend quite a bit of my working life visiting there. Beautiful part of the world but it does have serious weather and is famed for truly "horizontal" rain. In summer the fell roads are spectacular although tourists picnicking all over the place can be a nuisance but in the middle of winter you can drive for 30 minutes and see absolutely no one not even sheep. Coupled with poor mobile reception it is no place to break down. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Beeney Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 Just to fill in a little more time here with a bit of the idle rambling stuff and getting back to the BEC I'd say it’s actually quite difficult to permanently zap a voltage regulator, at least in the normal run of events anyway. They normally have a bit of built-in protection circuitry, such as current limiting and a thermal cut-off point specifically to prevent self destruction. I did a spot of tinkering with a couple of 6V 1A regulators a very long time ago now, I hooked up a 12V SLA to the input, attached a suitable resistor on the output to well overload it and couple of meters in circuit to check out what was going on. It fired up okay, got finger blistering hot… although I didn't try it… the cut-off temperature is 150°C…, it then shutdown with very little output, a few erratic milliamps that just jiggled about, then cooled down in a fairly short time, it was out in the open air after all, reset itself and started to heat up again. It carried on like this for a while so I just left it talking to itself for at least 24 hours or more. When I disconnected the resistor there was the normal steady 6V as usual so I just left it like that for a couple of days and then did it all over again using the other one with exactly the same result. It certainly did not appear to do any lasting damage to them whatsoever. Of course if you were to shove reversed polarity at it or seriously apply over volts, (the ‘never exceed limit’ is 35, don’t even go anywhere near there) or hit it very hard with a small club hammer you probably might render it rather mortuus elektus but that's only pure vandalism. That doesn't really count. This seems to explain a couple of things that I’ve pondered on in the distant past. Firstly the sheer and utter tenacity of some of the solid-state electronics to insist on keeping going in sometimes the most hazardous and hostile of circumstances, but it’s also a very plausible explanation too perhaps of another rather mysterious calamity that used to happen on the very odd occasion. When electric power first started to become popular someone would be zipping about quite happily and then suddenly have an unexplained crash due to apparent loss of control but then when the pilot and others reached the splinters they usually found the radio to be working okay; resulting in some scratching of heads....and even more splinters perhaps… However, when I explained what I thought might be happening that would be accepted plus some ideas about adding a bit of ventilation to help keep things cool also went down as a good idea. Fortunately a good cooling through draught is now the norm… Although 150° does seem to be quite hot it occurred to me that when you place a piece of kit, namely the battery and the ESC, in a polystyrene foam box with little or no ventilation then they may well get hotter faster than the heat can escape resulting in the ESC particularly getting very hot indeed; and with the BEC right in the middle of it, (or probably towards the front end I guess) it's not long before the temperature gets that high. Cooling down would be slower too, perhaps I should have noted the time and temperature fall before it restarted… Hope this helps. I have to admit I wouldn't know where to start on an ESC to prevent the BEC working even with the flight pack connected, let alone when it's not… One for the manufacturer I reckon. Just an opinion, kick it to death as much as you like. Good luck. PB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toto Posted February 28 Author Share Posted February 28 Hi Peter, always good to have another slant on things. Unfortunately I've not been anywhere near it to investigate it any further as yet as I've been up to my neck in other things. I do intend to get back on the case soon though as it will not be flying again until I get to the bottom of it. I think I will be starting off with a good check over the wiring looms followed by the motor. The reason I say wiring first is because I fail to believe there is anything wrong with the motor or the receiver but if necessary ..... their moment will come as well. I'll be using my supercub to continue learning on ( hopefully this Saturday ) as it has been maidened and has been proved as " good to go " albeit I will probably try a bigger battery pack as the test flights were a bit short lived with very little left in the tank after only about 7 or 8 minutes. More when it happens. Toto 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 I have to broadly agree with Peter about ESCs. My own observation is it is too many amps that kills them fastest. Many ESCs do not have "over load" protection but virtually all have low voltage and thermal protection so there is no lasting damage although the reduction of total loss of power can have serious consequences when in flight. An overload failure is instant and terminal although the BEC may continue. Of course a BEC can also suffer an overload and fail! The rule of thumb is to measure the worst case amps (instant full power when static?) and make sure the ESC is rated for at least 25% higher amps. Taking Peters observation about ESCs being buryied in foam boxes as well as being wrapped in thick heat shrink you may have notice I go to some trouble, particularly on higher powered EDFs, to keep the ESCs cool by having the heatsink (ideally finned as well) open to the outside air stream. Done like this it virtually eliminates the possibility of a thermal shutdown As a by product a finger tip on the bare heatsink as soon as you pick up the plane after landing gives you an instant indication of the ESC's temperature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 Oddly, toto's escs don't fail in flight.... he flies successfully, lands successfully & disconnects the power source. On plugging in the new esc....... nothing. Very odd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toto Posted February 28 Author Share Posted February 28 My ESC is outside the fuselage ( balsa ) sitting on top of the nose with no cone. You could not throw any more air at it if you tried. Toto 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Beeney Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 Yes indeed GG, my thoughts exactly; and particularly in view of the fact I can't think of a way of permanently preventing the voltage regulator working even with the battery connected. With great respect all round of course but I think I would be having a little chat with Overlander pronto to see what their thoughts were and then I think I would be very surprised if in turn they didn't have to consult the manufacturer. I suspect you meant to say ‘on plugging in a fresh battery.........nothing’. Very odd might just prove to be something of an understatement eventually……. PB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 8 hours ago, Peter Beeney said: I suspect you meant to say ‘on plugging in a fresh battery.........nothing’. Very odd might just prove to be something of an understatement eventually…… Yes, I did mean that, ta Peter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Wolfe Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 Toto, have you tried what was advocated a while ago and using a Wattmeter or Ammeter to measure the battery draw whilst selectively connecting servo's? To kill four ESC BEC's in a row either you are dead unlucky or there is a problem somewhere in your setup. * Chris * 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toto Posted February 29 Author Share Posted February 29 Hi Chris, I have not been near the model since it packed in as mentioned above. I've been busy job hunting. I will get onto it ASAP and I shall try this method when I get around to it. Thanks gor the suggestion. Toto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toto Posted March 1 Author Share Posted March 1 (edited) Word on the street suggests that the Cub will get an airing tomorrow at about 12.00 midday. Weather says its a maybe. Which means tonight ..... I'm on battery charging duties ..... me and my mate .... John Smith. Toto Edited March 1 by toto 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aidan mcatamney Posted March 1 Share Posted March 1 Thunderbirds Are Go Toto. F.A.B. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toto Posted March 1 Author Share Posted March 1 The excitement is getting to much ....... 4 x 4s 3250 Mah lipo's charged awaiting their outing tomorrow. Transmitters are on charge and the Cub quaking in its tyres. Looking good Toto 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toto Posted March 2 Author Share Posted March 2 False alarm ...... Some mixed news. I went over on my ankle last night and I'm struggling to walk on it right now. My car is DSG ( automatic in old money ) but its my right ankle that has copped it. ...... result ..... no flying. I did get a message from my mentor telling me that it was raining anyway and did not look good so no huge deal. The good news however ...... I have secured my next Client for a contract in Cumbria ( Sellafield) which I start on Thursday .... remotely from home to start with anyway. So a mixed bag to report in today. Another week goes by ....... Toto 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 Is your other hobby walking under ladders? 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toto Posted March 2 Author Share Posted March 2 Hi Grumpy, You would certainly think so. Sometimes ... if it weren't for bad luck ..... I'd have no luck at all. I've become accustomed to it now and have almost learned to shrug it off. .... not much choice. Anytime I ever do the lottery ... which isn't often ....... I make a point of deliberately choosing 13 as one of my numbers. A little reversed psychology in the hope that it may just buck the trend. My brother used to say that if I fell into a bath of poo ..... I'd come out smelling of roses. It used to be the case maybe a few years ago but ..... boy .... how times have changed. There is always next weekend. I hope some of you guys have managed to get a bit stick time in. Cheers for now and thanks for sticking with me. Toto 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuban8 Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 (edited) This time of year is not ideal for model flying whether learning or anything else - many do ignore mud, wind, cold, dampness etc and fly whatever the conditions, and that's great if that's one's preference. I don't and I know that 90% of the members in my clubs share the same sentements and don't enjoy difficult conditions - not much fun for your instructor as well. The big advantage of indoor flying if you have a facility nearby! Don't get too worked up over missing lessons at this time of year, if you get a good day now and again during winter then do take advantage, but stop/start flying with weeks between lessons isn't very productive anyway when learning IMHO. With a bit of luck we're due for a good Spring and summer and if you can fit in regular flying sessions over the good weather then you'll soon make rapid progress. Edited March 2 by Cuban8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aidan mcatamney Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 Don't be chancing falling into a bath of poo anytime soon Toto just to test that theory for the sweet scent of roses may not be the final outcome . Another day another dollar as they say and congratulations as Cliff Richard would sing on securing a new contract. The flying will keep for another week and you have the whole of Spring and Summer to look forward to. Aidan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toto Posted March 2 Author Share Posted March 2 Yep ..... It's back to watching utube videos of maidens ..... and drooling. Toto 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toto Posted March 6 Author Share Posted March 6 Mid week already but too early to know for sure how the weather is going to play out. Start my new contract tomorrow so that will keep me occupied over the next couple of days and before you know it .... it will be Friday...... and judgement day ..... Here we go again .... Toto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Fry Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 On 02/03/2024 at 13:27, toto said: Yep ..... It's back to watching utube videos of maidens ..... and drooling. Toto I too watch maidens, and drool, blessed with living 40 m from a boat slip on a clean river. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toto Posted March 6 Author Share Posted March 6 Always there to rub it in. Plenty floats in the mancave then ? Toto 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toto Posted March 8 Author Share Posted March 8 All plans cancelled. ..... poor weather forecast and unavailability of mentor ..... maybe next week. Toto 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 You ever spent time inside a Whale Toto ? 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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