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Author Topic: Battery power  (Read 2952 times)

Ginger64

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Battery power
« on: March 26, 2016, 10:18:55 pm »

What would be the best way to fit emergency power to a boat to ensure it gets back to dry land from a 200yrd run. I keep an eye on battery voltage with a metre but thout would it be possible to fit a back up battery and switch to it if main battery went down. !!
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imsinking

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Re: Battery power
« Reply #1 on: March 26, 2016, 10:33:11 pm »

Be difficult , more so if your running BEC's.
Bill
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Ginger64

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Re: Battery power
« Reply #2 on: March 26, 2016, 10:51:57 pm »

Fitted a battery to rx so power leads have been removed from esc,s.    Twin props and motors and two esc,s
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g6swj

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Re: Battery power
« Reply #3 on: March 26, 2016, 11:45:04 pm »

You could easily achieve this with an Arduino, some simple code, a relay, extra battery etc.


Having just typed the previous line I am now thinking of voltage drop with high current draw, perhaps better to also monitor power drawn from battery since recharge. You could also have an audible/visual alarm that battery one was exhausted and you where running on reserve or you could end up with battery 2 exhausted and the boat still in the middle of the lake!


I have never done this with an Arduino but up for the joint challenge if your interested - rough cost for kit £15 - £20



Jonathan
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essex2visuvesi

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inertia

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Re: Battery power
« Reply #5 on: March 27, 2016, 12:32:12 pm »

You could use something like this:-
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__29046__Turnigy_Redundant_Dual_8A_UBEC_Rx_Power_System_UK_Warehouse_.html?strSearch=redundant
I'm not clear on this one, E2V. It looks more as if it's intended to switch the power for the receiver from one UBEC to another in the event that one fails, thus maintaining receiver function - rather than changing over the main power source for the motor(s).
If you use a separate receiver battery then it's easy enough to connect a RC switch to one channel (e.g. the 2-way "retract" one) which in turn operates a changeover relay et seq.
The easiest solution is to bring the model back in as soon as the speed gets noticeably slower. An ultra-bright LED connected to a low-voltage alarm circuit would also serve to indicate critical voltage.
I still maintain that BECs are the work of the devil... :o   and I know nothing whatsoever about Arduino !
DM
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essex2visuvesi

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Re: Battery power
« Reply #6 on: March 27, 2016, 06:19:14 pm »

I'm not clear on this one, E2V. It looks more as if it's intended to switch the power for the receiver from one UBEC to another in the event that one fails, thus maintaining receiver function - rather than changing over the main power source for the motor(s).
If you use a separate receiver battery then it's easy enough to connect a RC switch to one channel (e.g. the 2-way "retract" one) which in turn operates a changeover relay et seq.
The easiest solution is to bring the model back in as soon as the speed gets noticeably slower. An ultra-bright LED connected to a low-voltage alarm circuit would also serve to indicate critical voltage.
I still maintain that BECs are the work of the devil... :o   and I know nothing whatsoever about Arduino !
DM


Ah I misread the post  :embarrassed:  apologies!
The thing I linked was for RX power and will switch between the 2 BECs when the voltage drops below a set level as well as when there is a fault
It can be wired with either 1 or 2 Rx batteries
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