Product Review:
Castle Creations Adjustable Voltage BEC
Perspective By:
Brett "Heydick" Bayless
Manufacturer Contact:
Castle Creations
235 South Kansas Ave.
Olathe, KS 66061
Manufacturer Website:
http://www.castlecreations.com
FlyingGiants Ratings:
| Packaging: |  | | Kit Quality: | | | Ease of Build: | | | Huckability: | | | Overall: | | |
Over the last several years many of us have been supplementing our hangers with electric models, being either helis or airplanes. We might have started out with small models that required inexpensive power systems to get them in the air. Maybe it was a little shockflyer foamy airplane or little Raptor heli that only needed a 2-3s lipos and small micro servos. Well, as most of you know, the electric market has expolded over the last 2 years with better and better aircraft, power systems, and batteries. The upshot of all this is we're getting a great chioce on new electric models and components, and the prices keep dropping so we can afford larger, better flying aircraft. As we go bigger, there's more of a demand on our power systems that run our planes and helis. Bigger motors and more powerful servos require bigger and more powerfull batteries and the Electronic Speed Controller (ESC) also needs to keep up with this demand. The ESC is the weak link in the chain here, with too much power demand it can over heat and either shut down or, worst case, FRY!
The ESC does many things. In addition to setting the timing of the motor, throttle response, and breaking to the prop, it's main job is that of a regulator: it regulates the voltage comming from the battery to power the servos and the receiver. The power demand from the receiver is small and constant but the power demand from the servos is a whole different story. The bigger the servos, the more power they require to operate, especially digital servos. Most all ESC's, up to about 60 amps, have a built in BEC (Battery Elimination Circut) which means you don't have to run a seperate battery pack into the receiver to run the servos, the power comes from the main battery that powers the motor. The biggest benefit of this is that you eliminate the added weight of a seperate battery pack. The internal BEC works fine for low power requirement applications i.e. running 3-4 small analog servos in a trainer or sport model where typically only 2 servos are operating at a time. But when you throw 3D flying into the mix, where 4 or more servos are operating together, be it planes or helis, that poor little internal BEC is working overtime and doesn't like it one bit. If your battery pack is 4s or more, the little internal BEC says,"faggeddaboudit". The reason for this is that most speed controller's internal BEC's are what's called a "lineal regulator'. A lineal regulator works by turning excess imput voltage into heat, this heat has no place to go except through the ESC, the more imput voltage the more heat, the ESC can only take so much heat before it shuts down or burns up!
Now the good news! The talented people at Castle Creations have come up with a small, lighweight switching BEC. What's a switching BEC? A switching BEC works differently than a lineal BEC in that, the imput power must go through an electrical switch which breaks up that voltage into little bits of regulated output power to the servos |
Product Specifications:
Length: 1.2" (30mm)
Width: 0.6" (15mm)
Heigth: 0.4" (10mm)
Weight: 0.4oz (11gr.)
Imput Voltage: 5v to 25.2v (2s to 6s LiPo) Current Output:
Peak: 10 amps
Continuous: 12v imput = 7amps 24v imput = 5 amps
Voltage Output:
Default setting: 5.1 volts. User selectable in 1/10th volt increments between 4.8 and 9 volts.
Castle Link USB Interface required to change output voltage (sold seperately).
Low Imput Voltage:
In the event that the imput voltage falls below the desired output voltage, the CC BEC output is equal to the imput level. The CC BEC cannot output more voltage than the battery it draws from. The CC BEC will not operate or produce any output when imput voltage drops below 4.8 volts.
RF Noise:
The CC BEC should be treated much like a speed controll. Try to keep as much distance as possible between the radio receiver and the CC BEC unit.
A picture's worth a thousand words.
  To program the CC BEC all that's needed is to download the software from Castle Creations website. After that, plug in a battery on one end and plug the BEC's connector into the Castle Link. Then start up the software on your computer and a window will open up telling you if the device is connected properly. After that's confirmed, you just select the output voltage you want and click the update button, that's it. As it says in the above illustration, disconnect the red wire from the ESC to the receiver when using the CC BEC. This is the wire that controlls the internal BEC on the speed controller, since you're using an external BEC, the internal BEC must be disabled. If you can help it, don't cut the red wire. Many ESC's require this red wire if you want to program them. If you use a CC ESC, you will need this wire connected to the plug if you want to program the ESC with the Castle Link interface without plugging in a battery. To do this, take the tip of an Exacto blade and carefully lift up the tab on the plug that locks the red wire in, then pull the red wire out and tape it back on to the other wires. This way if you ever need to reprogram the ESC without a battery, you just need to insert the red wire back into the plug.
The red and black wires on the BEC are soldered on the + and - terminals of the ESC's battery connector (Deans connector etc.). When soldering on to an existing ESC/battery connector you must first de-solder the plug, slip on the shrink tube to each ESC wire, insert the red and black wires from the BEC through the shrink tubes, and then solder them back on to the Deans plug. This way the shrink tube will cover both the ESC and the BEC wires together. The plug from the CC BEC goes into the receiver's battery port.
    
Other than having to solder the positive and negitive leads to the Deans plug, this is basically a plug n' play. I have a couple of these these units on two different airplanes. One is on a lightweight 25 oz. plane that I really throw around using all 4 servos at the same time. On this plane I'm running an older 25 amp CC Phoenix ESC with a 3 amp internal BEC. The power system draws 30 amps WOT on 3s 2100 mAh lipos, however I rarely fly at full throttle except for uplines. I know I'm pushing this setup and there are times that I've overheated the little speed controll causing it to shut down momentarily. After landing and feeling how hot the ESC was I knew it was only a matter of time before the controller gave up the ghost. Since installing the Castle Creations BEC I've eliminated all those problems plus I've gained an added bonus; I've increased the voltage to the servos from 5v to 6.2v making them faster with more torque. My knife edge loops are much tighter now because I'm not getting the blow back on the rudder servo like I was on 5 volts. WooHoo!
The other installation of the CC BEC in is a 7lb. 3D plane running on 6s lipos drawing about 70 amps on a CC 80 amp ESC. I'm not really pushing this controller but with 4 power hungry servos, I'm not taking any chances. I have 4 digital servos and like all digital's they draw a lot of power. On this plane I've always had an external BEC called a UBEC. I've never had a problem with the UBEC, but since it was only a 5 volt unit, my servos were a little slower than I liked. Now that I've installed the CC BEC, I've turned up the voltage to 6.5 volts and the servos are soooo much quicker, and I've saved a little weight 11gr. vs 20gr. I don't fly helis yet but I would imagine that being able to adjust the voltage to the servos to give them increased speed and torque would be a big plus for the 3D guys.
For those of us that fly electric planes and helicopters this new adjustable voltage switching BEC from Castle Creations is just the ticket. For those that fly 4s - 6s lipos in your aircraft, and are not using a seperate receiver pack, this is a must have. As the components for electric aircraft keep getting better and less expensive, a lot of us are going to larger aircraft that require batteries over 11.1 volts. Unless you already own some of the new ESC's that have switching internal BEC's, you will have to go with an external BEC so your exsisting speed controller doesn't go into a thermal melt down. One of the biggest advantages of thic BEC is the ability to adjust the output voltage to your servos, making them faster and have more torque. Even those that are pushing the limit of your existing ESC running 3s batteries and 4 mini servos will benefit, I mean, the peace of mind alone is worth the price of admission. Pros: Compact, lightweight (11gr.) and inexpensive. The ability to adjust the output voltage to the servos. Castle Creations famous customer service.
Cons: Having to buy a Castle Link USB Interface cable if you want to take advantage of the adjustable output voltage. | Castle Creations
235 South Kansas Ave.
Olathe, KS 66061 http://www.castlecreations.com | |
11-05-2007, 10:34 PM
Re: Castle Creations Adjustable Voltage BEC 
. Now I'm trying to figure out why I'm not going 2cell lipo with this regulator in my 50cc for next season.
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