Help with Power Expander

[Sukhoikid]

I just goin in Smart Fly's power expander. I am just double checking this. But I also need to purchase the Dual Battery thing to go with it to have two batteries hook up. This is going in a 42% airplane. Also the battery share will then plug into one regulator then the one regulator will plug into the power expander. Is this true??? Also what is the power out used for.

[Neogenesis]

Power out can be used to send power to other devices. It can also be used as a redundant in. I just emailed SMart-fly about this the other day.

So two packs into the Super/Turbo reg. , Then two leads from that into the Power Expander. Good idea, I just wish they made the Power Expander for a top loading reciever. I've got a Turbo reg here, but not sure if I'm going to use it now. I didn't know that I had to have a end loading reciever with the Power Expander before I bought the Turbo Reg.



Neo Out!!!

[red_z06]

power in/out share the same bus so you can plug the battery in either port except that output port needs and adapter to convert to female.

[Mark Davis]

Just get the Turbo Regulator from Robert at SmartFly... The Turbo Regulator will handle spikes of up to 15 amps... The Super Regulator only handles a max of 7.5 amps... On a 40%er, you need the capacity... No need for a BatShare... The Turbo Regulator has 2 plugs for battery-in, failsafe regulator and 2 plugs for battery-out, which got to the expander...

[TomBob]

What red_z06 said, I called the man at Smart fly He told me the same thing,If your two battery's are the same capacity you won't need the bat-share. Just make sure your two regulator's are set the same or as close as possible. TomBob

[red_z06]

Guys:

You can plug in 2 different capacity packs without any problem. Just be sure two packs are relatively close to each other so higher voltage to lower voltage flow does not occurr at above 1/2c -1c rating. 0.2v difference will be equalized without pumping 100amps into lower pack.

If you want an analogy, consider 2000mah pack as 2 1000mah packs. Can you add another 1000mah pack as a third pack? Of course you can.

[capcanuck]

I saw one guy who had his top load receiver flipped over so he could plug in the power expander. Seems logical to me, since the pin outs are in the proper order if you flip the receiver. Is this true Smart fly guy ?

[Kiwi]

Guys,

Just some unofficial information regarding the super regulator and power expander setup.

Most of you know I fly nearly all my planes on smart-fly products and I do some prototype testing in the field for Robert. I think he figures it cheaper for me to pile in a plane or two than him doing it himself. However its a mutual agreement and I am a born tinkerer. I love burning things up or even better blowing things up. Its a passion, not a hobby.

Anyway the latest tests I have just carried out were an attempt to totally destroy and turbo reg and PEX under what I determined to be the worst possible situation.

What I setup was a full dead short between the positive and negative wires to a servo. That can happen if they are badly placed and rub through etc in your plane.

Without spilling all the beans the Turbo reg took 36 amps and then shut down. That is it dropped out but did not burn out. As soon as the short circuit was removed it reset and everything came pack to life again. So the PEX took 35 amps through a single pin set, the PEX did not burn or melt and everything is till functioning like new. And yes I fly this setup. Same reg and PEX are airborne now.

The battery packs feeding this were two 2400 MaH Relions from Fromeco. They are not supposed to deliver those numbers I know, but they do. And it is all recored on a data logger setup for electric motors so once I work out how to capture the screen without forking out another $30 for a some software I will post it.

I just thought the results were interesting. Oh and of course if the short was permanent your bird would be in a black plastic bag, but the intention of the testing was to see where the limits are with the reg and PEX setup. 36 amps way exceeds my expectations, for sure.

Kiwi

[JPrc]

So at 36 amps the Turbo Reg cut off ? Any idea how many amps the 5955's pull fully stalled? I think I remember it being around 2.5 amps but not sure.

[Neogenesis]

According to the specs listed it's more than 2.5


Current Drain (4.8V): 220mA/idle and 3.4 amps at lock/stall
Current Drain (6.0V): 300mA/idle and 4.2 amps at lock/stall



Here's the link to where I pulled the specs.
http://www.servocity.com/html/hs-5955tg.html



Neo

[JPrc]

Any idea how this compares to the 8611's?

[Kiwi]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Neogenesis
	According to the specs listed it's more than 2.5 Current Drain (4.8V): 220mA/idle and 3.4 amps at lock/stall Current Drain (6.0V): 300mA/idle and 4.2 amps at lock/stall Here's the link to where I pulled the specs. http://www.servocity.com/html/hs-5955tg.html Neo

Neo,

So in the very worst possible case if your five rudder servos locked out on full power you would still be flying as the reg will hold out until it hits 36 amps. Of course if your rudder is locked your dead meat anyway but in theory it could handle it.

The thing that I liked was once it hit that 36 amps it turned off until the load was removed then it came back on all by itself. With no damage to any of the downstream componentry. So if you done something dumb enough to freak the system out to over 35 amps its going to stop until the load is removed, then your one your merry way again.

In real life you should never ever see that sort of loading. Maybe 20 amps in a some mad dandy snap that should pull the wings off the plane but if your doing that then no ones equipment is going to live.

Kiwi

[Neogenesis]

Kiwi,

That should have been aimed ar Jprc.....I've been following the thread and just provided the information he asked about. But that is good to know.




Neo

[Kiwi]

Neo,

I used your post as it had the current draw to back my numbers on a five servo overload.

Sorry for that mate. I was not trying to shoot anyone with that. Just some more facts to tuck under the arm for a rainy day.

Kiwi

[Neogenesis]

NP......I've got one....but have yet to put it in the air for the "Real" test.




Neo