Receiver/Battery/ESC wiring

[cnunez2008]

Are there any documents on how to hook/wire all this up? Connectors are missing or seem like they dont match? Do I have to get out my soldering iron and find all the correct connectors? This is my first attempt at RC since I was a kid... but im pretty handy mechanical engineer so i'm crossing my fingers :)

I have finished building my first YAK 54. (added some of my own battery and receiver mount modifications hope they work?) I'll post pics soon...

I have a Futaba 6EX transmitter and R607FS reciever.
Hitec HS-55 micro servos (i have read i'll have to reverse the throttle?)
A Turnigy 2213 20turn 1050kv 19A brushless motor
a TP 25A brushless speed controller ESC
A TP Prolite 1320mah 3 cell li-poly battery
I bought a li-poly charger with builtin balancer - but its connector does not match the Prolite (sigh) i need find the right one and re-solder a new one?

Questions:
1) What powers the Futaba receiver? the same li-poly battery that powers the motor?
2) Do I need to use the switch harness that came with my 6EX - seems like it would be better - but no mention in the Yak manuals

Looking forward to flying this plane with my 12 yo son. :)

- Chris

[bills]

Welcome back to the hobby Chris.
I will try to answer some of your questions the best I can and I am sure others here will correct me if I lead you astray or fill in where I am lacking.

First, you may or may not need to reverse the Hitec servos. This will depend on how they are mounted on the plane. After all are mounted and hooked up and a control surface is moving in the wrong direction just change it using your raido.
The motor direction can be easly changed just by changing any two of the three wires of a brushless motor.

The wire with the plastic female plug on your ESC will power your reciever which will then power the servos.

You may be able to find an adaptor for your charger to fit the battery you have. Just do a web search for your type of charger, most major brands have adaptors for most batterys. I have found it is much easyer to get an adaptor than to find just a plug. They seem to be hard to come by for some reason or I am not looking in the right place.:rolleyes:

I think most folks flying these light planes forgo the electrical switch for the weight savings.

The web site below may be a good sorce of information for you, just one of many.

http://www.ezonemag.com/pages/faq/a203.shtml

Enjoy. Getting your son involved will double the fun.:D

Bill

[I.C.O.N.]

Good advice Bill.

Chris, Read up in the beginers forum on RCgroups.com. Lots of good info there.

Any more specific questions we can help you here as well.

You should be able to find a TP balance adapter for your charger. TP is very common.

Do you have a sim? The Yak is a 3D machine and flies very well but can be a big handfull for a new pilot.

Have Fun!
Andy

[cnunez2008]

Thanks guys. i'll check out the links.

Guess i should by a simulator huh? i do have hundreds of MS Flight Simulator hours - but its probably not the same thing. We did buy a $99 park flyer and demolished it after about 20 flights. It couldnt handle the winds. It got us hooked though. I chose the yak cuz it said it could fly in 15-20 mphs winds! haha we'll see.

I did manage to get the futaba rudder, elevator and ailerons working. They seem to "chatter" a bit - not sure what thats about? any advice? other than that seems like the controls work like they should - quick responsive - full travel. I programmed the futaba with dual servos on each wing and flaperons. seems really sensitive, maybe i should use smaller servo arms to start with huh?

My next step is to wire up and mount the motor and ESC.

Chris

[bills]

A simulator is a good thing.. One that will work with your transmitter. Thats the best way to get the feel of these craft. There are some free ones out there but you will need an interface to connect to your PC. The better ones of course cost some $$ but are much more "life like".

I don't have the yak so can not say how it handles in the wind. I do have the Edge 540 and it will fly in a pretty stiff breeze, however it has taken some practice.

As Andy said, these planes can be a handful. They are very quick in their direction changes. Using the dual rates in your radio you can lessen the control surface throw making it a much easier plane to fly to start with. Then when you get comfortable with the lower rate, get some elevation, flip the switch to full rate and prepare to be amazed.:eek:

I to have a plane that has some chatter in one of the servos. Usually just by bumping the transmitter stick that controls it just a bit will stop it. Some times if you get a little binding in your linkage it will cause it. Check to see that the linkage and control surfaces move freely when unhooked from the sevro.

Yes, you can change the servo control arms for shorter ones but most have several holes and just using the closest hole to the servo will calm things down some also.

Oh, did I mention that a simulator is a good thing... had I not been quite so stubborn a few years ago and bought one much sooner I could have saved allot of grief and $$$.

Bill

[cnunez2008]

Can you recommend a simulator that will work with our 6EX and has a good YAK or equivalent in it? I have seen prices from free to $250.

Build update:
1) soldered some connectors up to my two li-poly batteries and tested servos again last night. Servos and receiver worked fine. Did some more wire routing etc...

2) I will take your advice on the dual rates - have to learn how to set that in the 6EX still.

Questions:
I have decided to use the harness switch I like the idea and am not worried about weight and performance? should I be?

a) What I did was solder the battery leads from the ESC and the harness switch leads together and into a female connector (for quick connect to li-poly male connector i put on them) and then jconnector from switch to the reciever. This should work for the ESC and motor correct? I have not tried the motor yet.

b) There is also a charging connector coming off of the harness switch? Not sure if I should use this? I was planning on just disconnecting the li-poly and then charging them serpately. I guess we could use it in the future to charde the battery without removing it?

c) Still have not tested my charger/balancer situation - using the charge in the li-poly as shipped? Is there a way to tell how much charge is in the Li-poly? probably with my charger/balancer right? - still waiting on connector/adapter - i hope i ordered the correct one - from draganfly in Canada? 6-14 days USPS Airmail? hmmm

I appreciate not being alone on this build!

attached a pic of my charger? IMAX B5... the 3 cell connector doesnt match whats coming out of my batteries

Chris

[bills]

Chris,
As you have found out, there are quite a few sim's out there. I have the Phoenix simulator and really like it and would recommend it. I also fly heli's and this sim is very realistic for planes and my T-Rex heli's. Having said that, it is the only good one I have used so my opinion is a little biased. The first one I used was a freebie and they are OK for learning orientation, inverted, flying to you, etc. but the better ones are far more realistic and come very close to what the actual craft can do. The Phoenix does have a Yak shock flier, not quite like the Airfoliz, smaller and lighter. What I do like very much about the Phoenix, is after you buy it, all upgrades are free and they regularly add new aircraft.
Your point (a) is mostly a matter of preference. Although I don't quite understand what you did with out a photo, if it works for you, go for it.
Point (b). I think from all I have read and learned about Lipo's, it's best to charge them off the plane and in some sort of fire proof container. I use a small metal file box with a lid and on a bench that has a metal top. I have never had an issue with a lipo but better safe than sorry.
And (c). I am not familiar with your charger so I hope Andy or some one that has one or is familiar with it will chime in and give you some help.
Hope you are flying soon :).
Bill

[I.C.O.N.]

WEll I have Realflight G3.5 for a simulator. It is very nice and can be found with a controller for around $100 used.


a) What I did was solder the battery leads from the ESC and the harness switch leads together and into a female connector (for quick connect to li-poly male connector i put on them) and then jconnector from switch to the reciever. This should work for the ESC and motor correct? I have not tried the motor yet.

Sounds right, A picture would help though.


b) There is also a charging connector coming off of the harness switch? Not sure if I should use this? I was planning on just disconnecting the li-poly and then charging them serpately. I guess we could use it in the future to charde the battery without removing it?

No, I would not use that for lipos. It is much better to take them out and connect them to the balance lead.


c) Still have not tested my charger/balancer situation - using the charge in the li-poly as shipped? Is there a way to tell how much charge is in the Li-poly? probably with my charger/balancer right? - still waiting on connector/adapter - i hope i ordered the correct one - from draganfly in Canada? 6-14 days USPS Airmail? hmmm

I am not familiar with that particular charger.

Your charger station should tell you the current volts as it is charging and how man mah you put back into the batts when they are charged. You should be able to put a full battery on the charger to top it off and it will only charge what is needed.

Have Fun!
Andy

[bighead93]

I have to chime in here...it might be a good idea to take all of your gear to your local hobby store and have them assist you in what you need. It will save you some time and a headache!

Make sure that you set your rates low until you get comfortable with the Yak...it flies light and can get out of control quick if you are rusty! I would have to agree with ICON that G3.5 is worth the cash! It will teach you the hand to eye/muscle memory to get the most out of your new airplane...plus you can download both the Airfoilz Yak-54 and Edge 540!

[cnunez2008]

ok i got a Phoenix sim ordered...

Now i cant seem to get my charger/balancer to work. It keeps beeping a warning "low input voltage". I tried on my car battery, a small brand new battery that i bought for the field and even plugged into the wall via an ac/dc adapter i bought that converts 110 ac to 12vdc. What gives?

Does the input voltage need to be more than 12V?

:( Chris

[bills]

Chris,
Here is a review of your charger that may be of some help. It may give a little more information than the manual does. Hang in there you will get it all figured out than you can :) about it.
As bighead said, if you have a hobby shop near by they can usually be a big help in getting things like this sorted out (if you bought the item from them). My local shop is that way and it's no more than fair.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=783164

Bill

[cnunez2008]

1) I finally figured out the charger issue. It was reporting the lipo voltage was too low, not my input battery - had to trickle in some voltage using nicd and then it would engage the balance charge cycle - I went to my local shop for help! I also learned that you cant leave these batteries plugged in! haha (duh)

2) got my servos to stop chattering - by drilling the holes just a tad larger and putting a little tiny bit of electrical tape in them (i mean tiny!) to act as a little dampener....? hmmm seemed to work.

3) I programmed the dual rates - thats a cool feature!

4) Now my son and i need to log some hours on the sim. Should arrive this week.

Some pics below! Thanks guys!

Chris

[paulg]

Nice job!