Crawler wiring advice

[The Dark Knight]

I'm looking for some advice for wiring up my crawler. I've a rough idea of how I'd like to do it but open to other suggestions if there is better alternatives. On top of the usual steering servo & esc, I have the following: servo winch, light bar & light kit. I solely run my rig on 2S lipo and use a high mah for long run times.

 

My plan was to wire it up as follows:

 

• Servo winch: run on a seperate small 2S lipo along with this wireless winch controller: http://www.rcmart.com/winch-remote-p-58702.html

 

• Light bar: I'd like to control this on/off through the third channel on my radio so I've been told I'd need one of these rc switches: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Turnigy-RC-Receiver-Controlled-Switch-on-off-10A-30V-UK-STOCK-Fast-Dispatch-/201524594526?hash=item2eebcd475e:g:2xwAAOSwirZTtv99

 

• Light kit: I don't mind this being on all the time so will plug it into my receiver http://www.rcmart.com/3racing-light-system-cars-drifting-3racleds-free-shipping-p-25474.html?cPath=438_900

 

You might ask why I'm not working the winch through my radio but unfortunately my radio only has a 2 position switch.

 

As I've said, I'm open to suggestions if there is a better alternative.

 

Thanks 

[The Dark Knight]

As another option for the servo winch, I was thinking about using a parallel connector which I'd connect the esc & wireless controler to. This would mean I could carry on running just the one battery: http://www.xfactoryrc.co.uk/index.php/new-products/electronics/connectors-and-charge-leads/deans-parallel-connector-double-the-run-time-detail

[.AJ.]

I think you pretty much have it all worked out mate 

[The Dark Knight]

9 minutes ago, .AJ. said:

I think you pretty much have it all worked out mate 

 

I'm just worried I set it on fire haha

 

I'm not that good with anything other than basic electrics. I'm much more mechanically minded.

 

Here's a basic diagram of my plan if I was to use a parallel connector instead of a second battery:

 

[The Dark Knight]

Diagram V2 

 

[Tamiyacowboy]

 

2S lipo cells , use a piggy tail dual leash , so you have two outputs from that battery pack setup. 

 

leash 1 leads to esc then to rx and servo unit 

 

leash two runs from battery to a secondary BEC power feeder. from here you wire in the winch and light set 1 and light set 2.

 

light set two has an on-off toggle switch allows you to have the light bar on or off via that switch.

light set one draws power from the secondary bec  BUT the signal wire only is plugged into the rx , this means you can control the light set two from the tx, but it has its own power coming from the bec secondary. 

 

reason why we tend to wire like this is, your over drawing voltage from the rx , it only gives 6v at around a couple amps, but all those lights and winches when running may want to pull like 5amps and thats going to be a problem for the rx, its going to either be very underpowered ie dull lights or a very weak servo. but running a secondary bec will null that effect as it powers the lighting and winch on its own , the rx powers the servo and only sends a signal to the light system set no power is used or needed that way and the rx is not hammered hard on current draw or voltage droop.

 

a third way is dual battery system a secondary small compact lipo is used to power the winch and lights alone via a secondary bec. its very own battery source, this means your main battery is for powering the motor and servo steering only, everything else gets its power for a secondary power battery tucked away somewhere. good thing is even if your main battery dies out your lights and winch will still work. so the setup goes like this 

 

Main battery to esc to rx to servo. ( this means main battery only powers the drive train and has all the meat n potatoes it needs)

 

secondary battery to bec to wireless winch to light bar 1 and light bar 2 ( light bar two signal wire is put into the channels signal output you wish to use for control ie aux 1( this means secondary battery powers all lighting and winch lights wil be nice and bright and winch running on full beans, no chance of power droop or overamping )

Edited April 28, 2016 by Tamiyacowboy

[The Dark Knight]

Thank you so much for the detailed response Mr Cowboy, much appreciated 

[The Dark Knight]

If I go the secondary battery route, what size of battery would you recommend? Would one around 1,000mah suffice? 

 

When I go out trailing it tends to be for 1-2 hours. For my main 2S lipo I use a 7500mah battery.

[Tamiyacowboy]

 

i would say 7.2v lipo shorty ( saves weight and bulk size) and yeah around 1000mah should be fine , its not like winch is run 24/7, but the bar light will be the main drainer on the battery cells .

most rc lighting will run on a 7.2v battery these led lamp bars and likes they really glow up with 7.2v compared to 6v 

[The Dark Knight]

20 minutes ago, Tamiyacowboy said:

 

i would say 7.2v lipo shorty ( saves weight and bulk size) and yeah around 1000mah should be fine , its not like winch is run 24/7, but the bar light will be the main drainer on the battery cells .

most rc lighting will run on a 7.2v battery these led lamp bars and likes they really glow up with 7.2v compared to 6v 

 

I did used to run 7.2v lipo shorty but moved to a stick pack to share batteries with other models. I was thinking about going back to shorty though to free up some room. I'm running a Jevne racing battery plate, here's a pic of it:

 

 

Ok cool, that's why I'd like the light bar on an on/off switch. I don't mind the light kit being on all the time.

 

This is the light bar that I have on the way: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282010923506?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT It says it comes with a lipo driver so you can run 5v-22v.

 

I've also found another on/switch which I prefer the look of as it could lead to a neater install: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/371540390463?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[Tamiyacowboy]

 

looks fine from here buddy, weight in a crawler is not a bad thing either it offers more bite to those rubber boots on the ground , so its just a case of finding somewhere to stash the second lighting/winch battery and your good to go.

[Steven.T]

If you use a separate battery for the light bar you will need to link the negatives of the light bar battery and the main battery, took me ages to figure out why my switch wouldn't work on mine!

[The Dark Knight]

On 4/29/2016 at 12:22, Tamiyacowboy said:

 

i would say 7.2v lipo shorty ( saves weight and bulk size) and yeah around 1000mah should be fine , its not like winch is run 24/7, but the bar light will be the main drainer on the battery cells .

most rc lighting will run on a 7.2v battery these led lamp bars and likes they really glow up with 7.2v compared to 6v 

 

 

Sorry just one more question, if I wire it up as per the first option, what size of bec would you recommend? 

[Tamiyacowboy]

 

5Amp bec should be fine i doubt you would pull much more than that and they do have a leyway on the amp draw , a 5a bec will allow 6a over a short time via overdriving it.

[The Dark Knight]

17 hours ago, Tamiyacowboy said:

 

5Amp bec should be fine i doubt you would pull much more than that and they do have a leyway on the amp draw , a 5a bec will allow 6a over a short time via overdriving it.

 

Thanks again, much appreciated 

[The Dark Knight]

20 hours ago, Tamiyacowboy said:

 

5Amp bec should be fine i doubt you would pull much more than that and they do have a leyway on the amp draw , a 5a bec will allow 6a over a short time via overdriving it.

 

I've been looking at BEC's today, whats your thoughts on this one for my application?

 

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__62577__Quanum_12V_5A_7_2_25_2V_Dual_Output_UBEC_UK_Warehouse_.html

 

It has a dual output, meaning it'll make it easier to connect the winch & light bar to?

[danb1974]

The two outputs are wired together (similar to using a Y cable to split a single output)

[Tamiyacowboy]

 

yep its fine, run it on a 7.2v / 11.1v lipo and keep the switch to 7.2v output.

those dual outputs come from the same regulator inside, ie a single rail output, just dual wiring so you dont have to be running two to three pig tail leashes to other items.

output leads, one for the winch, the other for the two light systems. 

[The Dark Knight]

34 minutes ago, Tamiyacowboy said:

 

yep its fine, run it on a 7.2v / 11.1v lipo and keep the switch to 7.2v output.

those dual outputs come from the same regulator inside, ie a single rail output, just dual wiring so you dont have to be running two to three pig tail leashes to other items.

output leads, one for the winch, the other for the two light systems. 

 

Excellent, you've been a great help, many thanks