550 Pilot's lounge

[ElGuano]

@ElGuano:

1. What's the rough weight difference between the older and newer versions of the aimdroix arms? (or do you have new/old in the same length?)

2. The spacers provided with the coax motor mounts were too short, or too weak?

The new arms are about 8-10g lighter for the same length I think, mine weigh in at 63g each. They made some nice changes too, the motor shaft hole in the old arms were just a bit too small for the e600's circlip. The larger hole on the 1.5 is more than big enough.

The provided spacers are fine. They're 10 or 15mm I think, I just don't like the really-spaced out look so I made more work for myself. Also, from EOD the closer the motors the more efficient (who knows, but I'll take his word for it).

 

[OI Photography]

Thanks, that's about the weight difference I'd figured. Trying to decide if it'll be worth it to swap out my v1.0 extended arms for the new ones.

Also, from EOD the closer the motors the more efficient (who knows, but I'll take his word for it).

I guess that makes sense, maybe the lower blades benefit from getting the air immediately after it leaves the top blades, and more distance = less stable air for them to grab?

 

[havasuphoto]

How much longer are those arms compared to stock?
Do the E600 ESC's have the 2 1/2" long main power wires?
I don't know why DJI makes the main power wires so short-then expect them to be mounted on an arm......seriously, I'm having to spend all day-holding my breath with a soldering iron, to make "extension" for these leads.
And-I don't know spit about soldering-other than seeing a video on Youtube, and my; "I think I got this....", and "how hard can this be..." attitude

 

[ElGuano]

I think it is only worth it if you are aiming for a specific weight number or are extremely overweighted. The savings is only 40-60g for quite a high cost (though you can sell the old ones I guess).

The extended arms are 50mm longer, so they make a 550 into a 650. It lets a flat hex run 12" props, maybe a tad larger.

The motors wires are short, and end in bullets just like the e300. The ESC wires are longer. Even for 650mm, I'll probably only need a couple inches of ESC power wiring.

 

[Acill]

Hey guys, My F550 came with the E300 system and I didnt want to cut the wires down short from the ESC since its a shielded ground type. I ended up looping it and tucked it into the zip tie I used on the arms to secure the ESC. So far flights are fine, but does anyone see any potential issues from this?

 

[ElGuano]

Hey guys, My F550 came with the E300 system and I didnt want to cut the wires down short from the ESC since its a shielded ground type. I ended up looping it and tucked it into the zip tie I used on the arms to secure the ESC. So far flights are fine, but does anyone see any potential issues from this?

That's fine, if not ideal from a weight/inductance perspective. It's better to reduce the circuit distance between the battery and ESC, which is easier on your capacitors.

 

[Acill]

Hey guys, My F550 came with the E300 system and I didnt want to cut the wires down short from the ESC since its a shielded ground type. I ended up looping it and tucked it into the zip tie I used on the arms to secure the ESC. So far flights are fine, but does anyone see any potential issues from this?

That's fine, if not ideal from a weight/inductance perspective. It's better to reduce the circuit distance between the battery and ESC, which is easier on your capacitors.

Yeah, I agree with that. I just didnt want to butcher it quite yet. I'll shorten em up later on once I get all my other stuff attached.

 

[havasuphoto]

Hey guys, My F550 came with the E300 system and I didnt want to cut the wires down short from the ESC since its a shielded ground type. I ended up looping it and tucked it into the zip tie I used on the arms to secure the ESC. So far flights are fine, but does anyone see any potential issues from this?

That's fine, if not ideal from a weight/inductance perspective. It's better to reduce the circuit distance between the battery and ESC, which is easier on your capacitors.

Funny-I just got done adding extension leads to my ESC mains. Did I mention-soldering is hard?
But-I'm not happy with the results.
Here's the "issue" I'm wrestling with; the ESC main wires look like aluminum, and there's a bunch of them-looks like a brush when you strip away the insulation.
Well, my extension wires are 16 ga, copper wires. And when you strip away the insulation-there's only like 25 whole wires sticking out....not nearly a "brush".
So, I "meshed" those together, twisted both ends so they were snug, and soldered the connections.

But-the difference in the two wires is bugging me. And-my extension wires would be soldered to the main pad on the PCB-all 25 or so copper strands-not a big brush.

I may need to take a "mulligan" on this one, de-solder and try something else. But-it was good practice. Now I know, for a fact, that I do NOT like soldering. Nothing enjoyable about it, nothing relaxing.....didn't look like it did in the 3 Youtube video's I watched.

EDIT: is it OK, to just mount the ESC on the PCB, flat, next to the pads? Like just inboard or to the side a bit, and stick them there? I'm worried about heat...but, I'm more worried about conductivity and electrical efficiency.

 

[ElGuano]

1. Are you using flux? You want to make sure the solder penetrates the bundle and wicks inside. If I can help it, I avoid spliced extensions. I won't re-wind a motor to get rid of it, but I've come close.

2. You can try testing resistance with a meter. Probably won't see much given the gauge though. Test with at least a 10ft segment.

3. ESCs on the bottom plate should be fine. You probably won't by running your motors indoors for extended periods with your props off.

 

[havasuphoto]

1. Are you using flux? You want to make sure the solder penetrates the bundle and wicks inside. If I can help it, I avoid spliced extensions. I won't re-wind a motor to get rid of it, but I've come close.

2. You can try testing resistance with a meter. Probably won't see much given the gauge though. Test with at least a 10ft segment.

3. ESCs on the bottom plate should be fine. You probably won't by running your motors indoors for extended periods with your props off.

The solder I have is 60/40 w/flux. I also have rosin flux separately if needed.

I'm thinking right now, it would be far better to just mount the ESC's right next to the pads on the PCB. Not going to run indoors w/props off-except for the initial motor test.

But-it gets to 120 deg's F here when I'm flying.
Running DJI 30A ESC's, 2814-10-770kv T-motors, w/12X4.5 props, on 4S...do you think I'll have a heating problem? Also-my hex is 800mm with the aerial mob CF arms. AUW is around 3200 grams.

 

[Acill]

EDIT: is it OK, to just mount the ESC on the PCB, flat, next to the pads? Like just inboard or to the side a bit, and stick them there? I'm worried about heat...but, I'm more worried about conductivity and electrical efficiency.

You can also use a simple PCB and solder the ESC to one side of it and a new set of wires to the other. I've done this plenty of time on other projects.

Or even better is to use one of these solder splices. You basically put one end in one side and the new wire in the other and use a heat gun to melt the solder and join the wires. They are amazingly easy to use and strong.

 

[havasuphoto]

That's pretty cool-didn't even know such a thing existed.
No, I've made another Executive Decision(after making some seriously stupid decisions)....we're going with short main wires to the PCB board, and I'm going to mount the ESC's to the left side of each arm, just outside the "cage". That's the only way this is going to work. The ESC mains are too short-and making them longer just gives me 12 times more chances of a short. Been there-done that-not gonna do it twice.

My thoughts are that I can hold the ESC in place with either 3M red sticky tape, or, I just bought a hot glue gun!!! I think I'll go with the 3m tape
Also-probably heat shrink the 3 individual wires going into the ESC(so they're all black, looks nicer)-once we confirm everything works, and heat shrink the 3 wires into a single bundle-to make it look neater. Note, in the picture I have 2 wires up over the arm and 1 wire down-this was strictly to hold the ESC in place for the picture....(the ping-pong ball houses the Naza LED-makes it easier to see-not my idea, and also houses the mini-usb port for naza)

 

[Acill]

That's pretty cool-didn't even know such a thing existed.
No, I've made another Executive Decision(after making some seriously stupid decisions)....we're going with short main wires to the PCB board, and I'm going to mount the ESC's to the left side of each arm, just outside the "cage". That's the only way this is going to work. The ESC mains are too short-and making them longer just gives me 12 times more chances of a short. Been there-done that-not gonna do it twice.

My thoughts are that I can hold the ESC in place with either 3M red sticky tape, or, I just bought a hot glue gun!!! I think I'll go with the 3m tape
Also-probably heat shrink the 3 individual wires going into the ESC(so they're all black, looks nicer)-once we confirm everything works, and heat shrink the 3 wires into a single bundle-to make it look neater. Note, in the picture I have 2 wires up over the arm and 1 wire down-this was strictly to hold the ESC in place for the picture....(the ping-pong ball houses the Naza LED-makes it easier to see-not my idea, and also houses the mini-usb port for naza)

What arms are those?? They look great.

 

[havasuphoto]

Those are the 800mm carbon fiber aerial mob arm kit, version 1. I think my set was one of the prototypes. Rumor has it they're coming out with a version 2-no idea what changed. but right now-I don't even think you can buy those arms....
EDIT: I was wrong-Version 2 is out-no picture, but it's plastic only.....so, you can't buy those arms anywhere anymore

http://aerialmob.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=7

 

[ElGuano]

Agee with Acill, a PDB is a fine option. You really don't need it with a fw, but it gives you more more choices. DJI even includes a PDB for third-party frames in the e-series kits. Just don't seal the ESCs in an airtight shell like the Dexx and you'll be okay.

 

[havasuphoto]

What's an fw?

 

[ElGuano]

Flamewheel . F330/F450/f550, since they have integrated PDBs.

 

[havasuphoto]

Flamewheel . F330/F450/f550, since they have integrated PDBs.

OK, thanks. Just way too many acronyms for me to handle at one time

 

[ElGuano]

Not a lot of free time today, so just some soldering done. Got the ESCs wired to the frame:

Then plugged in everything (what a mess) so I could verify the electrical work and set the motor directions.

Tomorrow is clean-up, reducing servo wire lengths, and if I'm lucky with time, wiring up the neopixels.

 

[havasuphoto]

How did you get so lucky to have those long ESC main wires? Mine are down to about 2".