Here are some pics of the FreeFly Motor Control set with ESCs on my CS8 since my last custom power distribution and EC5s weren't adequate enough to handle my AUW. I mounted my HFP Board temporarily onto it as well, but my standoff's are a bit too high. This resulted in me having to raise the battery mount which I don't like because of the raised COG. Hoping to have this thing flying again tomorrow.
That position works great if you're flying down into ravines...and the antenna points the right way too. EDIT: Speaking of which -- with that bracket you show, Bill, can the antenna point straight up? I'm concerned that, if it cannot, it's oriented incorrectly for maximum distance. Sorry...that was addressed to Bill Collydas on another thread....too many windows open on my desktop! Andy.
The pictures are a little small so I got to ask are you doubling up on your battery standoff's or are they extra long? They look longer than 60mm? I thought I'd ask as my eyes play tricks on me.
Dave, Your eyes serve you well =) I added a plastic bolt standoff temporarily to raise the battery tray. My bolt standoff to raise the plate that holds the HFP is too long, and hopefully the 15mm ones I just ordered will give the power distribution board enough clearance to the plate.
Kristian, drop the FF PDB down as low as you can, just so the bullet connectors are slightly above the top plate of the CS. I have the same multiboard from my HF that I sent back when it crashed. Then I have the MK FC board installed, followed by another of the multiplates to protect the top of the FC board. 60mm standoffs for the battery tray and it all fits very cleanly.
Gary, I used the standoffs that came with the FF set to raise the PDB. Should I not use them or did you use different ones? I tried using the PDB without the standoffs and the bullet connectors touched the frame. I'm not sure how long that'd hold though. Also, do you know which side of the ESC connection is the negative? The extended tab side or non-tabbed side?
The standard stand-offs are 55 mm, I believe. Gary turned me on to these "axial posts" (easy to find when you know what they are called): http://www.axialracing.com/products/axa1318 The snazzy green color also improves the flight characteristics, so he said. Andy.
The stock ones are 50mm, the ones from Axil I got are 55mm and they are just enough for extra clearance of the pig tail wires. The ones that Gary uses are 60mm.
Kristan I'll measure them when I get home tomorrow and let you know. Negative on the ESC are the dark wire, not sure if it is black but it has a standard servo layout. Black, red power in the middle, orange/wht signal on the last one. I use the fluorescent green posts for flight orientation.
Ok, so I got everything to fit with the standard battery mounts. Instead of using the spacer that comes with the FF Motor Control Set, I used a plastic nut in between the PDB and center hub, secured by a long M3 screw from the bottom. The new PDB along with my new MT 3520 on the QC 10000mah 6s flew like a dream yesterday. I'll be crate load testing it this weekend =) Also have a Progressive RC "Powerline Pro" en route....def excited for that Thank you Andy, David, Gary, and Steve for all your help and info!
Did you mod the MK Flight Controller for 6S operation, Kristian? (I looked back on this thread to see whether you'd mentioned that, but didn't see any reference to it). Andy.
Hi Kristian. MK FC with 6s and no mod ....that sounds very scary indeed! I dont know exactly what mod needs to be done but I am very sure some vital parts need to be changed, when using 6s instead of 4s. Best regards. /Janne
After a lot of research and talking to respected people (Adam, Riley, and Ziggy) the conclusion is that that performing the 5S mode to the MK FCB can get your bird up and running on 6S. However, you take a lot of risk with the BL's failing because of their maxed 40A current limit is much lower than what a 6S can deliver. To get a MK BL to take more than 40 amps would require almost a complete redesign of the circuit, not just swapping out a regulator, Mosfet or couple caps because that circuit is only as reliable as its weakest link. Think of it as putting a supercharger on a Altima. Your car will fire up and drive down the road but as soon you start to accelerate heavily, your compression ratio and cylinder temps go sky high and the stock pistons, rods, and head gaskets are not built to take it, you'll blow the motor quickly. You may only be lifting a 5DIII but if you sudden have to do a quick bank or change throttle quickly you can easily toast a MK BL. If you can't fly in all types of situations safely with the 6S with the MK electronics there's no point in trying.Even if the changes are lower say 25%, that's too much risk. I would rather have my motor temps at 100 degrees as long as they are not maxing out than possibly burning up 8 BL's instantly in flight because of a current surge. You can land safely with one bad BL (possibly) but not if you take out more than 1 which the consensus is that it's too high of a probability to occur. With anything in the air, you gotta be safer than the supercharged altma!!! Take it from someone who has seen their CS8 plummet out of the sky from a dead drop at 100 meters, "IT AINT PRETTY".
Here's the MK BL. Lot's of surface mount components on here that definitely can't take more than 40 amps.
Folks Kristan is flying a Hoverfly Pro board with the Freefly Motorset. Has absolutely nothing to do with MK boards.
My understanding was that the FC board needs to have different (higher voltage) capacitors installed on it. The basis for this is: http://www.mikrokopter.de/ucwiki/en/FlightCtrl_ME_2_1#Upgrade_for_5S_and_6S_LiPo But, as Gary points out, then my question is irrelevant -- I'd forgotten that you're flying HF. Sorry...that's why I went looking to try and find out which board set you were flying. Andy.
Janne, Gary is correct in regards to me flying a Hover Fly Pro Board. Therefore I'm using one of the 4 12V JST connectors that come off the FreeFly PDB to power my FC. Dave, I appreciate the help with being able to fly 6S on a MK FC. I'm sure it'll come in handy to several members on this forum. Andy, being able to keep up with all previous posts as a moderator is probably a difficult task, so it's all good when you asked me that question. Good thing is, I probably didn't miss something then =)