G+_Bill (CryptoMoore) Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ Bryan Burnett #quadcopter #power #quadaddict I have caught the bug big time -- now up to 5 separate builds all different classes from 250-450.. I like the way that you can mix things up and borrow between them to make what you want ("lego-like").. Love the series on #quads you guys have been running cant wait to get back to it... Keep filling my knowledge hole.. !! Anyway, with all these builds going on (and since I am not an electrical engineer) I have a question on power on these quads. I know that I can put in a Power Dist Board (PDC) and connect all my ESC's here and then run a lead cable to the battery connection which is nice but I want to add more stuff on to them (camera, led lights, gps, and on and on... ) I know there is a limit to what I can get out of one battery and the trade off is in weight/flight time but need to understand different voltages better. I know there is probably loads of details here but from what I can tell we have 12v and 5v's running through the quads.. and certain things ESC's take 12v but things like LED lights, cameras flight controllers take less (found out hard way by blowing a FC)... I was going to run from my PDB http://witespyquad.gostorego.com/power-distribution-board.html and from the board to my LED/FC etc.. but not sure of what the actual volts should be... I have also read that this can be an issue when config the right motors to work with battery.. (ie jumping up to 4s vs. 3s lipos).. Sorry to ramble but want to keep from frying my FC, motors, ESCs etc.. and want to eventually add camera/gps/bluetooth and get "full-on-fpv'd".. http://witespyquad.gostorego.com/power-distribution-board.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Taylor Graham Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Usually your FC is going to get 5v from the BEC in one of your ESCs. Each ESC's servo connector has +/- from the BEC, and a signal wire. Larger craft often use a standalone UBEC. Your receiver will get power from the FC. If you're using 3s, you can connect LED strip right to your power distribution board (use resistors of course). Most cameras, video transmitters, etc run on 12v just fine. My camera is good from 6-15v and my video transmitter runs on voltages from 6-25v. Just check your specs before you connect things. ESCs that are rated for 4s will work just fine with 4s batteries, the BEC inside will push the same voltage. If you need to reduce voltage, just use a BEC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Taylor Graham Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Also.. a batteries max output current is it's "C" rating. C rating * Capacity = Max sustained discharge. You want to make sure your motors/accessories aren't pulling more current than the battery can deliver, or you could end up damaged lipo or a nice flaming multirotor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Bill (CryptoMoore) Posted January 21, 2015 Author Share Posted January 21, 2015 Taylor Graham thanks for the response very helpful.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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