So I found out last night what happens when you have a short in your LED lights and you hook them...

[G+_Michael Heinz]

So I found out last night what happens when you have a short in your LED lights and you hook them up to a 3S battery to test them.

 

My power harness actually caught fire in my hand. It was very exciting but fortunately very brief - the wire burned through, ending the short. Had some nice scorch marks running along my fingers where I was holding the harness, but otherwise nothing worse.

 

So, the upshot is I need to rebuild my power harness and I need to figure out how to not crack the LED tape - everything was fine on the work table but when I installed the tape on the quad I guess the stresses from bending the wires back and forth cracked the thin copper tape, solder join came loose and touched the other side....

[G+_Steve C]

Has anyone ever tried using a fuse in the battery cable for fire protection in case of a short?

[G+_Eddie Foy]

Slow blow fuses!

[G+_Michael Heinz]

That suddenly seems like an exceptionally good idea.

 

I imagine the reason for not wanting to do it is to avoid having your quad suddenly drop from altitude because you hit full throttle.

[G+_Eddie Foy]

You can get SMT fuses.  Not sure about slow blow (but for the LEDs fast blow wold be better)  Slow Blow are for items that have surge currents, like motors, and other inductive loads.

[G+_Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ]

Been there... done that. :) *Poof*

[G+_Eddie Foy]

S.moke E.mitting D.iodes?

[G+_Steve C]

I would think that anyone who builds a quadcopter should put a fuse in line with the battery lead the first time they plug it in.  All you need is to cut the positive red battery wire (or make up a temporary harness to go in series with the battery lead) and crimp on 2 of those flat push on lugs and they will fit the tabs on miniature flat car fuses. I put a 30 A. fuse in mine the first time that I connected it because I had no idea what might happen.

[G+_Steve C]

Sure you could use resettable fuses or circuit breakers.  They make tiny circuit breakers for cars that carry a lot of current but fuses are a lot cheaper.

[G+_Donald Burr]

...which is why I like using a bench top power supply with current limiting when doing first-time-power-up testing. :)

[G+_Michael Heinz]

Wayne Hobbins  - #triggerwarning  - I spent 10 years doing charity work as a clown, visiting kids in hospitals, fund raising, that kind of thing. The profile pic is one of the best portraits anyone has ever taken of me.

[G+_Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ]

Wayne Hobbins I don't have coulrophobia... but I find Michael Heinz very spooky...

[G+_Michael Heinz]

That's because you lack the courage to make ketchup jokes.? don't worry, I can take the punnishment.

[G+_Michael Heinz]

Wayne Hobbins - Actually, I do understand. When I started being afraid of clowns was quite rare - but between "It" and the Insane Clown Posse it's become a whole different thing over the past 15 years.