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Offline Rad_Schuhart

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Battery wiring.
« on: February 07, 2018, 09:42:14 AM »
I am making all the wires for fitting the TCB in a Tamiya King tiger. So far the only two left are the recoil and the battery. Well, IMHO the King Tiger is very fragile and I consider him some kind of half shelf queen, so I want to do something that nobody should do: I want to be able to charge the batteries inside the tank, just to open a hatch in the tank and connect the battery charger to a plug, and the balancer to the battery balancer. Im using a 2cell lipo on it, and I am not sure about how should I wire it without risk of shorting something opr setting the entire tank on flames.

Also If you could tell me which size of wire to use (in AWG) would be great!

At the other hand, I have seen that the battery plug in the TCB is different from the photos in the web... When I received the board I was a bit surprised about the small motor connectors (the ones with the bolts) but after using them I must confess that I really like them way more than the JST connectors. Also, for some reason it seems I keep breaking the wires in the battery plug, mostly because I open my tanks and move my boards many times, and a couple of times I think I broke it due to I used very powerfull motors and the JST connector just could not handle it. Could it be possible?

Thanks!

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Online LukeZ

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Re: Battery wiring.
« Reply #1 on: February 07, 2018, 07:08:38 PM »
Hi Rad, you can do what you propose but you should install a switch that disconnects your battery completely from the circuit and transfers it instead to the a charge plug (SPDT or DPDT). You can also use this as your model on/off switch (charge in off). You don't want the lipo to be powering anything during charging because this will confuse your charger.

Yes, many of the photos in the Wiki were taken with prototypes that predate the production version. These prototypes used screw terminals for main TCB power but in production we changed the power connector to JST because that is what all stock Heng Long and Taigen tanks use.

Unlike other MFUs that must power the drive motors from the same board, the TCB at most will be driving the turret motors so overall it draws very little current. Therefore you don't need super heavy power wires to the TCB, I typically use 22 AWG and this is what is included with the TCB. Of course you may want to use thicker wires from the battery->ESC and from ESC->motors.

I don't know what kind of battery plug you are using. Most tanks use a Tamiya connector, which I really don't like and yes will often break. I typically change all my battery connectors to Deans (also know as T plugs). The brand name Deans are very good but I also really like the Amass versions available on eBay or AliExpress, they are compatible with Deans but are larger so make plugging/unplugging easier, and they also require no heatshrink (eBay search for "Amass Deans")). Other people like XT60 connectors or Anderson PowerPoles, it's all personal preference.
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Offline Rad_Schuhart

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Re: Battery wiring.
« Reply #2 on: February 08, 2018, 09:39:56 AM »
Hi Luke. I am using 5.200 mah 2s lipos with XT 60 connectors.

What I need to know is how to wire it. I mean, the diagram. Hope you can see my poorly made at work drawing lol.

Is it correct? Do I have to add or remove something else?

Unbenannt.png
Battery wiring. Unbenannt.png
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Online LukeZ

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Re: Battery wiring.
« Reply #3 on: February 08, 2018, 02:35:29 PM »
Don't do that, you will create a direct short of your battery! Many sparks and smoke will occur. But you are close, see this version. You want a single-pole, double-throw (SPDT) On-On switch. The center connector of the switch will connect directly to the positive terminal of your battery. Then depending on which position your switch is in, the battery will either be connected to the tank, or to the charger.

See this version.
Unbenannt_Fixed.png
Battery wiring. Unbenannt_Fixed.png
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Offline Rad_Schuhart

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Re: Battery wiring.
« Reply #4 on: July 17, 2018, 06:00:59 AM »
Hi Luke, some necro posting here, lol.

I am doing a case for the TCB. The plan is to have the TCB, soundcard, ESCs and 2 receivers in a small package. You know I am cheapman, so I ordered the cheapests ESC I could find. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3-0V-9-4V-2KHz-Driver-Frequency-RC-ESC-20A-Brush-Motor-Electronic-Speed-Controller-W/32884825228.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.687c4c4dEi8lka The second greatest thing is they are small, so I ordered them today, I will post my impressions when I receive them in a month or so, lol. So, so far those ESCs looks great, I will remove the big switch, and probably the small switch (for the brake) too, so it will be a small setup.

According to my plans, the TCB + soundcard + receiver + ESCs is going to be a bit smaller than the Tamiya DMD-MFU units + the receiver.

The thing is, I am also reducing the wiring to a minimum, and definitely I love those plugs with bolts. Is it possible to replace the battery connectors in the TCB and in the soundcard with those ones? I noticed the chinesse jst connectors have the legs closer than the bolt plugs... But I dont know, maybe a bit of drilling might fix it? Thanks in advance!

 


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Online LukeZ

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Re: Battery wiring.
« Reply #5 on: July 17, 2018, 02:08:18 PM »
The thing is, I am also reducing the wiring to a minimum, and definitely I love those plugs with bolts. Is it possible to replace the battery connectors in the TCB and in the soundcard with those ones? I noticed the chinesse jst connectors have the legs closer than the bolt plugs... But I dont know, maybe a bit of drilling might fix it? Thanks in advance!

I am not familiar with the "plugs with bolts," maybe something is being lost in translation. Do you mean screw terminals such as are used on the Motor A/B outputs?

Whatever you do I would not drill the PCB, but if you have the equipment you can de-solder the existing connectors. The least amount of space could be used by soldering wires directly to the TCB, although this is obviously somewhat permanent.
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Offline Rad_Schuhart

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Re: Battery wiring.
« Reply #6 on: July 17, 2018, 03:43:15 PM »
Hi, yes, I meant the screw terminals for elevation and rotation. I like them a lot, and I wonder if it would be possible to replace the power plugs in the boards with them... Unsoldering the old ones and soldering the screw ones is easy, but I think the connectors just wont fit in the holes because the legs distance is diferent (Is wider in the screw terminals).

About soldering the wire directly, Im not going to do it just because the sound board is so cool, that Im planning to use it as stand alone in some more stuff.

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Online LukeZ

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Re: Battery wiring.
« Reply #7 on: July 17, 2018, 03:55:27 PM »
I see, yes you're right the hole spacing is not the same. Drilling is still a bad idea because while you can probably get a good solder joint on the bottom of the board, you will be unable to solder the top of the board (because the screw terminal will be in the way), and the drill will destroy the copper inside the holes that carry current from the bottom to the top of the board.

So whatever you decide, I would leave the holes as they are.
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