help with a better, neater battery set up for my bodge LED NAV set....

[Cthulu]

hi,
Ive got a trex 250 in md500 fuselage that I bodged some LED's onto. Theres 6 LEDs in all- red and green Nav, main red flasher behind rotor mast, spot at the front, red and white flasher at the tail. Im quite happy with how ive routed it all around the fuselage, but my power system is a little untidy. Ive split them into 2 sets of 3, and each set is running off a CR2032 clip with 2 CR2032's in it (I did say I was a bodger!). It works fine, and Ive had no issues with it so far, but it is really untidy in the nose section of the fuselage. The extra weight isnt an issue, as the heli would be tail heavy without weight in the nose to balance it.
Anyway, as it may be obvious from my wiring description, Im not the greatest at these kind of things, so Im wondering if anyone can help me with an idea for a better and neater power system.
Am I right in thinking if 1 CR2032 battery is 3V then as im using 2 batterys per clip/set/3LEDs, then I could just wire all 6 LEDs to a 6V battery with a higher Mah? If such a thing exists.
I know there are some fairly cheap LED kits out there, and I probably should have just bought 1 of them, but most are powered from the receiver. I dont think I have a free channel.

any help would be appreciated.
cheers,
L

[dani_r]

hi,
Ive got a trex 250 in md500 fuselage that I bodged some LED's onto. Theres 6 LEDs in all- red and green Nav, main red flasher behind rotor mast, spot at the front, red and white flasher at the tail. Im quite happy with how ive routed it all around the fuselage, but my power system is a little untidy. Ive split them into 2 sets of 3, and each set is running off a CR2032 clip with 2 CR2032's in it (I did say I was a bodger!). It works fine, and Ive had no issues with it so far, but it is really untidy in the nose section of the fuselage. The extra weight isnt an issue, as the heli would be tail heavy without weight in the nose to balance it.
Anyway, as it may be obvious from my wiring description, Im not the greatest at these kind of things, so Im wondering if anyone can help me with an idea for a better and neater power system.
Am I right in thinking if 1 CR2032 battery is 3V then as im using 2 batterys per clip/set/3LEDs, then I could just wire all 6 LEDs to a 6V battery with a higher Mah? If such a thing exists.
I know there are some fairly cheap LED kits out there, and I probably should have just bought 1 of them, but most are powered from the receiver. I dont think I have a free channel.

any help would be appreciated.
cheers,
L

If you could get one that could power from the receiver you can just use a Y-Harness on to one of your channels. That will get you the power you need

[Cthulu]

Ive heard about doing that before, and it may well be the route I go down. Thanks for the suggestion.
The only problem is, Ive glued wiring in place for the currently installed LEDs, and Im quite happy with how it turned out. I think it would look pretty shoddy once id removed it all. there would definitely need to be a paint touch up.
I am considering going FBL with a 5 blade head (if i can find 1), so if I do, I might just buy another fuse and do a different paint scheme. Id definitely go the Y harness route on that. Though, can anyone tell me if the LEDs will still work, even if I only have a 6 channel Tx? ie I wont have a channel to turn them off and on?
In the meantime for this bodge job, a single 6V battery would be a lot neater than the 2 cr2032 clips with 4 batterys, so can anyone say if that might work?

thanks for the help

[dani_r]

Ive heard about doing that before, and it may well be the route I go down. Thanks for the suggestion.
The only problem is, Ive glued wiring in place for the currently installed LEDs, and Im quite happy with how it turned out. I think it would look pretty shoddy once id removed it all. there would definitely need to be a paint touch up.
I am considering going FBL with a 5 blade head (if i can find 1), so if I do, I might just buy another fuse and do a different paint scheme. Id definitely go the Y harness route on that. Though, can anyone tell me if the LEDs will still work, even if I only have a 6 channel Tx? ie I wont have a channel to turn them off and on?
In the meantime for this bodge job, a single 6V battery would be a lot neater than the 2 cr2032 clips with 4 batterys, so can anyone say if that might work?

thanks for the help

If it's only a 6 channel Tx then they will either be on or off I'm afraid. You could probably link it in to your gyro if you wanted, but that would mean you would have the heli in HH or Rate which would be your on or off. You're better with a 7 channel really.

[Cthulu]

If it's only a 6 channel Tx then they will either be on or off I'm afraid. You could probably link it in to your gyro if you wanted, but that would mean you would have the heli in HH or Rate which would be your on or off. You're better with a 7 channel really.

ya, but funds permit it, hence the bodging!!!
So, with a Y harness, they can be rigged up to be on when powers connected without the need for an extra channel?
That might be worth doing then. Do yu have any recommendations of where to buy a a Rx powered NAV light kit and a y-harness?

thanks a lot for the info, much appreciated.

[paulsouthport]

I have a set of these on my quad, they were originally for a heli though. Powered from the RX

G.T. Power RC LED Lighting Kit HELI T-REX 450 500 550 | eBay

[Cthulu]

They look like they might be ok, but im putting them on a 250 size md500, and the listing says they are for 450 size and up. Doesnt mean they wouldnt work, but the actual LEDs might be a bit big.
thanks for the suggestion,
cheers