Home made power bus, any electronics people on here?

[RcRotaryMadness]

Ok for my 550 HV setup I have built a basic power bus that provides each servo with a direct power connection to the 2s rx lipo, meaning that the main current draw is directed away from the RX/V-bar.

The trouble is, although it works I'm not happy with how it looks and it's a bit on the large side.

So I'm thinking of making another one but instead of using wire, using vero board, beefed up with solder, using PCb pins for servo connections etc...

I reckon this way I can make a very compact unit, trouble is I'd like to put the circuit board into a neat box/unit.

I have looked at project boxes but I'm not sure how neat it'll look after I've cut all the necessary holes etc.

So any ideas? I thinking if I could encase the whole thing in some sort of plastic I could mould it to the perfect size?

Anyone done anything similar?

[A.N.T]

How about using large heatshrink tubing to encapsulate the the board and wiring, would save weight over using a mouldable plastic or case.

[scallybert]

I soldered 3 extensions leads together on a T-Rex 450 Pro : http://www.rcheliaddict.co.uk/servos...tml#post980997

On the heli (LHS, with the Gryphon BEC), by my standards it's quite tidy. http://www.rcheliaddict.co.uk/servos...tml#post982162

[pgkevet]

I'm not quite sure how you're doing this.. if it's servo plugs to pins.. then a through line for each signal wire and sockets/plugs on to the rx and a pair of common power rails with socket for the flight pack then while it's neat and tidy it's a lot more junctions that could fail. If you're pulling servo leads apart anyway in scallybert fashion then I'd think in terms of twisting/soldering them together and crimping the bundle of each power polarity into something like an auto style bullet - simple

[RcRotaryMadness]

How about using large heatshrink tubing to encapsulate the the board and wiring, would save weight over using a mouldable plastic or case.

Yeah thats an idea (for some reason never occurred to me) - The only thing is I wanted something that would hold the servo plugs pretty tightly.. So less worry of them falling out - BUT it is a very simple/easy solution that I may well do if I can't find some sort of plastic. The box would be so small I don't think weight is a major concern on the grand scale of things... the whole thing wouldn't weigh much.

I soldered 3 extensions leads together on a T-Rex 450 Pro : http://www.rcheliaddict.co.uk/servos...tml#post980997On the heli (LHS, with the Gryphon BEC), by my standards it's quite tidy. http://www.rcheliaddict.co.uk/servos...tml#post982162

What you've done is similar to what I've done, will post a picture in a minute...

I'm not quite sure how you're doing this.. if it's servo plugs to pins.. then a through line for each signal wire and sockets/plugs on to the rx and a pair of common power rails with socket for the flight pack then while it's neat and tidy it's a lot more junctions that could fail. If you're pulling servo leads apart anyway in scallybert fashion then I'd think in terms of twisting/soldering them together and crimping the bundle of each power polarity into something like an auto style bullet - simple

Part of the problem I've got is once everything is wired up I only have 1 spare socket on the RX, all sockets on the vbar are all taken, I'm using two channels for Bank Switching and Gain, so Vbar is fully plugged... I know some people get round it by pulling pins out and pushing power ones in but that was something I didn't want to do.So what I've done on power bus MK1 is I've taken 5 Y leads (small ones), Cut one female connector off them all, Pulled out the signal wire on that lead (leaving the signal wire passing through to the other plugs), then joining all the red & black wires into a bullet connector (all soldered in), then the other side of the bulled connection, the thicker wire that goes straight to the RX battery.So on one side of the power bus you have the Vbar and RX, and on the other, all the servos, a voltage meter and an extra plug into the RX (just to fill the extra port really).As I say it all works, But as a whole its larger than what I thought it'd be:

[ghost2212]

Two power wire's into the Vbar should be fine, If you don't have enough ports for that then consider using a Y lead on one of them so you can feed power in and still get a signal wire in/out. This is a much simplified way of wiring and less prone to failure. Make sure the two power input's to the Vbar our at opposite ends of the row of terminals.

[RcRotaryMadness]

does sound a much easier solution, will mull it over =/

[r4nd0m]

else https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_pM3rNRm9A

Instamorph should work just fine else any other thermoplastic

[ModelGuard.Com]

Twin Pack Resin & Hardener Potting Compound 100g 870205 | eBay

Potting compound,, wonderful stuff

[RcRotaryMadness]

Thanks for the info guys, that potting compound is exactly the sort of thing I was thinking, something that can be easily moulded to the board etc....

i'll probably do a thread when I make it so keep an eye out,

[cjcj1949]

Rather than veroboard use ordinary copper board and cut the copper with a scalpel.

[ModelGuard.Com]

Re: Home made power bus, any electronics people on here?

Rather than veroboard use ordinary copper board and cut the copper with a scalpel.

Good idea. Or use copper board draw on the connecting lines in felt pen and send it to me and i will etch off the copper foc

In fact shoot me a pm and i will post you an offcut :-)

[RcRotaryMadness]

Sorry guys somehow missed this in the "new posts" section... WOW thats very kind of you and i agree solid copper board would be better, but I want to keep it simple/low hassle, I don't have as much tools as I used to for electronic projects, like the tiny drill for making holes in circuit boards etc.

I will be making something though to make a neater job of what I've already done, but for now i've got a lot on so the heli will have to make do with what it's got for the time being.

I have got a good idea of what I'm going to do though, give it a few weeks I'll post something =)