Homebrew Revolectrix Bump Case

[Guest]

I have been toying on and off about ordering a bump case for a while but never got around to it. As I've calmed down a bit on building heli's I turned my attention to designing and building one.

I started with a Solent plastic case. Superb case without breaking the bank.

Internals a PL8 with Coolice PSU.

Top deck Bump controller, Mpa board, USB charger, USB extension to bump, socket with switch and an in out fan.

Here is the top deck and charger cradle cad design. I went through about 5 revisions and settled on this setup. It will allow to charge 2 stickpacks on the top deck very neatly.



After designing the above I decided to have it laser cut from 6mm perspex and some 2mm parts. I received the items ordered and they were cut bang on and tight tolerances.



Assembled the components and everything fitted as planned. Plenty of space between the top deck items and the psu/charger mounted below.





Everything works, the bump controller is very user friendly. All I have to do now is wire the fans through a thermal switch so as they only come on when necessary. Unfortunately that hasn't showed yet so patiently waiting.

MJ

[Rob Barnes]

Nice job Maj and I love the red case ( where can you get these please )

Ive done something very similar apart from I used my Rev supply and removed the outer case . My bottom chassis was made from aluminium and hard mounted to the bottom of the case . I then added 6 external fans , 3 blowing and 3 sucking via the 12v supply .
Im building another for rob turnbull using a coolice power supply but only to large fans as rob had already put a hole in his case . Heres mine finished. The only thing I did not allow for was a small pocket to keep connectors i and I should have sunken the board like yours.

[George J]

Solent Plastics sell just about everything but do a very good quality range of Peli style cases at a fraction of the price of Peli and they're just as good.

Waterproof Cases and Boxes | Protective Plastic Cases | Solent Plastics

Case is really looking good Michael, i'm looking forward to using it!

[Guest]

Looking good Rob no chance then of that getting hot. The 2 top fans should be enough for this setup they shift quite a few litres. I fancied a totally sealed case so no external fans or power inlets on this one. The sunken board is worth the effort. 6mm just about gets the jst xh connectors flush.

George has pointed to the cases we use. Great price, quality and selection.

Here is the charger case with TX case on top. Not going to forget them in this colour!

You'll prob use it more than me G



MJ

[myxiplx]

Very nice!

How much did the case and all the cutting set you back? I've been meaning to put together a charge case for some time, and that looks like a nice layout to steal :-D

[Guest]

Very nice!

I've been meaning to put together a charge case for some time, and that looks like a nice layout to steal :-D

There are only so many layouts but some you see you have to think where do you put the packs? I mainly designed this for 2 stick packs but it has lots of space for charging. Have a look at Solent for prices of cases and cutting rates vary quite a bit depending on who you know/use. As a guide the top deck should be around £50 - £75 for the perspex if contracted out.

Steal away thats a compliment :-)

MJ

[Rob Barnes]

Mine would have been about the same cost apart from I went overboard with the fans which cost me £60 ish from RS Components . The machining I did myself on the CNC at work .

[coolice]

Hey buddy.

Looking good, I'm going to check the cases out as an alternative to offer my charge case buyers. So far I've used the Maplin, Pelicase and Nanuk cases.

For deck cutting I have my own laser cutter now with a bed size of 700x500mm so not only build complete cases to order but can supply the parts for the DIY'ers.

Ian Contessa

[Guest]

That's good to know. What's the solution to mounting the PSU to one of these PP cases? The charger with cradle seems fine I have a good bond after cleaning the case and using 3M tape that's not going anywhere (I hope). Due to the mass of the PSU and heatshrink what's the thinking for that without any external holes? Suggestions welcome.

MJ

[waveydavey]

Are you sure adding external fans is the thing to do, the PSU's are designed to pull air over their internals and out. Would the air being pulled in by the fans not short circuit the PSU as it's coming in quickly and being blown out just as quickly. Are you not better creating the airflow the same as designed and using the top cover to seal the chamber and relying on the fans to pull air in from holes in the side of the bottom chamber and allowing them to exhaust through holes on the other side

[Guest]

I can't honestly say but these case chargers are not a new idea. Most I have seen all have fans to increase airflow and then designs differ some within the chamber and some on top. The layout of mine internally isn't having this rammed straight through the PSU side and I've just run it for an hour at 30a without a glitch. Top deck fans stayed on due to the thermal switch for 20 minutes after charge completion. All I can say is it didn't break!

MJ

[philipjdall]

MJ, it's been a few years since I did mine, its a dual PL8 setup with no bump (might have done it differently if done today!). I used a secondhand peli case off ebay, with laser cut deck. I also wired in an voltage & current meter so I can keep tabs on how much is being put through the PSUs. Useful at home, essential on a genny.

Good find on your plastic case, looks super for the money. The peli cases are a ripoff (but great at the same time).

For the PSU's (2x1200W hp units - the same as used in coolice units - i think) I actually used a huge piece of velcro under each PSU to stick them to the floor of the case. Initially I wasn't sure what a good idea it was but it's lasted two years of being dragged to the field and they've not budged. In fact they have the slightest amount of give so this has probably cushioned the psu's in transit. Just an idea!

I used two small (but mighty) brushless fans to such the air from the back of the case, following the flow through the two psu's. The air intake comes through the holes in the deck at the front of the case. This has worked surprisingly well

A few pics below. Blue lights add to the street cred

[Guest]

Thanks for the tip on the mounting I might give that a try. I can't see the pics for some reason. I'm not sure what it is with this site now but pics just don't seem to work properly on my IOS or pc. I used to be able to load from the iphone and ipad and that doesn't work anymore.

Your case sounds pretty good and pokey. I thought about the psu demand but found the bump will give you between the psu and pl8 amps/wattage which is great. A plug in the geny will give its output so covered without too much extra stuff.

Can't beat some lighting :-)

MJ

[philipjdall]

Have tried posting pics again... not sure it helps?!

[Guest]

I can see the files this time, I click and it says I don't have permission to view so log in again and they pop up really small. I can make out the blue lights looks super cool.

My fans light up blue!

MJ