Optipower Backup Guard

[Mark_T]

I know. I found out the hard way: I had just placed an order with R&K Enterprise and decided to check ExperienceRC again.


I just hope I can get the order canceled before it ships. Anybody know how quickly R&K responds to customer support emails and/or how quickly they typically ship? I don't relish the thought of making an international phone call.

Raj pretty much always ships in-stock orders same day, but he is also usually good at returning emails.

What time did you order?

[TheBum]

Raj pretty much always ships in-stock orders same day, but he is also usually good at returning emails.

What time did you order?

It was around 1930 GMT.

As I was typing that first sentence, I got a response from Raj. He'll take care of canceling it in the morning.

I think ExperienceRC was still in the process of putting them into inventory when i checked a couple of hours ago. Only the PC board and battery were listed then, but now the combos are also listed. They have a really good price on the base combo.

[Mark_T]

Good, I was rather hoping you had ordered too late for Raj to ship today

You're right about the ExperienceRC price on the combo, it is lower than I'd have expected, same for the Super as well, odd considering how bad the $ is right now against the £

If I need any more I guess I'll be ordering from them as well ...

[KnifeEdge]

uploadfromtaptalk1394349416220.jpg

I think its a great little unit. Power up it sets itself. Power down just push the button and it turns off.

At end of day I disconnect the pack just in case it discharges for any reason.

[heathy]

Just wondering if you ever got to the bottom of the problem with your YGE ESC with the optiBUG? About to start my build and wondering about what ESC to use?[/QUOTE]

Looks like you should be leaving the button alone. I have one on the 7hv with yge. Don't touch anything and unplug flight packs and it does it's thing perfectly.


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[Mark_T]

Looks like you should be leaving the button alone. I have one on the 7hv with yge. Don't touch anything and unplug flight packs and it does it's thing perfectly.

The original problem only affected the special Mikado version of the YGE 90LV AFAIK, is that the YGE you are using?

Pushing the button after disconnecting the main flight packs is the correct procedure as that puts the Optiguard into hibernation, if you don't push the button the Optiguard is going to go active as it reacts to the loss of main system voltage.

[heathy]

The op pressed it before unplugging packs though?


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[KnifeEdge]

Using mine with the mikado yge 160Hv, no issues at all.

[Mark_T]

The op pressed it before unplugging packs though?

Agreed, if you mean press it after unplugging then I'd agree of course.

However, that still doesn't help in the specific case of the Mikado version of the YGE 90LV, but last I heard Andy was on the case.

[Mark_T]

Using mine with the mikado yge 160Hv, no issues at all.

As I would expect.

I suspect the problem with the Mikado YGE LV90 is just the large capacitor they added which is probably holding the BEC voltage high too long, but as that is not on other YGE products there shouldn't be any issue with the others.

[trillian]

Pardon me if this has been covered, I looked at the website and some of this thread and didn't see the exact answer so just want to crowbar this into my cranium.

If I understand it correctly the Optiguard will see the voltage in the system a little bit after powering up and based on that it will then kick-in as needed based on the chart in the manual. So for example if it 'sees' 8.3 volts as the start point it kicks in at 7.8 volts ?

So my question is this, if you run a 2s LiPo direct in an HV setup you might start out at 8.2 volts but after a few flights the voltage will drop a bit. So the next time you power up it sees maybe 7.9 volts so will it then only kick in at 7.3 ?

There does not seem to be any way to set it to '2S LiPo' or '2S LiFe' etc. it appears that it just detects the voltage when you power up and everything stabilizes and then it assumes from there what the voltage is and where it should activate if the voltage drops.

So then what if the voltage drops temporarily in flight under a heavy load and then recovers, does it activate instantly or does it ignore a transient voltage dip?

[Mark_T]

So then what if the voltage drops temporarily in flight under a heavy load and then recovers, does it activate instantly or does it ignore a transient voltage dip?

It will kick in even for a transient dip, but it does not alarm instantly, I've tested that myself many times now and all seems to work as intended.

Net effect is it protects your electronics by ensuring the voltage does not fall more than 0.5V below nominal, but it does not trigger the alarm unless the voltage goes down and stays down.

Re your other question about running from a 2S lipo, what you describe is correct, it always takes its offset from the nominal voltage it sees. I'm not sure I'd want it to do anything else though or it would be potentially triggering the alarm without need as the buffer gap reduced each time the battery nominal voltage reduced a little.

[trillian]

Thanks Mark, that's great that it will not alarm straight away as I wouldn't want to panic unnecessarily if the light comes on!

My setup should, in theory, be totally reliable. It's just a 2S LiPo with a Deans cable that splits into two servo plugs into the Vortex, but it's a big and expensive heli so some kind of backup is in order. I got the Opti combo with the LED and will fit it today and try it out soon.

It will kick in even for a transient dip, but it does not alarm instantly, I've tested that myself many times now and all seems to work as intended.

Net effect is it protects your electronics by ensuring the voltage does not fall more than 0.5V below nominal, but it does not trigger the alarm unless the voltage goes down and stays down.

Re your other question about running from a 2S lipo, what you describe is correct, it always takes its offset from the nominal voltage it sees. I'm not sure I'd want it to do anything else though or it would be potentially triggering the alarm without need as the buffer gap reduced each time the battery nominal voltage reduced a little.

[acidla]

Thanks Mark, that's great that it will not alarm straight away as I wouldn't want to panic unnecessarily if the light comes on!

My setup should, in theory, be totally reliable. It's just a 2S LiPo with a Deans cable that splits into two servo plugs into the Vortex, but it's a big and expensive heli so some kind of backup is in order. I got the Opti combo with the LED and will fit it today and try it out soon.

That was also my concern with LED coming on too early. Good that no issue on this.

[Planehazza]

Thanks Mark, that's great that it will not alarm straight away as I wouldn't want to panic unnecessarily if the light comes on!

My setup should, in theory, be totally reliable. It's just a 2S LiPo with a Deans cable that splits into two servo plugs into the Vortex, but it's a big and expensive heli so some kind of backup is in order. I got the Opti combo with the LED and will fit it today and try it out soon.

Best way. I've now got one on both my G4 and Rush, but not on my fusion as there simply isn't anywhere to put it!