Optipower Backup Guard

[acidla]

There should have very good visibility. I prefer to mount it away from the nitro fumes, somewhere infront. Either between the skids (below) or at the side of the skid.

[George J]

Andy

Think it was asked earlier in the thread, will it be good to use with a Jive?

Ben, maybe you know the answer to this?

[maarset]

Does anyone know if this unit will be available in the US Colonies? I do have to say this unit meets 100% of what I would like a backup device to do. Many times I forget to plug in my buffer pack into my RX on my YGE equipped heli. This thing is a no brainer! Mike

[panosg]

Andy, just one question, has this unit been approved by Castle or Kontronik?

Castle at least have previously advised against using devices like this saying they can cause problems for switching BEC's.

Kontronik have previously recommended using a NiMH buffer pack and people have suggested that this can help deal with back EMF issues in a way that the Scorpion BUG could not.

So is your device different and able to work happily with Castle ESCs and will it also help with the back EMF issue where the Scorpion does not?

This question has pop up couple times on this thread, but no answer as yet!!

[JoeBailey]

To be fair that's nothing to do with optipower but is a question for kontronik and castle. Only they can say if it is safe to use on there equipment.

[panosg]

To be fair that's nothing to do with optipower but is a question for kontronik and castle. Only they can say if it is safe to use on there equipment.

Joe got to disagree on this one mate.
Why would Castle or Kontronik or any other company, would spend any time or money in that case, to carry out any tests on a product has nothing to do with them!

Surely it,s in interest of Optipower/ Andy to convince us that his product is compatible with my existing kit!

[JoeBailey]

Optipower Backup Guard

But only kontronik and castle can approve it for use with there equipment, how can optipower approve on behalf of kontronik and castle. Optipower can only say its safe to use.

As far as I'm concerned I'd be happy to use it without any approval from kontronik or castle. My scorpion bugs have saved me hundreds and my kosmiks are working fantastic.

[Tim Procter]

For what its worth my Opti Guard is working perfect with my Castle Edge 160 ESC.

Approved or not several flights now without issue..

[panosg]

I hear what you are saying Joe.
I got two of them on preorder right now.
I used to use the backup guard but stopped using it after claims that they are playing havoc with the Talon 90.

Only time will tell, but I am exited to use those opti guards

[enterpryse]

Most of the time the opti will be charging and monitoring the voltage from the esc so I'd expect it to be fine. If the esc fails and power feeds back to the esc I suspect that's when a problem may arise.

It'd be good to see the cct diagrams for both or get commitment from the manufacturers even so.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

[Mark_T]

The reason I asked is that in the case of Castle at least they have said specifically not to use products of this type with their ESC as they are not designed to work with another power source. Now it may well be that this unit has features that eliminate the reasons for that comment from Castle, I just don't know from what I've read so far.

Kontronik on the other hand have advocated the use of buffer packs for some time now but in their case it has been suggested that a backup power supply does not provide the protection that a NiMH pack offers in regard to back EMF handling. I don't know if that is true or not but would be keen to hear a reply.

This is a product that I want to be able to use and to suggest that others use, but I can't do that without knowing if it is sufficiently different from the Scorpion BUG to remove the previous objections to that device.

[George J]

Anyone heard anything or got some experience now in using the Ultraguard with Kontronik esc's?

[Mark_T]

In the absence of any official comments, FWIW, I'd expect there to be no problems with an ESC that does not have a built in BEC, but if the ESC does have a BEC then follow manufacturer guidelines on the use of buffer packs/back ups. In the case of Castle that means fitting a diode to prevent voltage being supplied to the build in BEC from the 2nd source.

Similarly, if using an external BEC follow the manufacturer guidelines for that, which again for a Castle BEC would mean fitting a diode.

I can't comment on Kontronik, but others can I'm sure ...

[PorscheBoy]

Check the documentation at the link I posted.

The instructions have you switch off the main power first, then place the Guard into 'hibernate' mode where it waits until it sees the main power turned on again.

If you plan not to use it for a couple of months then they suggest disconnecting the battery, so there is neither a proper 'off' switch, nor I guess the need for an 'off' switch.

Having had a look at a fitted one, there is a tiny button on the front edge of the main board, that you need to push for >1sec to turn off the unit.

Not sure if this is necessary, but in my mind, if I have just finished flying my 700e, I return to the pits with a disconnected flight pack, the Opti-guard would have kicked in (as it is seeing the fault it is designed to do), so if you do not turn the unit off it will sit there depleting it's on-board battery pack (probably very slowly, but....). When you plug a flight pack back on it will automatically turn back on (a good thing) and recharges itself (I believe). Not sure what happens (if anything) when you turn off the Tx at this point.

As a thought, for those of you that do not need to remove your canopy to load packs (Sorry nitro guys, I have no experience with nitro) such as E700, you might/might not need access to the switch on the main board (not the LED board) so maybe be aware of your mounting location.

I will certainly be getting one though as I am converting to a BEC and want this on my 700e (and probably one on my 550e), it seems a no-brainer to help protect your heli (and other people) from crash damage.

Opti Andy or anyone in FL, please correct me if I am wrong in my assumptions and I apologise in advance if I am talking b*ll*cks.

[Mark_T]

I'm sure Andy can correct me if needed, but I believe that as long as the battery is connected to the main board, it is never actually 'off'. The button will put it into sleep mode where it is waiting to activate when it sees an external voltage, but it does not turn completely 'off'. This is why the instructions suggest disconnecting it from its battery pack if you will not use it for a few weeks.

So, everyone should be putting it to sleep when you disconnect your main flight pack/receiver pack power, or it is going to be powering the rx and the alarm will be going off I'd have thought ...