ncostes
Veteran
Location: US
| Thanks guys. The gyro is rated to 7.2V (century pg2000V2).
AMC said the same thing on another thread - that futaba stuff is rated to 6v only. I'm running hitec and it is also rated to 6v, but 6.8 should not be that big of a deal (6.8V is what the 5 cell pack measures open circuit (no load) when fresh off the charger - will be lower under load, don't recall how much - and that's only at the beginning of the day). The problem developed towards the end of the day when the voltage was down to about 6.2V, though I certainly could have started to damage it earlier.
The same gyro and radio equip. was in a crash 2 weeks ago, and though none of it seemed damaged at the time and flew fine the following week, perhaps the gyro was damaged in some way and then just crapped out this past weekend - would be my fault.
That being said, I'm going to get a 78S40 and do a step down for 6.something to 5.something so everything will work over the Vin range 5.5 - 6.8 (discharge - full charge for my cell pack). I know someone sells a switching regulator plug in but it's like $20 or $40 I think (if you have a source for cheaper ones let me know please), the 78S40 part itself is $2 and you just need an inductor, some caps and some resistors.
Oldfart I wouldn't argue with your years of experience : ) it is possible if the tail rotor servo was binding it could draw more current through the gyro since it is plugged directly into the gyro, didn't consider that. But mine is set up mechanically not to bind even when the servo is at full +/- throw (adjusted t/r ctrl rod length and ball distance from center of servo), and I was just hovering all day in various orientations, with little or no wind. And with all the load from 5 servos, rx, and gyro...
Ceratinly you are right that given a constant internal resistance the circuit could sink more current from the higher voltage source, and if the resistance remains constant it is dissipating more power. But this can happen with a regulator as well, since it is regulating voltage, not current (though you have an Ipeak), and P=I^2R= I(I*R) = I*V. So even if you regulate V, given a higher Vin you can source more I and produce more power.
Anyway I'll try it out and see what happens, I just got a replacement scope off ebay for $76, and this one actually WORKS  Now I can finally explain to my wife why I needed a scope
When I call century I'll tell them what I did (crash, 5 cell). If they still will replace/fix it great, if not, it's my fault - the question then is do I buy another gyro, or do I get their $219 deal where you get the Hawk IV + the gyro, in essence buying another kit for $219-$85 = $134
After all my spare parts kit is now becoming the mutant Hawk IV OS50, where will I get spare parts from???
As usual thanks for the info!
Nick |
