DIY Night blades

[John Kane]

Great thread and I'm rounding up gear.

I found batteries here... http://www.all-battery.com/polymerli-ionbattery37v130mah401235-1.aspx

[gixxernoob]

Does anybody know the size of heat shrink tubing I need for a trex450 blade? i.e. 2" or 3" wide?

[pommesschranke]

Does anybody know the size of heat shrink tubing I need for a trex450 blade? i.e. 2" or 3" wide?

I used 30mm diameter. 25mm will also work.
30mm diameter = 50mm flat

[TheBum]

I used 30mm diameter. 25mm will also work.
30mm diameter = 50mm flat

Yeah, you have to be careful about the sizing you see online. Some quote circular diameter and others quote flat width. To convert from flat width to circular diameter, use the following formula:

d = (w * 2) / pi

where d is the diameter, w is the width, and pi is approximately 3.14.

[gixxernoob]

Thanx for the replies! One more inquiry does anyone know the size of the heat shrink tube I need for the Trex500 main blades?

[TheBum]

Thanx for the replies! One more inquiry does anyone know the size of the heat shrink tube I need for the Trex500 main blades?

It depends on the chord of the blade. You can figure it out using a tailor's tape measure: measure all the way around the blade and divide that number by 2 to get the minimum flat width of the heat shrink. You'll want to go maybe a centimeter wider to allow for proper shrinkage.

[gixxernoob]

Thanx! I will measure it then :D

[TheBum]

Oops, that should have been "divide by 2", not multiply.

[flyinfool]

Even easier is to just measure the chord of the blade and add 1/4 inch, this will be the minimum flat dimension shrink tube that you need.

If the shrink tube you are looking at list its diameter then take the chord plus 1/4 and divide that by 1.571 and you will have the minimum diameter shrink tube you need.

(Blade chord + .25) ÷ 1.571 = min shrink tube diameter

Not quite as accurate as the Bums way with the tailors tape measure, but then not everyone has, or even knows what a tailors tape measure is.

[TheBum]

Not quite as accurate as the Bums way with the tailors tape measure, but then not everyone has, or even knows what a tailors tape measure is.

Among my wife's many hobbies is sewing, so I always have one around the house.

[superinstaller]

I Want to do a night heli and just ordered these,will they work ? the resistor calc gave me 68ohms so i got some of them in the cart to! (good prices)

http://www.westfloridacomponents.com/LED175APF12/Red+Surface+Mount++0805+LED+0805R1C-KHA-C.html

[pommesschranke]

the resistor calc gave me 68ohms

really ? for a 1S Lipo Cell ?
I'd say 100-120 ohms for a red LED.

red 2,1V 25mA 100-120 Ohm*
yellow 2,1V 25mA 100-120 Ohm*
green 3,2V 20mA 56 Ohm*
blue 3,3V 20mA 47 Ohm*
white 3,3V 20mA 47 Ohm*

*for 1S Lipo cell (3,6 – 4,2V)

[superinstaller]

I went w/ 3.7v and 2.4v/20mah per the led specs and it gave me 68, Ill have to do a before test setup first, thats why i bought extra leds. I did my first night driveway hover lastnight w/ some white tail and fuse leds! way cooler than I thought! :woohoo

[flyinfool]

Do not do your calcs at 3.7V, you need to do the calcs at 4.2V.
4.2V is the voltage of a fully charged cell.
For the LED, do not use the max rated voltage, use the nominal voltage listed.

[mitsudriver274]

I don't know if this has been covered, but will these work with a fbl bird (given that you start out with fbl blades)?

[ChrisH]

I don't know if this has been covered, but will these work with a fbl bird (given that you start out with fbl blades)?
Yup

[kavic5150]

Does anybody know the size of heat shrink tubing I need for a trex450 blade? i.e. 2" or 3" wide?

you probably found it already but this is the stuff I use for 325mm blades:

http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_info.php/cPath/1389_226/products_id/20640/n/Team-EPIC-Pre-Cut-Single-Cell-Shrink-Wrap-20 (http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_info.php/cPath/1389_226/products_id/20640/n/Team-EPIC-Pre-Cut-Single-Cell-Shrink-Wrap-20)

http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_info.php/cPath/1389_226/products_id/20643/n/Team-EPIC-Clear-Precut-Single-Cell-Shrink-Wrap-15-100 (http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_info.php/cPath/1389_226/products_id/20643/n/Team-EPIC-Clear-Precut-Single-Cell-Shrink-Wrap-15-100)

And for my 550 blades:

http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_info.php/cPath/1389_226/products_id/5546/n/Racers-Edge-Clear-Battery-Shrink-Wrap-25-wide-2-long (http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_info.php/cPath/1389_226/products_id/5546/n/Racers-Edge-Clear-Battery-Shrink-Wrap-25-wide-2-long)

http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_info.php/cPath/1389_226/products_id/20644/n/Team-EPIC-Clear-Precut-6-Cell-Pack-Shrink-Wrap-25-6 (http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_info.php/cPath/1389_226/products_id/20644/n/Team-EPIC-Clear-Precut-6-Cell-Pack-Shrink-Wrap-25-6)

Ebay sellers have these as well. :thumbup:

[R_C Addict]

Hello all,
They say that the first step to getting help is admitting you have a problem. Well I have a problem! I have been bitten by the Night Flying bug pretty hard!! And now I have one of my Blade SR's equipped with a set of 245mm Carbon Night blades that were given to me and orange and blue glow wire to light the tail boom and canopy. I also ordered the LED's and glow wire from glowire.com to convert my Blade 450. I will post pics of my SR with lights on tonight. I am just waiting for calm weather here in Maryland so I can make my first night flight. :thumbup:

Shawn

[agenthex]

Just wired LiPo cells to OEM reject night blades. The LEDs work, but the internal LiPos are dead. Throw in some glow wire and UV-reactive tail blades, and this is what it looked like last night:

http://i.imgur.com/qjYs7l.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/qjYs7.jpg)

Hovered a full battery before this shot was taken. LiPo cells were attached with super glue rather than adhesive tape. They were further secured with heat shrink.

[mastmalang70]

is there a way hk led lights be use on 1 cell ????? i can use them on min 2 cell

[TheBum]

is there a way hk led lights be use on 1 cell ????? i can use them on min 2 cell

You need at least 2 cells. At night, 2 cells are plenty, but if you want lights visible in daylight overcast, you'll need to go to 3 cells.

The only way you could run them off 1 cell would be to desolder the chip LEDs from the strip and solder them up with proper current limiting resistors (blue LEDs may not need a resistor).

[Blackhawk Crew]

Hey Guys,

I found this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G5GmY97VaA

I'd like to do this, but I don't know how. I've even asked the video poster and I haven't heard back from him. I've seen something similar on helicopter and quad blades, so I thought I'd post here to see what you guys can tell me.

[mastmalang70]

http://www.rapidonline.com/Electronic-Components/Kingbright-KP-1608SEC-Orange-0603-SMD-LED-72-9776

can these type be used without resistors on 3.7 volts????????

[TheBum]

http://www.rapidonline.com/Electronic-Components/Kingbright-KP-1608SEC-Orange-0603-SMD-LED-72-9776

can these type be used without resistors on 3.7 volts????????

No. The Vf value is the voltage drop across the LED and it's only 2.0V typically, 2.5V max for the orange ones. All of the LEDs shown on that page will require a resistor.

[mastmalang70]

ohh thanks, so ,vf is a forward voltage
i need one with 3.7 volts any link
thanks again