CC BEC Pro servos constantly chattering

[caralmar]

Hi guys, I just finished my 12s conversion and plugged my packs into the CC BEC Pro and everything powers up great. However, my JR8717's are constantly chattering and if I put my fingers on the link rods, I can feel the vibration from the servos on them. I initially programmed the BEC for 6.0v output.

I brought it back down to 5.1v, but no change. The servos still chatter like crazy. With the Align BEC and lipo, the servos were quiet.

I used a Deans to plug from BEC to battery.


Anyone have this issue with the CC BEC Pro? Any solution?

[teshreve]

Describe the chatter frequency. Is it like a whining, higher pitched type thing or a true clunk clunk chatter?
The sound you make when you say the "ee" part of eegads would be a normal thing to hear from modern digital servos. Another sounds they make that is normal is an occasional clicking type noise as they hunt for center. It may even be a kind-of click whine click thing.

But a straight kakakakakaka chatter thing would be a problem. You should record it so we don't have to try and spell sounds

[caralmar]

LOL... click click click click.... constantly. I put the mic close to the servos so the tech could listen in. He immediately recognized that sound and said that he's heard of some of their BEC's having an issue where they output "dirty" power and that the ferrite ring doesn't catch all of it.

I've already printed out the shipping label to return it to them. I'm going to order a Super Hercules BEC and be done with it. Once I get the new unit back from CC, I'll just sell it. This way I can be back in the air sooner!

[teshreve]

Good plan.
The Hercules Super BEC is the cat's meow.

That must have been a fun tech support call

[caralmar]

Originally Posted by teshreve

Good plan.
The Hercules Super BEC is the cat's meow.

That must have been a fun tech support call

Actually, it was very straightforward. Was on hold for about 10min before the tech got on the phone. I described the problem and he only asked me if I had tried other voltages. I tried 5.1 (default), 5.8, and 6.0. He said sometimes 5.9 works, so I tried that with him on the line and as soon as I plugged it in, he could hear the servos chattering... all I had to do was get my headset close enough to the servos.

"Yep, sounds like a bad BEC. You'll have to send it back"

Whole thing took about 6min (after tech got on the phone).

Yeah, I've read good things about that Super Hercules BEC, but DANG its expensive! $100 for a BEC!

[teshreve]

The last BEC you will by this decade.
Or until 24S is the hot setup

My only complain about the Herc Super BEC is the crappy input wires. They are not soft like good quality silicone jacketed wires are. I mean, WTF? It is a $100 product. Put some wire on it that costs 1.7 cents more. Sheesh.
It has two output leads, I'd use both if you have the ports... for maximum load!

To truly understand the maximum load comment, you must watch this video all the way to the end:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8t41avFuCc[/ame]

[caralmar]

LOL! One of these days, when I grow up, I want to be like Alan... just for a few min. That would be great! This dude is SICK.

[nightflyr]

Yeah, I've read good things about that Super Hercules BEC, but DANG its expensive! $100 for a BEC!

It will be the best $100.00 investment you can make as far as power components are concerned

[caralmar]

Originally Posted by nightflyr

Yeah, I've read good things about that Super Hercules BEC, but DANG its expensive! $100 for a BEC!

It will be the best $100.00 investment you can make as far as power components are concerned

Glad to hear it... I read your comments on the ReadyHeli site. I'm ordering mine tomorrow as soon as I get funds into PayPal from a sale I just closed. Hope to get it in on Wed. so I can maiden her with the new power setup Wed. afternoon.

Hey, maybe you know this... I'm ASSUMING that I'm safe with this harness, but it never hurts to ask. I just finished my adapters and came up with this:



Ok, so from left to right:

The two 4mm bullet connectors connect to my 6s 3000mAh packs. I used the HobbyKing bullets here so I didn't have to re-do all those packs!

The deans in the middle connects to the heli side of the harness

On the right, the deans connects to the BEC
The EC5 connects to the ESC

I bought a pre-made parallel harness for the right-hand side and just switched out a DEANS for the EC5. However, I noticed now that the right hand side of the harness uses 14ga wire, not 12ga like the left side. I'm thinking that this is ok, since I'm pushing less amps and more volts... but not 100% sure.

Thoughts?

[teshreve]

Typically, you want to avoid plugs.
Having that many plugs is crazy! I mean that in a respectful way

Personally, my goal would be for something simpler.
Maybe I take a pic of what I have done.

[caralmar]

Originally Posted by teshreve

Typically, you want to avoid plugs.
Having that many plugs is crazy! I mean that in a respectful way

Personally, my goal would be for something simpler.
Maybe I take a pic of what I have done.

When I laid out all those connectors on the bench, I thought I was nuts too. However, I like having the ability to connect ESC only or BEC only or both. Also, replacing the BEC is easy because I don't have to disturb the ESC. I just sent my BEC back to Castle because of the chattering problem, but all I had to do was disconnect it from the Deans harness and the receiver. No soldering or cutting wires. Yeah, seems like a lot of connectors, but I can't think of how to simplify them and still keep the same functionality. I'm eager to see your pics though!

Any thoughts on the 12ga to 14ga question though?

[teshreve]

All connectors and all wire introduce loss. The loss is voltage.
The bigger the wire, the lower the loss. The fewer connectors, the lower the loss.

So, how much loss are we talking here? Not much. But 14 gauge wire seems a bit small to me. And coupled with all them plugs...

Here is what I do. Solder the ESC input wires and a short section of 16 awg wire into CC 5.5 bullet plugs. Onto the short section of smaller wire, I solder 3.5 mm plugs. The other side of these plugs goes to the BEC.

I connect the 6 cell packs to each other up above. I'll have to post a pic. Hard to describe without pics!

[nightflyr]

IMO, I do not see the need for the deans connector joining the 2 sections of your harness..unless you can charge your packs in that configuration.

The more connectors you have the more of a point of failure your introducing, though I do understand having the BEC on a plug..it does make it easier to work on the electronics and not having to worry about the ESC and motor being hot at the same time.

I would suggest that you keep your wire gauge consistent, and remove the joining connector.

This is how I typically wire up my packs. but your free to set yours up anyway you like...

[caralmar]

Originally Posted by teshreve

All connectors and all wire introduce loss. The loss is voltage.
The bigger the wire, the lower the loss. The fewer connectors, the lower the loss.

So, how much loss are we talking here? Not much. But 14 gauge wire seems a bit small to me. And coupled with all them plugs...

Here is what I do. Solder the ESC input wires and a short section of 16 awg wire into CC 5.5 bullet plugs. Onto the short section of smaller wire, I solder 3.5 mm plugs. The other side of these plugs goes to the BEC.

I connect the 6 cell packs to each other up above. I'll have to post a pic. Hard to describe without pics!

Tesh, I really like your setup here. Very clean wiring and simple too. The one thing that stands out to me is that using your setup, you can't plug in the electronics without plugging in the ESC. That was the one thing I wanted to have... call me paranoid, but after mistakenly firing up the motor on my 450 Sport and nearly losing a finger as a consequence, I tend to be jittery about powering up motors in the vicinity of appendages!

One other thing... I'm sharing the packs with my 500, so I can't just remove the connectors like you did with your packs. I made an adapter that goes from 4mm bullet to Deans so I can use the packs on the 500.

All great suggestions guys, and I really do appreciate it. Does anyone know what a safe load limit is on 14ga wire? I'm assuming that since this is the wire that the off-the-shelf Deans-branded parallel adapter uses, it must be safe to carry the load I'll be pushing with my power setup.


@Nightflyer...

Dude, I've been looking at that pic of yours for a while... kinda reminded me of those 3D pictures from the 90s LOL! I can't make out what you did in terms of wiring... looks like you're using almost as many connectors as I am!

[nightflyr]

EC5 on the batteries out to the series harness into the ESC(EC5) and BEC(EC3)

[teshreve]

Originally Posted by caralmar

Tesh, I really like your setup here. Very clean wiring and simple too. The one thing that stands out to me is that using your setup, you can't plug in the electronics without plugging in the ESC.

Thanks, but you may have missed the little bullets connected to the little wires. I unplug those and plug in a small pack to run everything but the ESC.

[Al Miessner]

Originally Posted by teshreve

Thanks, but you may have missed the little bullets connected to the little wires. I unplug those and plug in a small pack to run everything but the ESC.

clean and unique setup, I will be copying that soon.
on that note do you have any video of your bird in action. I'd be interested to see a 12S flybarless setup you have in action? I searched the vid forum and didn't find any.

[caralmar]

Originally Posted by teshreve

Thanks, but you may have missed the little bullets connected to the little wires. I unplug those and plug in a small pack to run everything but the ESC.

Yep, did miss that. Nicely done!

[teshreve]

Originally Posted by tick77

...do you have any video of your bird in action. I'd be interested to see a 12S flybarless setup you have in action?

I am almost good enough to warrant a video. It is something I want to do very soon. I do not have anything but a year old 8S video. And I have come a LONG way since then, haha.
I am going to get serious about flying this summer. I am really enjoying my 600. Just good clean, give me the shaky hands fun!