Wiring help

[rhodge]

Help hooking up

Can someone direct me to a place; book or other that shows how all the different electronics and wiring are connected on an RC boat? We will have two 6 volt lead acid batteries wired in series to get 12 volts, that in turn should be connected to the electronic speed controller for our 12 volt motor, (wind shield wiper motor). This is connected to a bevel gear that drives the prop AND there is no rudder, the prop turns, it has a servo built into the system. My students and I have never built an RC boat and could use a good wiring diagram.
Thanks guys,
Bob
:confused:

[Ron Olson]

The wiring should be very simple to do, if I can do it anyone can. Electronics aren't my strong suit. Most ESC's come with instructions. You should have 2 sets of wires, those going to the reciever and the other set with 2 wires going to the batteries and the other 2 to the motor. Some will share the positive or negative wire. If the reciever is set up with a Battery Eliminator Circuitry (BEC) then you're set. No other power is needed to the reciever. You can tell that by it having an oval BEC label on it.

[Doc]

Bob,
Ron has pretty well said it all. Most ESCs come with instructions/diagrams on how they should be wired. There are basically two inputs to an ESC, the controling signal from the receiver, and the power line(s) from the battery or power source. Then there's one output going to the motor (or maybe two if two motors are used). There can also be a third output if the ESC has a BEC or Battery Eliminator Circuit which takes the place of seperate batteries for the receiver's power source. (Maybe even an 'On/Off' switch but that's easy to figure out.)
The only 'biggy' to remember is that ESCs have power ratings, voltage and current maximums, and that they really ought to be turned 'off' when not in use (they can draw power even at stand-still, not much, but some).
- 'Doc

PS - Nothing 'new' in this post, just restated what Ron said.

[rhodge]

The wiring should be very simple to do, if I can do it anyone can. Electronics aren't my strong suit. Most ESC's come with instructions. You should have 2 sets of wires, those going to the reciever and the other set with 2 wires going to the batteries and the other 2 to the motor. Some will share the positive or negative wire. If the reciever is set up with a Battery Eliminator Circuitry (BEC) then you're set. No other power is needed to the reciever. You can tell that by it having an oval BEC label on it.
We are building our boat from scratch so we do not have any instruction to follow. Any help with a drawing or some type of diagram would be great.
Thanks
Bob

[rhodge]

The wiring should be very simple to do, if I can do it anyone can. Electronics aren't my strong suit. Most ESC's come with instructions. You should have 2 sets of wires, those going to the reciever and the other set with 2 wires going to the batteries and the other 2 to the motor. Some will share the positive or negative wire. If the reciever is set up with a Battery Eliminator Circuitry (BEC) then you're set. No other power is needed to the reciever. You can tell that by it having an oval BEC label on it.
We are building our boat from scratch so we do not have any instruction to follow. I do not know what a ESC is let alone how to hook it up. Any help with a drawing or some type of diagram would be great.
Thanks
Bob

[Ron Olson]

If you know what ESC that you have and don't have instructions, there is a site, www.rcdocuments.com that has owners manuals of all kinds of R/C related things.

[Doc]

Bob,
An ESC is an Electronic Speed Control which controls the amount of voltage/current that gets to the motor, controls the boats speed. There are two basic types, one that does this by means of transistors, one tht does it by a variable resistor controled by a servo. The down side of the older resistor type is that it can get very hot and, in affect, a lot of voltage/current is wasted. The electronic ones also get hot but nothing like the older ones did, and are really the 'best' choice. The biggest 'down side' to the electronic type speed controler is that they are not very cheap. Not really all that expensive either, though. No matter what type of speed controler you use, you do have to make them 'sturdy' enough to handle the amount of voltage/current that your motor will use (plus a little bit more to keep from burning things up, you know?). You will need to know what the maximum current draw for your motor will be. That's 'best' done by doing a 'stall' test on the motor. Clamp the shaft and measure the amount of current it draws when the motor is 'stalled'/stopped from turning. Depending on your motor, that shouldn't be a really large current, and an ESC shouldn't be too difficult to find to handle it. The 'thing' with ESCs is the voltage it handles. One that handles around 6 - 9 volts is much more common (inexpensive) than one that handles 12 volts. (Not sure if that would be enough reason to not use 12 volts, but certainly po$$ible.)
Making your own speed control just depends on which type you are going to use. The ol style resistor type will be cheaper than the electronic type. But unless your budget is just not going to handle the cost, buying an electronic ESC is certainly your best option! Building your own electronic speed control is also an option, but if you aren't much of a solderer/builder of electronic stuff, probably not exactly your 'best' bet.
I'm not much for graphics but here's a 'sort of' wiring diagram;

[Batt]=====[ESC]====[motor]

where the "=" thingys are a (+) and (-) set of wires. Theres also a set of wires that go from the ESC to the receiver in the boat (no idea how to make this post show that, can't do the 'spaces' right on my computer). The receiver cable usually has a plug on the end that fits the slots in the receiver, so that'll sort of tell you how/where it goes. 'Noodle' around on these R/C forums and I know you'll find a typical wiring diagram, even if I can't remember where I saw it....
- 'Doc

[rhodge]

Bob,
An ESC is an Electronic Speed Control which controls the amount of voltage/current that gets to the motor, controls the boats speed. There are two basic types, one that does this by means of transistors, one tht does it by a variable resistor controled by a servo. The down side of the older resistor type is that it can get very hot and, in affect, a lot of voltage/current is wasted. The electronic ones also get hot but nothing like the older ones did, and are really the 'best' choice. The biggest 'down side' to the electronic type speed controler is that they are not very cheap. Not really all that expensive either, though. No matter what type of speed controler you use, you do have to make them 'sturdy' enough to handle the amount of voltage/current that your motor will use (plus a little bit more to keep from burning things up, you know?). You will need to know what the maximum current draw for your motor will be. That's 'best' done by doing a 'stall' test on the motor. Clamp the shaft and measure the amount of current it draws when the motor is 'stalled'/stopped from turning. Depending on your motor, that shouldn't be a really large current, and an ESC shouldn't be too difficult to find to handle it. The 'thing' with ESCs is the voltage it handles. One that handles around 6 - 9 volts is much more common (inexpensive) than one that handles 12 volts. (Not sure if that would be enough reason to not use 12 volts, but certainly po$$ible.)
Making your own speed control just depends on which type you are going to use. The ol style resistor type will be cheaper than the electronic type. But unless your budget is just not going to handle the cost, buying an electronic ESC is certainly your best option! Building your own electronic speed control is also an option, but if you aren't much of a solderer/builder of electronic stuff, probably not exactly your 'best' bet.
I'm not much for graphics but here's a 'sort of' wiring diagram;

[Batt]=====[ESC]====[motor]

where the "=" thingys are a (+) and (-) set of wires. Theres also a set of wires that go from the ESC to the receiver in the boat (no idea how to make this post show that, can't do the 'spaces' right on my computer). The receiver cable usually has a plug on the end that fits the slots in the receiver, so that'll sort of tell you how/where it goes. 'Noodle' around on these R/C forums and I know you'll find a typical wiring diagram, even if I can't remember where I saw it....
- 'Doc
Thanks Doc, this helps a lot, if you do remember or know were we can get a typical wiring diagram please let me know.
Bob