5s lipo to power ground station.

[tiggerbiker]

hi,
i have been given an almost new 5s 5000mah lipo and thought it would be a good GS power source - but, how do i lower its voltage to the required 12v that all my GS gear runs on? any tips on good (cheap) voltage regulators?

[n00b@FPV]

been looking around for you mate for regulators, best thing you could do is either split the pack up or sell it

[tiggerbiker]

i just plugged it into my ESC and throttled up my hobbyking EPP-FPV -  :o :o
i might just use it as a flight battery and use my old 3s 4000mah as a GS power source - i just need to sort out the CG i suppose

[n00b@FPV]

make sure your esc can take 5s and that it is BEC can take 5s, not many esc's bec's can take that high amount.
also check your amps with a amp meter

[pk-surfing]

The only reliable thing to do this is a Castle BEC Pro

http://www.castlecreations.com/products/ccbec.html

Not cheap unfortunately but with the USB programmer (more money) you can adjust the output voltage between 4.8v up to 12.5v.

It will give out 20amps if needed !

PK

[tiggerbiker]

its a turnigy plush 60a so it should be ok for 2-6s

[n00b@FPV]

pk-surfing, i looked at the un-pro version as i have that in a load of my planes, didnt realise there was a pro version

tiggerbiker, just looked on hobbyking at your esc, up to 6s so thats fine for the ESC but, about 1/2 Chinese makes and (wierdly) castle creations only go up 3s on the internal bec, so you require a external BEC
another thing, you allays check your amps, if you have not got one to go in line between your ESC and battery but have an osd, hold it, power it up and try it

BECs i recommend is the castle un-pro version which retails for about £18 or, to keep everything a bit more streamlined or if your over 60amp try these speed controllers, never had one fail in the air, in fact these new type they have come out with have never failed

http://www.parkaero.com/sunrise-models-brushless-speed-controllers-esc-139-c.asp

[electricmick]

The Plush 60 has a switching BEC so can run up to 6S and stays real cool. It is equivalent to the CC Ice series but much cheaper. I have used 2 of them and they work well.

[pk-surfing]

The thing is, if you want to get 12v out of the BEC then the Castle Pro is  the one you need, the 'non - pro' version is only adjustable to 9v max I think.

PK