Two digital servos and a CC BEC have gone into thin air.....

[pipeous]

The Hercules was designed and produced by a buddy of mine. He was my heli trainer actually. We worked together on a few things. I test and help with a few of their products. Jimmy likes to blow stuff up. He ragged me hard for having a castle bec in my buggy. He was telling me how easy it was to make them fail, but I only run a 94359 and it has been good.

The Hercules is a killer bec http://www.western-robotics.com/RCproducts.html
I was going to do all the soldering for them at one point (anything that doesn't go in the oven). I still remember when we started selling bec's and failsafes and the boards were hand cut and drilled LOL. man it's come a long way since then. He has about the same setup in his 2 car garage as does castle in their shop pics they showed a while back..... and he does stuff for Honda, Toyota and Sherline mills as well now.... all this from a guy that used to program robotics stuff and I talked him into making rc gear because he's a bloody genius

[jhautz]

Ive had 2 CC BECs fail on me now. One went up in smoke, but did no other damage. The other took out a $100 servo and $90 Rx.

I was running a few of these cheap ones for a long time (years) prior to getting the CC BEC and have yet to have one fail. When the CC units died, these trusty fellows went back into service and I havent looked back. For $15 you can beat them.

http://www.helidirect.com/product_in...oducts_id=1158

I hate to link to outside stores, If Mike carried them I'd buy them from him.

Originally Posted by jhautz

Ive had 2 CC BECs fail on me now. One went up in smoke, but did no other damage. The other took out a $100 servo and $90 Rx.

I was running a few of these cheap ones for a long time (years) prior to getting the CC BEC and have yet to have one fail. When the CC units died, these trusty fellows went back into service and I havent looked back. For $15 you can beat them.

http://www.helidirect.com/product_in...oducts_id=1158

I hate to link to outside stores, If Mike carried them I'd buy them from him.

I went on that same site this morning looking at the Hercules High voltage model...I was wondering if they are reliable

http://www.helidirect.com/product_in...oducts_id=4667

[BrianG]

Originally Posted by jhautz

Ive had 2 CC BECs fail on me now. One went up in smoke, but did no other damage. The other took out a $100 servo and $90 Rx.

I was running a few of these cheap ones for a long time (years) prior to getting the CC BEC and have yet to have one fail. When the CC units died, these trusty fellows went back into service and I havent looked back. For $15 you can beat them.

http://www.helidirect.com/product_in...oducts_id=1158

I hate to link to outside stores, If Mike carried them I'd buy them from him.

The trouble I've noticed with some of the cheaper UBECs out there is build quality, or rather component selection. Ever notice how the "good" BECs use fairly large inductors? If they are too small, they saturate too quickly with higher currents. Most of the switching BECs out there (aside from CC) use a switching regulator IC (sometimes the same one), so the selection of support components makes a big difference. Howewer, if running the cheaper BECs at lower currents, they aren't so bad.

[jhautz]

Originally Posted by BrianG

The trouble I've noticed with some of the cheaper UBECs out there is build quality, or rather component selection. Ever notice how the "good" BECs use fairly large inductors? If they are too small, they saturate too quickly with higher currents. Most of the switching BECs out there (aside from CC) use a switching regulator IC (sometimes the same one), so the selection of support components makes a big difference. Howewer, if running the cheaper BECs at lower currents, they aren't so bad.

Cant speak intelegently about any of that... but I can tell you I know they just work and have given me no problems at all even running high power digital steering and brake servos in my Savage.

[BrianG]

Originally Posted by pipeous

The Hercules was designed and produced by a buddy of mine. He was my heli trainer actually. We worked together on a few things. I test and help with a few of their products. Jimmy likes to blow stuff up. He ragged me hard for having a castle bec in my buggy. He was telling me how easy it was to make them fail, but I only run a 94359 and it has been good.

The Hercules is a killer bec http://www.western-robotics.com/RCproducts.html
I was going to do all the soldering for them at one point (anything that doesn't go in the oven). I still remember when we started selling bec's and failsafes and the boards were hand cut and drilled LOL. man it's come a long way since then. He has about the same setup in his 2 car garage as does castle in their shop pics they showed a while back..... and he does stuff for Honda, Toyota and Sherline mills as well now.... all this from a guy that used to program robotics stuff and I talked him into making rc gear because he's a bloody genius

Don't get me wrong, I really like their products too. I have their ultra high V BEC and it tested very well. And it doesn't look chintzy either. It's just that the CC BEC is a really good BEC for the money (high output, efficient, and programmable)... if it doesn't fail. That's the only "gotcha" really; if it fails, it takes out your servos and receiver. At least you know what the problem is if the CC BEC fails -It's hard to miss smoking receiver and servos!