Hello guest, if you read this it means you are not registered. Click here to register in a few simple steps, you will enjoy all features of our Forum.
This forum uses cookies
This forum makes use of cookies to store your login information if you are registered, and your last visit if you are not. Cookies are small text documents stored on your computer; the cookies set by this forum can only be used on this website and pose no security risk. Cookies on this forum also track the specific topics you have read and when you last read them. Please confirm whether you accept or reject these cookies being set.

A cookie will be stored in your browser regardless of choice to prevent you being asked this question again. You will be able to change your cookie settings at any time using the link in the footer.

Thread Rating:
  • 1 Vote(s) - 5 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
How to make a Smoke Stopper - SAVE YOUR ELECTRONICS !
#1
Hey guys I happen to burn out a few motors for the first time the other day and as i was doing research on my mistake i found this on another blog that has helped me a lot, i thought i should share it with you guys.  Smile  

Here is another tutorial showing you how to build a smoke stopper with a switch
This is not my post. It was made by mnemennth in RCgroups.com (ORIGINAL POST)

BTW i did my first flips today!! All went well Thanks to you guys. Here is me giving back!


DIY - SAVE YOUR ELECTRONICS! BUILD A SmokeStopper!

We've all been there... Working all day on a new build, you finally finish, you give your new beast one final look-over and don't see anything wrong. So you plug it in and TZZZT! SNAPP! POP! and instantly, your plans for new-found aerial bliss disappear literally in a puff of smoke.

You tear it down and find a blown ESC caused my a motor with a too-long screw into a winding or a little blob of solder that you SHOULD have caught before you put the new shrink-wrap on, but DIDN'T.

Now you have to tear it apart and replace the toasted ESC before you can even see if the motor is salvageable. You already know you're going to be ordering a new one shortly; the only difference is whether you're going have to wait for it to come in the post or if you ordered enough to have a spare and will need to replace it.

Enter the SmokeStopper -  

[Image: DSC00211.jpg]

Nothing exciting; quite the opposite. 

This is a little gadget that hobbyists have been using for nearly a century; a light bulb as a current-limiting device to provide power to a device under test. The wattage of the light bulb is chosen such that if there's a dead short in the device under test, instead of allowing massive current to flow and letting out the Magic Smoke, the bulb will glow and only the amount of current needed to illuminate the bulb will flow. This only needs to be enough to allow the device to initialize; not enough for it to operate at full power.

This can prevent fatal current surges from ever hitting many electronic components; saving the part and allowing you to get back to troubleshooting the original failure instead of having to replace burnt-out parts and THEN troubleshoot.

In our case, since we're dealing with a small quad, we need 2-3A with a 3S pack to be able to power up, arm, and start the motors with props on at just above idle. As luck would have it, a common everyday 3157 automotive taillamp will flow approx 2A through the heavy filament, and another 450-500 mA through the lighter filament. If we connect them in parallel, we get a Current-Limiter in the 2.5A range. 


VIDEO:     DIY - You can build this $4 device that will keep you from ever smoking your quadcopter again!!!


CAUTION: Use a little common sense! 

This video shows me sticking my hands in running props on a 250 quad as a test exercise. Remember this is a TOY-size quad with plastic props. Even with the torque-limiting provided by this device, you can probably still get hurt by larger quads and Carbon or Wood props. 

If you build a SmokeStopper with larger wattage or multiple bulbs for higher current to be able to slow-spin up larger quads, it will DEFINITELY allow enough power to flow through your motors that you can get hurt doing this!!!




Here's how it works.

The concept is simple: Make this device; build it with the power connectors YOU use (Mine will use the super popular XT-60s) to make it so convenient you won't NOT use it. Then, EVERY TIME you work on anything where you move or work on anything electrical/electronic, you plug this in between your battery and the Quad to test for shorts. 

If you have an old 3S battery that you just use for bench-testing, leave the SmokeStopper plugged into it so you don't even have to think about using it. Or... make a long set of leads to power from your 12V Workbench Power Supply; you'll NEVER be without it! Just remember not to use higher than 3S/14V power for testing; you don't want to blow the bulb if you do have a short.

Remember, this device needs to be sized to the aircraft. This one works well with small 250-sized quads running 1806 sized to 2206 sized motors. It will slow-spin up a single 3548-950KV with a 14 inch prop on my 72" Piper Cub. I've tested with my 2212-1050 equipped 450-size FPV Spider; it will arm and just spin the motors above idle nicely. 

Even if you have a larger craft that can't slow-spin up on the current it provides, the single 3057/1157 SmokeStopper can STILL save you from smoking stuff if there's a random dead short present. 

This is a device that you NEED on your bench, no matter WHAT you fly! Or DRIVE, for that MATTER!

If you try to used this on a brushed nano or micro-quad, it will still probably flow enough current to blow transistors off the board if there's a short. Look for a 5-7 watt bulb for this application, or use only the smaller filament from a 3057/1157.


[Image: DSC00168.jpg]

Here's what we need: a 3157 taillight bulb, 3 leftover ESC wires, a pair of the connectors YOU use all the time, some Red & Black heat shrink tubing to match (+) & (-) on the connectors and Epoxy to pot the wires onto the bulb once everything is soldered. The big heat-shrink is optional if you pot the wires properly. (FYI - A 4057, 3057,3357, 1157 bulb will also work; the 3157 is just what I had handy. This isn't rocket surgery; the tolerances are pretty broad.)


://youtu.b[Image: DSC00169.jpg]e/8a6sj

The first step I'm going to assume you already know how to do; making a main power input for a quad. On the XT-60s, it helps keep the connectors properly aligned (the plastic housing tends to get soft during soldering) if you plug the female connector into the end of the male connector before soldering. Let the soldered poles cool completely before moving on to the other pole and again before unplugging the connector.

[Image: DSC00172.jpg]

Here I'm tinning the (+) pole of the female connector; note that I've kept the male connector and the wires on the other end to act as a heat sink; again, to keep the pins aligned properly so they plug/unplug easily.


I originally made this using thin 20ga wires from a small ESC; I found those were not strong enough to stand up to tugging on the XT-60 to pull it apart. This version, I'm making with 16ga ESC wires.

[Image: DSC00174.jpg]

Don't forget to put the heat-shrink tubing on the black wire BEFORE you solder it to the (-) pole on the female connector. Note that I'm placing the wires so they overlap; this it to help keep the Red wires oriented correctly.

[Image: DSC00178.jpg]

Now a little clear heat-shrink to keep the red wires in a "Y" configuration...


[Image: DSC00177.jpg]

...and pull the Red wires up behind the loop of the black wire to keep things tidy.

[Image: DSC00181.jpg]

Use a thin blade to lift BOTH contact wires on one side out of their slot; it doesn't matter which side you start on.



[Image: DSC00182.jpg]

Now pull them both out straight...

[Image: DSC00185.jpg]
-_GOo

4...and bend them over the housing to the other side, next to the contact wires already there.
[Image: DSC00195.jpg]

Now, tin both pairs of contact wires together like this.

[Image: DSC00196.jpg]

Don't forget to place the big heat-shrink tubing BEFORE you solder the Red wires!

[Image: DSC00201.jpg]

And here it is, all soldered up. I've found that the contact wires here can be a bit weak to hold up against handling, so I'm going to pot the wires with Epoxy.

[Image: DSC00204.jpg]


You want to use plenty of Epoxy...

[Image: DSC00205.jpg]

...you need to completely encase the wire to provide strain-relief or they're going to break in no time. If you don't mind the look, you can omit the Heat-Shrink; I just like the look of the finished product better.



I prefer to use Epoxy for this purpose over Hot-Glue; light bulbs ARE a heat source. You can probably get away with Hot Glue if you're just using this to protect your gear at first power-up; it should never be on long enough to get hot. However, if you intend to use it for motor testing or as a discharge load (As I intend to do), you should pot with Epoxy so it doesn't matter if it runs lit up for extended periods.



Well, there you have it. Test with your other quads; you may be surprised at which ones it will actually work for. I'm thinking anything above 450-size will need at least 5A to arm and run up to just above idle; so probably two 3157 (or equivalent listed above) bulbs in parallel will yield enough for them. I have NO IDEA how much current will be needed for Hex or Octos; they're a bit out of my range at the moment.


mnem OUT!
[-] The following 7 users Like joserendon5102's post:
  • Koval.drns, iFly4rotors, EnerG, sloscotty, rryyyaann, PaulMek, EchoBravo
Reply
Login to remove this ad | Register Here
#2
Excellent always wanted to build this !!!
Will save the link and have a read later
Don't be a LOS'er, be an FPV'er :)  My Gear - Facebook - Instagram - Twitter
Reply
#3
Ha! This is awesome! Thanks for bringing it here.
Reply
#4
Great write up, Thanks for that. Smile
My youtube channel

Reply
#5
Thank's for sharing Smile The magic smoke needs to stay inside your electronics. If it escapes it's no loger fun Wink
Reply
#6
Damn.....If I had this a couple of month back, I wouldn't have smoked my FC.  Thanks for posting this!
"Damn the torpedoes!!!  Full speed ahead!!!"
Reply
#7
Have built one just recently after a smoked OSD Smile
   

Not everyone has a 3S battery laying around, in that case you can use your bench 12V PSU; I just connect two smoke stoppers in series in use 4S battery, that allows enough current for most tasks.
[-] The following 1 user Likes AndreyM's post:
  • iFly4rotors
Reply
#8
This is my smoke stopper, i know it's not yet isolated, that is something i have to do, but they work great.
The small bulb is 12V 10W for ESC and FC programming and very very slow rotation.
The big bulb is 12V 21W for motor testing, at a punch out the smoke stopper kicks in.
And i just bought a XT60 battery serries cable connector and i had just a few XT60 connectors over.

[Image: RoiFSGgl.jpg]

Small lightbulb is low current 0,8 A
Big lightbulb is medium current 1,75 A
[-] The following 2 users Like Dutch Drone Builder's post:
  • Koval.drns, iFly4rotors
Reply
#9
Looks like I just found a great project to get my feet wet before I begin building my 250 fpv quad!
[-] The following 1 user Likes Vespadaddy's post:
  • KiwiLoris
Reply
#10
Great post..provided a piece of mind and made first start up less stressful (no shorts btw..Smile
Reply
#11
I was going to try a different type of overload protection device, a circuit breaker..
I had a look and found this 32V / 3A one... https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0118KGMIO
should be perfect for higher cell count builds right? (such as 4S, 5S even 6S)

But....

It didn't work as I expected. I was testing it, drawing about 4A of current, the circuit breaker "popped", and I couldn't reset it, it just won't conduct current anymore... so that was it... not sure if it was a bad unit or what.

So I am going back to the old school style, a bulb.

I found 3157 generally are cheaper than 1157, only $2 each, so I went for that. Also 3157's power rating is higher which is more suitable for high power builds these days (all the devices like FC/ESC beacon /OSD/RX/VTX/LED .... draws a lot of current even on the ground). 4157 simply cannot be found in the UK.

I will report back when I start building it Smile
Don't be a LOS'er, be an FPV'er :)  My Gear - Facebook - Instagram - Twitter
Reply
#12
I'm building another one of these (my 3rd). I think this thread should be stickied...
Reply
#13
Definitely stickyworthy
carl.vegas
Current Quads: Operational: Diatone GT2 200 In need of repair: Bumble Bee, tehStein,  Slightly modified Vortex 250 
Reply
#14
What kind of lamps should I be looking for to test this?
Have a micro-quad I use 3S and 4S batteries with.

I have 12V 20W, 12V 35W and 12V 50W bulb.

Lazie
Reply
#15
(28-May-2017, 03:25 PM)laziegoblin Wrote: What kind of lamps should I be looking for to test this?
Have a micro-quad I use 3S and 4S batteries with.

I have 12V 20W, 12V 35W and 12V 50W bulb.

Lazie

I would use one of the ones recommended above: auto tail light 4057, 3057,3357, 1157, 3157.  The idea is you want enough to flow current for testing, but will blow if there is a short (high current).  In the example, the OP uses a 3157 which will pass 2.5A current.  Your 20W "bulb" will light at 20W/12V=1.7A, your 35W at 35/12=2.9A.  Trick is you want the bulb to "blow" if there is too much current.  Don't know what type of bulbs you have - that's why I recommend using one of the suggested ones.  BTW, for 12V you should only use 3S to test your electronics - since you have 3S batteries, that shouldn't be a problem.
Reply



Login to remove this ad | Register Here