Boat electrics

[David AtkinsonParticipant @davidatkinson44345]

good evening

                      as a novis or should i say complete beginner could you tell me what i need to fit electrics in a wooden boat and how to wire it up for radio control i have never done this but have a very small knowledge on the subject thanks if you an throw some light my way

[The ReverandParticipant @thereverand]

Hi David,

First of all you will need the radio control ,most come as a kit with servo’s and receiver included.

I would recommend this as its all in the box ready to fit.You have to work out how many functions you want the boat to have,if its simply going to move forward and reverse,and turn then usually a 2 channel system will do.

This is very important decision as even though a 2 channel may be OK for this model you may want to add more functions on the next one,so it pays really to spend a little more and get a 4 or even a 6 channel system.

Also a suitable motor,and battery to suit

You will have to purchase a speed controller(although some modelers make them themselves)this unit plugs directly into your receiver and to the motor,which give you forward and reverse.

Wiring the motor,recever and servo’s is very easy as most have corresponding plugs and sockets.

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Hi David

Firstly I would advise that you visit your local club and ask the guys there, they will be only to willing to help.

However in the event of you not being able to do this I have written the following and not knowing how much knowledge you have I will start at the very beginning so please forgive me if you already know about some of it.

In a nutshell the basis of radio control is to pass command instructions via a radio transmitter to a receiver on board, the receiver then sends this information to the relevant component, be that a motor or rudder or whatever.

So lets assume that we are discussing a 2 channel system on 27mg, the 27mg is the frequency of the transmitter/receiver there are other frequencies available but for this discussion lets stick to 27.

The 2 channel system is the basic handset having forward/backward and left/right commands, it is important that both the transmitter and receiver are operating on the same wavelength so you must check the crystals are the same, these are little plug in components that are usually coloured and have frequency numbers on them, one goes in the transmitter and one in the receiver.

So far so good:

Lets look at the installation starting at the receiver, this little box has an Ariel wire, a battery lead and sockets for the servos to be plugged into.

The servos are small black boxes that contain powerful little electric motors that drive a gear wheel on the top of the servo. It is this little wheel that turns in response to the radio signal and so moves whatever it is connected to i.e the rudder.

In the case of the rudder servo it is just a case of plugging the servo lead into the receiver, making sure that the battery pack for the receiver is switched on, switching on the transmitter and all being well one of the sticks should make the servo move the rudder from side to side. If it happens to be the stick that only moves forward and backwards then simply plug the servo into the other socket in the receiver.

The motor is a little more complicated as you will need some sort of speed controller for this discussion I suggest an electronic version, the speed controller has 6 wires coming out of it, 2 are a servo type lead and are connected to the receiver, 2 are battery leads and 2 are connected to the motor, you will have to check that you connect the right coloured wire to the right terminal on the battery but it is as easy as wiring up a household plug. The speed controller will come with full wiring instructions.

Most of us use solder to make electronic connections but if you are unhappy about doing this then buy yourself a crimping tool and bits, these are widely available and use extensively in the auto trade so you can get them at halfords just make sure that you get the right size crimps for your wires.

And so in the absence of being able to see your model and without producing a confusing wiring diagram this is the most basic introduction that I can do. As I said you probably know most of it but I hope that I have been of some help and if you want to know any more please ask as we are all very willing to help.

[David AtkinsonParticipant @davidatkinson44345]

thank you for information and spending time to explain it as been a great help  it is a very good forum and good to have people like yourselfs to help

david 

[The ReverandParticipant @thereverand]

Excellent Mr Fat.

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Thank you your holyness, I also thought that your reply was 1st class.

Take care

paul

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

David

We might be able to help further. is the boat your talking about the vernon huntsman? if so we could advise on motor size.

Paul

[The ReverandParticipant @thereverand]

Thanks Paul

I’m glad you put your name in my son,as i thought it a bit rude calling you Mr Fat.

regards

dave.

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Thank you your holyness.

Given your religious status it would be rude to call you anything other than sir.

All the best

Paul

[DuckyParticipant @ducky]

Hi David

If you go on the Westbourne Models website on the front page there is a menu on the bottom left called Modelling tips,in there is about 4 diagrams for wiring boats with one or two motors using one or two Speed controllers. they say a picture is worth a thousand words !!!

Ducky

[ManxmanParticipant @manxman]

Thanks Ducky

Printed three of them out for future reference – graphics on the last one don’t view or print out by the way (the mixer setup one) shame really as its the most useful one.

One additional point, Westbourne have 2 web sites – .co.uk and .com – the diagrams appear on the .com site

Cheers – Ken

[DuckyParticipant @ducky]

 Hi Manxman

It would appear that the http://www.westbourne-models.com is the newer of the two sites you mentioned,I will have to e-mail them and ask if they can rectify the duff diagram of the 2 ESC with mixer plan !!. There must be plenty of us out here with need of that info,just found your plans in your album though so thanks for that!!

Saw your Matchstick tug at Ellesmere Show in 2006 and did’nt know in my ignorance they were workng models, Fantastic !

Regards Ducky

[ManxmanParticipant @manxman]

Hi Ducky,

I agree, the last one was the most useful with the mixer as it also increases the turning circle.

I’m not into static models, nice though they are,  One problem with using matches is they float! – and with the hulls being 4 matches thick gives a hull thickness of almost 1 centimetre – that takes a lot of ballast to bring it down.  Pacific Light will almost certainly be a two man lift into the water – still it will sail in quite rough waters due to its weight.

Cheers – Kenny 

[David AtkinsonParticipant @davidatkinson44345]

[Robert WaltersParticipant @robertwalters31200]

Hi Ducky, The Modelling tips on the Westbourne Models website are good, but try and print the “Twin Motor and Speed Controller with Mixer “set up and all one gets is the written advice, the the diagram does not print out (the other 3 do)

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

You can find an excellent selection of wiring diagrams on the ACTion Electronics site. While they do feature ACTion products (which are very good anyway) the wiring can be applied to the use of products from other manufacturers.

 

http://www.action-electronics.co.uk/wd.php

 

Colin

[Author]

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