Wiring Ni-Cd

[bargemasterParticipant @bargemaster]

Hello to all.

Only just joined model boats a week ago , really enjoying looking around.I need some advice on the workings of wiring in the reciever set up in my radio gear. You see I built a balsa boat kit some 30 years ago. I bought a r/c set up about the same time.

About  1982 I bought new Ni-Cd’s and had the radio certified. I dont remember the last time I used the radio or the boat, was always going to get rid of them both.  The other day I draged the boat and radio gear out of the shed and guess what the Ni-Cd’s had exploded in both the reciever and the transmiter.

 Now the problem is there are 3 wires going to the Ni-Cd pack for the reciever pack a RED a GREEN and a YELLOW .The acid from the batteries had removed all traces of where they went in the battery pack. The reciever pack has only 4 Ni-Cd baterys in it while the transmiter had 8 I’d like put some cheap AA baterys in just to test every thing and hopefully get sailing again. I hope to get some pics of the wiring as soon as I get organised. 

[Charles OatesParticipant @charlesoates31738]

Hi Bargemaster,

       I’m glad you’re resurecting your hobby, it’s never too late to enjoy yourself. We need a little more info to be of help. It’s possible you have a radio set that is different to the system now in use, do the servos have three or four wires conecting them to the receiver? Can you tell us the make of the radio gear.

       If my guess is correct and you have a four wire system the yellow wir will be a centre tap on the battery pack, this used to be done some time ago.

    We’re a nosy lot on here, what is the boat you’re resurecting? any chance of some pictures?

 regards, Chas

[bargemasterParticipant @bargemaster]

G’day  Chas  Thanks for the reply.

Firstly the servos have 3 wires to them, there is a outlet from the receiver marked battery then to a switch then 2 banks of wires from that 1 to the charger plug the other to the battery pack and this is the 3  wires with no home. Nearly all the wires are red green and yellow. There are 7 more out lets from the receiver pack 1 = elevator, 2 = motor,  3 = rudder,  4 = aileron, 5  = aux 1, 6 =aux 2, 7 = aux 3,  and the first one marked battery .

The radio is an Australian made P S A  narrow band FM 9000 @ 36.45 MHZ   it  was supposedly running a helicopter before i bought it but that may have been a sales pitch.

As for the boat I have no idea what kit it was, it has a small cabin, and a deck at the back like an observation platform, It has pressing marks of doors and windows at the rear as well but i used to rather fancy it as a trawler though it never had nets or booms and rigging it must of been some sort of ferry maybe .I have not got the box or the plans any more. I will send in some photos of it and the wiring as soon as i can shrink my photos down , they are coming out of the camera at 2.3 mg and if i save for the web i cant get them under 950 kb. Hopefully my son can help me with this problem when he is home ( he works away only home between jobs at the mines ).If i get the photos small enough then i would like to know what the boat is an then i can give it some fittings and a face lift.  In the mean time i have some photos here of some 1/8 scale trucks i made that i’d like to share with you. 

thank you for your interest Chas

All the best Glen

[bargemasterParticipant @bargemaster]

hey chas  looks like the photos have gone into gallery under the name bargemaster-crash site hope you can find them sorry bout that still learning to work this gadget .

regards Glen

[bargemasterParticipant @bargemaster]

Hello again Chas

Have worked out how to get these photos down to size without any programs other than windows XP so here are some of the wiring.

I guess the red is positive , green the negative but whats the yellow for and where does it plug on to.Chas i gust spent an age with this computer getting pics and a lengthy text together only to have it rejected cause it was to big so here goes in a few passes bear with me please Glen

[bargemasterParticipant @bargemaster]

1

2

3

Hey Chas

These next photos are to give you an idea of the model. In photo 1 you may be able to make out the observation deck at the rear .Those doors there are 3″ height. Photo 3 shows the radio with no arial got broken years ago but have a spare ….mmm where did i put it. You can see shes been neglected and knocked around but I’ll get her right.

[bargemasterParticipant @bargemaster]

Hey Chas hang in there nearly done mate.

In these photos will give you a bit of idea of her size .Shes 985 mm long and 225 mm across her widest part. if that 3″ door equalled 7′ then i reckon her overal length would be about 90 odd foot long ? Photo 2 shows where the 2 6 volt bike batteries went and the battery pack and receiver pack. Photo 4 shows the motor and its a johnson 970 rated @ 6-24 volts so i was told but i only ever had 12 volts in it. Hope you can help me with the wiring and also to identify what model it is.

Thanks for your patience

regards Glen

PS any one wanting to shrink any photos and only wants to use windos XP give me a hoy will be glad to help

1

2

3

4

[Vinnie BraniganParticipant @vinniebranigan92297]

Are Ni-Cd batteries the norm in R/C Boats?  Just wondering if they are, why not Nickel Metal Hydride which have no ‘memory’ effect?

Vinnie 

[bargemasterParticipant @bargemaster]

Hello to you Vinnie

Not sure if many R/C units use recharge Ni-Cd’s these days most of the younger blokes with their cars use standard AA type and buy new ones as needed. The Nickel Metal Hydride sound the part do they come in AA type size and what would be the cost I’d need 12 @ 1.2 volts (if I get my radio workin that is). My thoughts often go back to my earlyer boating days when the batteries must of been getting low on power and my boat just went off  down the lake at full speed occationaly  doing the odd donut, ignoring my calls and jestures.  I left my wife to keep guard on one side of the lake  and I took the car to the other side .Eventually we got it much to all the bystanders delight. Anyway Vinnie i havent had any thing but NiCd’s but willing to look at all bets.

All the best Glen  

[Vinnie BraniganParticipant @vinniebranigan92297]

Hi Glen,

The Ni-MH ones come in all shapes and sizes, so I’m sure they’re available.  Their main advantage is that you can recharge them without the ‘memory’ effect that leads to partial charging of the Ni-Cd ones and a consequent drop in their efficiency.

Vinnie 

[Charles OatesParticipant @charlesoates31738]

Hello again Glen,

                              sorry to be so long getting back to you, I’ve been a bit busy at work this week. I’m sorry to day I do not recognise the radio and can find no mention of it, I doubt it ever made it to the UK.  The best idea I can come up with is to talk to some of the older members of a model boat club, someone must remember it. I’m still willing to bet that the third wire is a centre tap on the battery but why it needs one defeats me. Perhaps the battery pack will come apart and you can see where the wires went.  carefull though, Cadmium is very nasty stuff and can ruin your health. The nicads are probably u/s after all this time, and as Vinnie says Ni MH are the way to go.

  The boat is unusual, not seen that before ( actually I’m not much use to you at all) but it will make a great restoration. It has a bit of a range safety launch look about it, and the hull reminds me of some of the Vospers of the 40s and 50s. Quite a lot of boats of that time were modified to other uses after they came out of service so you can do what you will with it and enjoy yourself.

  Have fun and good luck with the radio, let us know how you get on.

 Chas

[bargemasterParticipant @bargemaster]

Hello chas

Thank you for looking into this for me. I didn’t think the radio would off been an international seller but just the same it was quite a good radio in its day. I’m the only one at fault here cause I put it away with out thinking about the batteries ageing and thats the bottom line. The wires had already parted from the pack and when I removed the old Ni-Cd’s there was not a trace of where the wires had been.The biggest problem I have is when I ring any hobby store they only want to sell me a new set not help me with info on who services R/C stuff in our area.I’m not a member of any clubs but thats my next step to find out who services or certifies their stuff. As for what sort of kit my boat is I’ve got a pic here showing the back area and the rear cabin doors, windows and port holes can be made out .This style of window was originaly along the side as well. This makes me think it may of been a passenger launch of sorts maybe like the ones you would imagine taking people across the fiords to motels in sweden. Any way thanks heaps

all the best, Glen

[Revell WalkerParticipant @revellwalker82816]

Glen,

Welcome back to boating! I’m getting back into it again as well, but I was involved in past and have a few suggestions for you. That model you have there is in very good shape for its age. It looks to need a little sprucing up. As for the radio system, I think the cost of repairing or refurbishing the gear will cost you more than today’s new R/C equipment. In short, buy a new 2 channel  radio set. They are cheaper than you could imagine, but I understand your desire to ressurect your Aussie system, I hate throwing out old but working techonology. Perhaps you could sell it on ebay, SOMEBODY wants that system I’ll bet.

Another concern is that you appear to have an aircraft radio system that you intend to use for your boat. Things might be different in the UK, but using an aircraft radio for surface models is a no-no in the US. Here, 72 MHZ is for aircraft, and 27-75MHZ is for surface. The same may apply in your country, where 35 and 40 MHZ are the norm. Just check to see if that is the case and use the correct band, you don’t want to ruin a flyer’s day bringing down his model or a pilot causing your boat to go haywire.

Batteries: Ni-cad, Li-po, Ni-MH and gel cell can be used in our boats these days. You can even do away with the reciever battery all together if you use an electronic speed control with Battery Eliminator Cicuitry (BEC) that plugs right into your reciever and provides power from its connection to the battery. Transmitters use hi power alkydes or rechargables. You can take a page from the digi-cam folks and use what they use, inclucing the rechargable AA sets with their plug-in chargers.

Your drive line looks good and the motor looks to have quite a bit of life left in her. Diito for the speed control if you wish to employ a servo and receiver battery as supplied with the new radio set . So, I really would reccomend getting a new radio system. Since 1982, radio standards have tightened considerably (narrow band, for one) and that old system might have had to be certified yet again. Hope this this helps to get you mucking about in the water again.

Rev

[Len OchiltreeParticipant @lenochiltree67043]

Hi Glen,

I am not sure if you have said where you are in the world?.

In the UK we can only use Channels 27….40…or the new 2.4gigerthingy.

35 is strictly for model aircraft.If I am wrong,someone will correct me.

You can buy a new Transmitter for £5.00and a Reciever for £10.00.

 Regards.

Len.

[bargemasterParticipant @bargemaster]

Hello to Revell Walker & Len Ochiltree

Firstly  Len is right . I’m in Australia and I’m not sure of the channels for boats and aircraft but my old radio gear is a X plane-aircraft type and yes Revell you are right I don’t want to hassel any one with a plane while using my boat. I would of liked to use it but havent got a problem with buying a new one but would suss out first this 2.4 gig sets that Len mentioned cause if I buy the right gear now I’ll have something worthy to hand on to the grand children  later on.I did buy an Australian book the other day called Radio Control Modeller. It covers a lot but is aimed at the aircraft sceen. Its got prices and gives me a direction there. Will start on the boat soon and once going will probably build another boat Have been bitten by the bug after seeing the keen models on this site.Have sent an email to a few english sites to get an idea of prices for kits and plans but haven’t gone any farther yet. Plenty of time get one thing at a time working and enjoy each one Thanks for your replys guys ang will look forward to talking to each of yous as time permits. Revell the boat of yours that I saw being built is first class and will be great. I’m no expert but I think its a winner already

thanks again to you both have heaps to say but must go now see yous soon

All the best glen

[Revell WalkerParticipant @revellwalker82816]

Thanks Glen,

2.4 ghz is a multi-frequency standard that hunts for an unused frequency in the spectrum. It’s been round for years (Aristocraft in the USA has had it for as long) but the major R/C manufacturers have finally decided this was a good thing. I’d go with a plain 2 channel set, they’ll be good for years to come. That switchable freq. stuff is pricey and unsessary for the moment. So you ARE in Australia, eh? Just be careful when you launch yer boat the pond doesn’t have crocks!

Rev

[bargemasterParticipant @bargemaster]

Hello rev

Yes thats good advise mate.  I will look up a new  2 channel set  that should get me going quick smart  Now I need to get my finger out and get the boat shipshape. Thanks again

All the best Glen.

[bargemasterParticipant @bargemaster]

[Author]

Posts