Extended charging times on your controller

[ph2t]

Has anyone done this mod? Apparently you can increase the value of a capacitor in the timing circuit of the controller to increase the 45 second charge time. This would then give you a greater runtime for your Bit…..

I’ve noticed that QFM sells a capacitor for this mod @ 45c USD which is a bl00dy ripoff if you ask me. You can get these capacitors from 30c AUD at jaycar and dick smiths.

If there are enough people interested i will do a tutorial on this mod…..:approve:

ph2t.

[8ch Ess Vee]

It may be possible to have a two position switch to select between two different capacitors (standard – extended). This may be handy, may not, to make a selectable charge time Mod.

I imagine there would be a point at which there would be no benefit in charging for any longer.

8ch Ess Vee
_________________________
Turkey Hill Raceway http://community.webshots.com/album/64812360tweTQI
Compact Char-G, White R34 GTR 27mHz
2 x Nano Racer Clones
Micro Super Charger, Black WRX 27mHz

[ph2t]

It depends on how you way up each factor.

If you charge for double time, say 90secs, will you get double runtime? If you charge for 120 seconds will you get an increase in runtime that is proportional to the increase in charge time, who knows…? I’m gonna just have to try and find out…:approve:

The point where you would not benefit from charging any longer would be when the batts blow up, ouch!:shock:

ph2t.

[jamiekulhanek]

ph2t, try making a charger witha battery pack and a lm317 set up as a current regulator, a 5-10 min charge will fully charge the battery, and 30 mins off the stock nicad is possible.

If life is a waste of time, and time is a waste of life, then let’s get wasted and have the time of our lives!!

[ph2t]

Jamie, that’s another project I’m working on. A charger that’s run off a power pack with selectable voltages/currents/times…. More will be coming on that one soon……..:smiley2:
I’ve been able to get a 15 minutes runtime off a 4 minute charge on a 60mAh batt.

This mod is really just meant to be a simple and portable mod that many people could do.

ph2t.

[barto_85]

yeah why not do a tutorial, your tutorials are excellent ph2t.

[ph2t]

Here’s how it is done:

First, open up the case of the controller. The screws are located in the locations marked by the red boxes.

Be careful how you open it, there are very small and fine wires inside that connect the battery/charger and antenna to the main board. The side with the antenna is the side that acts like a hinge when you open the controller. It won’t open the other way, the wires won’t allow it.

Remove the two screws marked in the red boxes to be able to remove the PCB from the casing.

Now lets find the timing cap, this is the part we want to replace with another cap of greater value. You can see below the picture showing two black canisters. The one on the left (marked as C12) is the one we want to remove. These parts are known as electrolytic capacitors.

Now the original cap is marked as being a 47uF, that’s microfarads people.

To remove the old cap locate the solder pads on the underside of the PCB and melt them with a soldering iron. Pull out the opposite leg of the cap each at a time and you will have a set of solder pads that look like this, nice and clean and ready for new solder……

You can see from the pic below that the -ve terminal is “meshed” so one can differentiate between -ve and +ve terminals, this is needed because the capacitors we are using only work in the one voltage/current direction.

Taking note of the polarity of the capacitor make sure you put it in the right way, making sure that +ve and GND
are all ok.

Here’s the finished proto:

And no one will know the difference, below you can see the cap through the semi-clear plastic covering of the controller.

The capacitor I chose was based on a very quick calculation.

The original cap was 47uF, this factored to a 53 sec charge time. I replaced with a 100uF cap and got a 2 minute charge.

I’m yet to test how this affects available runtime, will post info soon.

sleep is needed now………..(press OK to shutdown………..)

ph2t.

[ph2t]

My bro-in-law and I ran two Compact Char-G’s together using a fresh pair of alkalines in each controller.

Unmodded 27Mhz S2000 – 0:02:45 runtime from 0:00:53 charge.
Modded 40 Mhz Skyline – 0:06:10 runtime from 0:02:10 charge

Both bits contain the stock 60mAh NiCd’s.

The results make sense for the increased charge time.

ph2t.

[PandaBear]

To give this topic its dues, this mod is one of QFM’s most popular.

I subsequently refined it to include “switching” by means of
a mercury switch… this was posted on the old Ausmicro before
xmas but got lost with the hack.

Here, I’ve still got the pix though…

1) I removed the original 47uF cap… and piggybacked a 2nd 47uF
to it (basic electronics 101… caps ‘add’ when in parallel).

2) resoldered it back on with a mercury switch in-line with the
2nd cap… so put it at the correct angles, its turned on/off
thus in/out of circuit. When its out, just the original 47uF
does all the work.

3) reinstall it all back in the case; mine charges at 2X whilst
the TX is standing up, normal 1X whilst its lying down.

This TX was the one I carried to the Melbourne meet, fellas.
You folks were too busy with that Keyence to notice I’d bet… 🙂

… and whilst I had all the soldering gear out, why not :-

:D:D:D

[ph2t]

Good stuff Panda……. Yes that Keyance sort of held us captive….

:approve:

ph2t.

Edited by – ph2t on 19 May 2003 14:24:58

[8ch Ess Vee]

Nifty idea using the tilt switch, sort of a sleeper mod really.:smiley16:

[PandaBear]

Sleeper mod?

Nah, more like too lazy to cut a hole in TX case
to mount any form of switch. Also there’s a real
shortage of plastic realestate to do so; best
spot would have been on the underside of TX but
then how would it then stand up? 😀

[micro_Amps]

ph2t, there is another controller charging mod idea I have but I’d like to run it by you first, see what you think first.
:)uA

[ph2t]

Email me micro, I’m online at the ‘mo.

:approve:

[barto_85]

thanks for the tutes guys, they are great. just gotta wait till super charg’s come out before i try it on my old one. can’t ruin it and have to wait till october for my lambo.

[TallduDe]

just a question about the cap which was used to extend charging times. what is the exact specs of the thing like how many uf and voltage i kinda want to get some so i can do this mod to my controller.

i just want to know the specs of the thing before i got to an electrical store asking about cap’s.

[micro_Amps]

Talldude, its a 100 microFarad 16 volt, electrolytic capacitor, it will set you back probably a whole 20 cents
:)uA

[TallduDe]

20cents!!!!!!!!!!!!!

damn thats one cheap mod 😀

[ph2t]

That’s the beauty of it, lol!

ph2t.

[TallduDe]

ok i must of gotten ripped off at dickies i spent like 30cents each on a cap!! hahahahahaha

i tried the mod 2nite with a little help from a mate and we put the new cap on my lxx 27mz booster controller and it charges the car for 15secs more….

when i change the cap i noticed that the orginal lxx cap was a 10volt 100uf capitor and the new 1 i put in is a 16v 100uf one.

still the car ran for longer on that single charge so all around its a success.

also my h-1 27mhz hummer doesnt charge no more i checked to see the cap in it and i found two caps in it one 10v 33uf and 1 10v 220uf could these be blown cauing it not to charge anymore? would i stuff the controller if i put in two 16v 100uf’s to replace them both??????

also (again) when i was buying the caps i saw they had 25v 100uf’s which were the same size, would these be better to extend chargiong times or would a higher uf rating be better?

[micro_Amps]

Talldude the charging time is controlled by the size of the capacitor, not the voltage. If you changed a 100uF for a 100uf and the charge time increased, then its because the two capacitors were slightly different. To extend the charge time further, try the next bigger capacitor, maybe 150uf or whatever the next size is.
:)uF…..um i mean uA.

[PandaBear]

Save your $$$. 🙂

Just add the 2 capacitors together in parallel.
Piggyback the original one back on.
+ve to +ve, -ve to -ve.
You’ll double the capacitance.

The voltage spec is the “max” it can handle.
At anything below the max, it makes no difference.

[micro_Amps]

Yes you are right, I forgot all about that.
:)uA

[ph2t]

This is typical:

uA = better design

panda = hack!

lol!

ph2t.

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