Lipo Powered DX5C

[@FarmerFpv]

The other benefit of going to 18650 lithium-ion batteries is you can now get 2500 to 4000mah 2 cells LG batteries which will last much longer than the lipo. Thanks for explaining the mod. changing mine over now. You can also purchase a protection board to monitor your lithium-ion cels. It's called a BMS battery management system. They have tiny ones. Easy to build a 4000mah pack. Thanks again for the mod.

[@10thScaleAdventures]

For sure man. I have done 18650s as well. It's just a bit more work. My goal was to show a fairly plug and play solution for those that are hesitant with these types of mods. 18650s with internal safety chips are gold for this application, that said, they are a good bit more pricey.

[@33rdGemini]

18650s would be much better. Not only are you going to have 3x the battery life but the voltage discharge curve is not as flat as LiPos and won't suddenly dropoff when they're nearly drained. Also, they are much less volatile and dont need to be charged in firesafe bags. Amazon has dual 18650 battery sleds which you can wire up in series with a JST, or just hardwire if you prefer that, but if you ever did need to dump the battery tray in an emergency it'd be easier to yank it out if it were connected via JST.

[@bartdinardo3932]

thanks for the information. i changed my dx5c to a 2cell lipo

[@10thScaleAdventures]

Right on man, enjoy not burning through AA and saving a few bucks.

[@Friskee62]

Good stuff...just purchased a DX5C. Just 'subbed' as well...

[@Friskee62]

How about being more specific about that controller wheel? Can't find it...Thanx.

[@suchtragedy]

So the 2s 7.4v battery doesn't overload the 6v input voltage of the DX5c?

[@10thScaleAdventures]

No it doesn't overload the controller at all. The battery feeds a voltage converter on the main board (I didn't install the voltage converter, configured this way from the factory) that can actually accept up 14v without issue. I'm not sure how long you have been in RC or how many transmitters you've had, but it wasn't that long ago that most all transmitters ran on 12v standard (8 AA), many of the components in today's controllers are still based on those legacy components cause they are cheap and work. I don't recommend throwing 12v in your controller just because their is nothing to gain from it, but using 2s lipo over AA's, huge benefit! Definitely the absolute best option is 2 18650's that have internal lipo cutoff, and you can even find those as high as 2800mah!

[@suchtragedy]

@@10thScaleAdventures thanks for the reply, I actually just completed this mod myself. I have 3000mah 5c 2s lipos fitted in this now. It's a little fatter than the ones you're using though so I did have to trim some of the plastic inside the battery housing to make room but it fits. I have lots of these bats to power fpv goggles so it's good to have another purpose for them. I ended up taking my DX5C apart to solder new leads directly to the board for the lipo mod and while I was in there I saw that there's a second unused ipex antenna connector labeled Antenna B and Antenna A was connected to the main internal antenna. This makes it seem like the radio is capable of signal diversity, have you tried that? I was going to experiment to see if that second antenna port actually works and if it does my next mod will be to add a ipex to SMA antenna connector so a removable antenna could be added and that would make it easy to get more range and add a booster. I love this radio but it's range isn't great for speedruns.

[@10thScaleAdventures]

@@suchtragedy good work man. I thought about going direct to the board and then got lazy and just spliced in the handle area. Haha I haven't done anything with the second antenna. I did notice it bit no clue it it is actually tied into the firmware or if it's just residual on the board. It's very common for boards to have extra unused stuff, makes it so the manufacturers can multipurpose a single part. I've never messed with it because range is never an issue in my scale stuff, top speed of 5-8 mph doesn't really get too far away. Haha I would be interested to know how your experiment goes.

[@suchtragedy]

@@10thScaleAdventures I disconnected antenna A entirely and got only 5 feet of range, then I attached it to Antenna B and I got normal range again so this seems to suggest that Antenna B is actually functional. I added a IPX to SMA adapter to Antenna B and mounted the SMA end through a hole that I drilled next to the stock antenna stub on top. This gives me the ability to add a larger removable RP-SMA antenna for additional range. I can take it a step further and add a 5v inline signal booster on the SMA connector and power it from the 5v off the 3pin data port on the side. 👍

[@danon-theautisticmaker8112]

Great idea bud, I wonder if my Traxxas 6530 controller can also handle a mod like this? You may want to add something to your video about the risk of explosion & flames from over discharging LiPo's (pack's & 18650's both).

[@10thScaleAdventures]

Not sure if the Traxxas remotes can take the voltage and unfortunately I don't have any to open up and check out the power circuit on. Yes, you are absolutely right about the risk of over discharge. I will highlight that more in the next video on this subject. I am planning a more detailed 'how to' in the near future using protected 18650's for my wife's DX4C. That video will show the process of setting up an 18650 2s pack, opening the controller and installing the jst lead and note things to watch out for.

[@danon-theautisticmaker8112]

@@10thScaleAdventures Very cool, I'm looking forward to seeing it. :-) Also could you include how you checked to see if the circuity can handle the higher voltage? Hopefully I'll be able use the same technique to check my Traxxas remote & if it can handle it, I'll design & print a mod piece to properly hold the replacement 18650's for mine. It'd be so awesome to ditch the AA dependency!

[@10thScaleAdventures]

@@danon-theautisticmaker8112 yeah, I'll do what I can to show how I identify the power circuit and the voltage converter in the controller to determine what the acceptable input voltage is. It can be very challenging if the manufacturer used unmarked board components.

[@savagegangpyro]

@@10thScaleAdventures do I have to solder or can I just splice it and tape it?

[@10thScaleAdventures]

It does not 'have' to be soldered, although I highly recommend it. If you do use just a tape splice take extra caution to ensure that the splice is secure. If it comes loose and shorts you could potentially have a battery fire in your radio. Solder with shrink wrap is definitely a more secure and safe method.

[@andrewlove4787]

Will this work on the rugged also. Do you leave the battery setting on alki?

[@10thScaleAdventures]

Yes it will work on the Rugged same as the 5c. As for battery setting, really doesn't matter. The different battery modes are just for setting the voltage cutoff/alarm. If going to lipo none of the modes will actually set the alarm high enough to trigger at safe cutoff voltage for the lipo, so you will have to watch your volage on the radio. Pretty sure mine I just left mine on alkali at set the alarm as high as it would go. But check the other modes, which ever will set the alarm at the highest voltage closest to 6.4 (which is 3.2 per cell for a lipo) is the best one to set it on incase you lose track of time and run your battery too low. Lipo's realistically can go to 3.0 per cell without being damaged, much below that and you may start causing cell degradation, and some chargers may alarm and refuse not to charge the battery due to the battery voltage being too low. Last thing to note, for whatever ever terrible reason, the 5 series spektrum radios pull a very low amount of power even when turned off so if you do this mod remember to unplug the battery when the radio is stored or the radio will drain it to nothing. This is one of the reasons the 5 series radios eat AA's batteries like crazy. Alternatively, you could add a power disconnect switch/button when you do the mod to actually fully cut the power, this is something I have been considering doing to my 5C so avoid having to unplug the battery all the time. Good luck and feel free to hit me up with any other questions you may have on this mod.

[@andrewlove4787]

Awesome. Thank you very much been wanting to do this for a while now. Wasnt sure on those factors and if it was going to work. Thanks again. I'll hit you up if I need to. Thanks for doing the video too.

[@rc4life231]

I have this 5 to 15 volt Signal booster with a 3cell 800mah battery will I be able to do the same u did with this 3 cell battery will the volts distribute right?

[@rc4life231]

To power the Transmitter and the signal booster at the same time

[@10thScaleAdventures]

I am not totally sure that I understand what you are trying to do. Are you wanting to run two devices from 1 battery? If so, yes, that can be done. As long as you are powering both devices from the total voltage (not splitting the cells) using splitter plug setup, it should work fine. You will just want to make sure you watch the lipo voltage closely to make sure you don't over discharge the battery. If you message me on the 10th Scale Adventures facebook page with some pictures of what you are trying to do I can give you a much better answer on if it is safe and how to do it.

[@allislostintime3062]

I did this with a ionnik et3 and now all it does is continues to beep frequently after it pairs with the esc

[@10thScaleAdventures]

I am assuming that you meant "ikonnik et3"? I am not familiar with that radio so I am not I will be of any help. What rechargeable battery did you use? Have you made sure the rechargeable pack is fully charged? Looking at the manual for that radio I see that it has a non-adjustable low-voltage alarm at 4.1v that triggers a beeping sound. If you can provide me with more information I would be happy to try and help you troubleshoot the dilemma.

[@bartdinardo3932]

does it have to be 50c?

[@10thScaleAdventures]

Great question and no it can't be much lower and still function correctly. Sorry for the delayed response. I'm not getting notifications for comments for some reason I am yet to figure out.

[@fishininjun]

how about have a lipo alarm plugged into the balance.

[@10thScaleAdventures]

That's not a bad idea if you can fit one in the space. Would definitely give piece of mind over having to keep an eye on the voltage display.

[@bartdinardo3932]

when you go to settings then to battery you can't put in lipo. only alkaline or nimh.

[@10thScaleAdventures]

Yup. That is the only draw back to this conversation. I don't know why Spektrum was so shortsighted with the software on these remotes. Either setting works just fine, you just need pay attention to you battery voltage to be sure to not draw it too low. Just use which ever one has the "highest" alarm alert.

[@RCCRAZYSTUPID]

Dude where did you get that steering wheel at??? That would be perfect for me I drive 1 handed and i have been looking for something like that

[@10thScaleAdventures]

I made it. And yeah, has been a huge upgrade to my DX5C. I fairly certain I have the 3D print file on Cults3D for a few bucks.

[@RCCRAZYSTUPID]

10th Scale Adventures do they print it ??

[@RCCRAZYSTUPID]

10th Scale Adventures can i buy one ??