Broad Ambition - The Model

[floydraser]

35 minutes ago, grendel said:

not overly pleased with myself, I have managed while testing the power board to blow several LED's how did I manage this I hear you ask, I had tested the voltage regulator at 3v and it worked, unfortunately I didnt fit the one I had tested, but an identical one, and turned right down instead of 2.95 volts this one was 3.1V, this difference was enough to take out the LED, whether it was a surge in voltage as I connected or what, I dont know, what i do know is I have at least 3 LED's to replace now (future testing will be done with spare non installed LED's. the trouble is I had encased the LED's in superglue when fixing them into the fittings- the blue deck lights worked fine as they have a very slightly different voltage range (up to a fractionally higher voltage than the others, so it was always going to be a balancing act to get the correct voltage that allows everything to work (3v was that voltage) but 3.1-3.2V and some dont like it.

 we will get there, I am just upset I didnt test with spare LED's.

Not quite sure what that all means but you should be very pleased with yourself; you are doing a great job! 

[grendel]

panic averted, I pulled up the specs for the LED,s and even the most sensitive should have been good to 3.4V, went back and tested the 'blown LED's and they all worked from my known good 3V power supply, strange, now for more testing, plugged the battery into the board, tested the voltage with a meter - 3,2V, under the specs for the led's, retested one of the lED's and the same behaviour, a quick flash then nothing?

strange- retest the LED on the 3v power supply- still fine- ok then- retested the voltage on the board- 0.5V below the LED threshold, aha, time to replace the voltage regulator (you must remember these are made from purest chinesium, in the thousands, yes, I had managed to get a bad one, out of the 3 I had bought, so I swapped in my known good voltage regulator, and now everything is working as expected.

[grendel]

the need for a voltage regulator is to bring the battery (and solar panel) voltage down from a max 4.7V down to a voltage below 3.4V and keep it consistent as the battery voltage drops under discharge, this can be achieved by running resistors in the leads of the LED to reduce the voltage they see, but getting the positive rail of the board down to the correct voltage seemed one way to achieve the solution, and it works, when you dont have a dodgy voltage regulator.

at least I dont need to relamp the bulbs, that was what I was dreading.

[BroadAmbition]

Well, isn't this just a huge coincidence

You are having electrical gremlin issues with the model at the same time just as we have been with the full size version albeit on different systems.  Seems we have both of us put them to bed too.  You couldn't make it up

Griff

[grendel]

so next step to progress the wiring- and I wish I had thought of this before i put the model together - is to drill holes through the bulkheads to do the wiring. the problem is its down in a 6" wide space, and i need a 1/2" hole. the only right angle attachment I have that will fit is hex drive, and all my step drills have too big a set of 3 flats to fit in. thus a set of hex drive step drills has been ordered, so i am now awaiting delivery before i can do any wiring runs.

[Ray]

Is the 2nd model progressing at the same pace or have you set her aside to concentrate on this one first Peter?

[grendel]

this is the  second model, the first one is the one that is for me and has been put on the top shelf (literally above the workbench) I dont really have the room to work on both at the same time.

[grendel]

well I got impatient, the ancient black and decker with its right angle drive and a step bit was still an inch too long, but I found once I had started the hole and was half way in, i could straighten the bit up slightly, so now my bulkheads are drilled ready for cabling.

just goes to prove it doesnt need to be modern to be able to do the job, this drill is permenantly set up, as its good for drilling joists as it goes places other drills cant get into.

[grendel]

After a minor delay yesterday (trip to my parents to change a  flourescent tube) and shopping this morning, I finally started the wiring, now I have another short delay, my small soldering iron tripped out my breaker twice, so its been retired and a new one ordered.

anyway, I now have the battery wired, complete with connector, and labelled, the solar panel wired complete to connector- and labelled, and the first one i did- the searchlight connected and labelled, the searchlight plug was unfortunately too big to add the heat shrink labels so I had to do a normal label and wrap it around the wire. I then proceeded to make the heatshrink labels for the remaining circuits (i remembered I had the heatshrink label material just after putting all the connectors on the ends of the circuits.

a few years back now I picked up this Dymo Rhino pro label machine at a boot fair, and found you can actually get heat shrink label material for it, so now my cables get proper labels.

I have also shown roughly where the electrical panel will be mounted (i have some super double sided tape used for attaching car body panels to attach the panel and the battery)

[grendel]

I will probably print out a copy of the wiring diagram and glue it to the underside of the deck section that goes by the helm for future guidance., also maybe a diagram of which switch performs which task on the helm.

[Smoggy]

What is a solar fanel?

[grendel]

its a solar Panel with a wrinkle on the P

[JanetAnne]

10 hours ago, grendel said:

....with a wrinkle on the P

You can get medication for that 

[BroadAmbition]

I will probably print out a copy of the wiring diagram and glue it to the underside of the deck section that goes by the helm for future guidance,

Show Off - 

That's more than we have got on the full size version

Griff

[grendel]

if I have to refer to it to connect things correctly, then I am sure that in the future a wiring diagram will be needed.

[Bikertov]

I like what you did with the heatshrink - how did you print on it ?

[grendel]

I have heatshrink label material for my dymo rhino pro

https://www.dymorhino.com/rhino-labels/dymo-rhino-yellow-heat-shrink-tubing-9mm-black-text-18054.html

 it comes in white or yellow, in 4 sizes 6mm to 24mm, as I said above I found this labeller at a boot fair for a reasonable price, and its been excellent, being industrial quality the labels stick extremely well. its not cheap, about £19 for a 1.5m cartridge

[Smoggy]

That's a damn useful gadget indeed.

[grendel]

it does keep the cable labels nice and neat and out of the way

[grendel]

helm switches wired up

[Bikertov]

10 hours ago, grendel said:

I have heatshrink label material for my dymo rhino pro

https://www.dymorhino.com/rhino-labels/dymo-rhino-yellow-heat-shrink-tubing-9mm-black-text-18054.html

 it comes in white or yellow, in 4 sizes 6mm to 24mm, as I said above I found this labeller at a boot fair for a reasonable price, and its been excellent, being industrial quality the labels stick extremely well. its not cheap, about £19 for a 1.5m cartridge

They are neat, but very expensive as you say, compared to regular heatshrink 

[grendel]

The new 12W micro soldering iron arrived today, so I got one of the cockpit lights wired in, of course I then had to test it- note the switch turned on on the dashboard.

 I need this small iron so that I dont melt the connectors out of the connecting blocks, they are very delicate and a bigger iron just pumps way too much heat in before the solder flows.

[Ray]

7 minutes ago, grendel said:

note the switch turned on on the dashboard.

I never cease to be amazed! Great job 👍

[BroadAmbition]

Doffs cap in wonderment yet again

Griff

[grendel]

its taking nigh on 45 minutes per light to wire them, everything having to be done under bright light with a magnifying lens, but today I managed to get cockpit light number 2 wired in, tested and working.