Engel nautilus submarine problem

[pugman1]

Hi. I have a question. I purchased a first issue Engel nautilus at auction. It uses a 6 volt battery. I am trying too test the electrical system. However I am hitting a wall. All I have to hand is a 2.4 ghz transmitter and receiver this is none bec receiver so needs its own. I can get the planes and rudder working but not the dive tanks or the propeller motor. My thinking is that the receiver needs to be of the bec type to talk to the speed controller and the main Engel board. Am I correct in thinking this or could the problem be something else.

[bob the builder]

A receiver does not have an onboard BEC. It simply needs 5V to work. Some ESCs (Electronic Speed Controllers) have onboard BECs, but they are typically low output (like 2A), which is pretty light for a bigger boat or one with many features pulling power from the receiver. A standalone BEC takes main drive power, such as 12V or 6V, drops it to the required 5V, and powers the receiver directly and independently.

Powering up the receiver will also provide power to servos, such as those for your rudder and dive planes, however the other two systems you refer to (ballast and propeller), require their own power source. For those, the receiver only tells them what to do, it doesn't power them. You need to provide a full 6V power to the ESC and to the dive control board (like the TAE dive system for an older Engel boat) as well as providing signal from the receiver.

Hope that helps!


Bob

[pugman1]

Thanks Bob. I understand what you are saying. The nautilus only has one propeller and the speed controller runs this and not the dive tanks which get their power from the TAE. My worry is that being a submarine a 2nd battery for the receiver would mean having excess to the inside of the submarines WTC each time I want to use the sub, which means re sealing etc each time I want to use it. Would it be possible to purchase a speed controller with BEC running on a 6v battery. Thanks Michael

[druiz100]

Another thing you need to understand. Engel takes into account the weight of the receiver battery into their design and for your trim. If you go with a Full BEC to power your servos, your sub is going to be lighter and you will need to be re-trim the sub. Meaning you will need to add ballast weight.

[bob the builder]

The MTroniks ESCs run on anything between 6 and 12V and has a built in BEC. A standalone BEC is much better, IMO. They are fairly inexpensive and very easy to install. I carry both ESC and BEC on my site.

Bob