Hi everyone.  As the title says I am looking for any build threads that show glow to electric conversions.  For some reason, every time I try to look up a thread on this, I get everything that mentions electric....which is a lot!  I am functionally stupid when it comes to searches!  So any help would be appreciated.

I have jumped off the cliff and am selling all my glow motors and stuff and going full electric.  I have got my first system from RSM (very helpful with novices) and am thinking about putting it in a Brodak profile P-40 that I have.  The system I got is the: RSM 46 Sport Level Electric Power System (RSM46SYS) equal to .46 glow power. Includes KDA A36-10XL Motor, 45 Amp Speed Controller, KR Flight Manager, 3300 mAh 4 cell 30C Battery & 12X6 Pusher Prop.  The motor is a rear mount and comes with a bearing that I assume is for the front to steady the run, but I am not sure.

I also have a unused but assembled ARF Oriental that I am going to do with the next system I get.  So any tutorials on converting full bodies would be appreciated as well.  I got to tell you, the learning curve on this stuff is daunting.  When it comes to electricity, I am absolutely clueless.

Anyways....thanks in advance for any help here.

Hi Mike.  I have seen the Brodak conversion parts, but I believe they are designed for their system and don't know if they would work with RSM's.  I have no idea if its a universal mount, or if all electric motors have the same mounting dimensions.  But thank you very much for the info.

"The motor is a rear mount and comes with a bearing that I assume is for the front to steady the run, but I am not sure."
The bearing mounts on the rear to help support the shaft..RSM .46 system is firewall mounted vise nose mount so it needs the extra support. Should be instructions on it in the kit.That system will pull a Brodak P40B ARF with no problems. It is what I am running in mine.

Glenn,

Here's the Build Thread on my conversion to "E"

http://stunthanger.com/smf/index.php/topic,34230.0.html

I'm sure you could cut a few corners and make your changes a bit simpler, but I wanted to improve on the overall look of the design.

I glanced at that build a bit. There's also information there which covers other areas of building also.

Let me know if you take it in.

BTW. I saw your reply at the TEXACO 13 Build.

I'll get to that sometime today.

You're a good man Glenn.

Charles

Don't know what you are going to convert but let me throw in some things I found out when I replaced my engines with motors this fall.

If it is a 70's .35 size design the fuselage will probably be a bit narrower than you want and the nose shorter than you like.

Biggest problem is battery length.  All I can fit into my Nobler without cutting into the wing is a small 2200mah 4s.  I really want a 3300 5s in there - sorry, won't fit.  When they add capacity they all seem to add length.  The .46 and .60 ships from the 80's and 90's are no problem as far as I can see.

Another problem with the older designs is the short tail.  Batteries are HEAVY.

Airflow over the top of an inverted IC is not much of an issue.  The cases didn't get that hot while the engine was running.  Electrics do so you have to consider that and venting that airflow once you figure out where to get it from.

If you hook up your muffler pressure to the wrong tube you get a weird engine run.  If you hook up you battery to the wrong wire you get to log onto your supplier's website and order a new ESC or motor, maybe both.

Finally, if you want to cut out early and get in fly 5 flights on an IC before dark you just grab a can of fuel and head for the field.  Did you charge 5 batteries last night?

All I am saying is that it is not as easy to convert to electric as it is to build for it.  This is all from just converting two IC's and building one from scratch and I still have not learned 1/10 of all you have to know!  Was it worth it - hell yes.  Good luck and if you find a smaller battery or figure out what to do with all of those wires that don't want to bend where you want them to, let me know!

Ken

For a profile you can go to Lowe’s/HD and get a length of aluminum angle. Hacksaw two chunks off of the appropriate length, drill a few holes, and through-bolt them, one on each side if the fuselage, with the flats facing forward. Drill more holes for your motor to mount up. Pay attention to thrust angles.
You may have to whack some of the nose off and move the whole assembly forward or back for balance.
Glue a couple of small wooden rails to the inboard side of the fuselage, one above, one below the width of your battery to keep it from moving vertically. Use a two sided strip of Velcro (or two) to wrap around the fuse and battery to hold it against the fuse. If the battery can move fore and aft, put a rubber band around the battery to provide ‘grippage’ against the fuse.
ESC and timer fit nicely on a small ply plate glued to the bottom of the fuse. Use zip ties and sticky back Velcro to lash them down. With fuse mounted landing gear, I put that assembly between the struts where it’s nicely protected.

That's some real good advice on construction.  There seems to be a real lack of any tutorials on how to do this.  I have been trying to find something, but I can never seem to find any that show the entire thing.  The one part that I am really missing right now is how to capture the drive shaft bearing.  I got a diagram from RSM, but it is very poorly done and does not really show whats going on.  Its probably crystal clear to those who have done it a time or two, but to me it just is not as clear as I need.  A good couple of photo's would make all the difference, but they just don't seem to be around.

A few pics. One is on the inside of my Nobler from the back
Other is the Bulkhead motor mount from conversion kit

For rear mount profile conversion cut out a space for the motor where the engine use to sit. Center it so you have some hard wood engine bearers left top and bottom if you can. If not go lower to leave some hardwood on top. Then hog out the fuselage in back of the pocket between the doublers and glue in a piece of hard wood.

Then cut out 2 pieces of 1/8th 5 ply birch for the mount and glue them together. Make it a good bit bigger than your metal X mount. Epoxy lots of fiberglass cloth to the face of the mount and weight it face down on a flat surface with parchment paper for release. Glue the mount to the piece of hardwood you added at the back of the pocket and drill top and bottom for 2 small flat head wood screws. Add plywood gussets to the back of the mount.

Then you need to cut out a hole for the battery and build a box on the inboard side so the center line of the battery is in line with the fuselage. Build the box with plywood and hardwood this puts the strength back in the fuselage. Get the battery as close to the vertical CG as possible. Make some wire hooks and hold the battery in with rubber bands. You can also make wire hooks to hold the rest of the electric stuff with rubber bands below the battery.

The lead for the battery points aft and the lead on the ESC points forward so you can bend them around for connection on the middle, this is your arming situation. The wires to the motor can get bundled and zip tied in front of the ESC and the governor can be above and to the rear of the battery for easy access.

Hope that helps,
Motorman

P.S. I hate that extra bearing they give you. If you find a way to mount it in a wooden structure without binding let me know and I still won't use one. No need to cut the extra shaft off if you have a hole in the back for clearance.

Your method on My Twister.

Worked great. - Ken

You add a few grams on the motor usually you can remove more weight from the battery because the lower power consumption.

How do you remove weight from a battery?   I sent one of mine to Jenny Craig but it came back the same weight. Is there a chart somewhere that ranks batteries by size and weight?  I would just like to get two of the same mfg. to weigh the same.

Ken

PS - since converting I have noticed that there is no difference in power at the end of my pattern using a 2200 or a 2800.  The difference in usage is that the 2200 has about 16-18% remaining and the 2800 has about 22-24%.  The only effective difference seems to be that the 2800 is a bit heavier and 1/4" longer.  Just so that I would know what a dying battery fees like at the handle I have run both again to see what happens.  Both gave me at least 10 full power laps and the ESC shut the motor off at 3% on both of them and I had reduced power for about 2 laps on each.  Oh, I forgot, for those of you that understand this relationship (I am getting there but not there yet!) this was on a Cobra 2820/12 12x6 cut down to 11.5 at 9700rpm 5:40 run time.

My point here is not so much an analysis of what is happening here as it is a question of why we push for larger battery capacity than we need.  For example, I use a 5:40 flight time to give me the extra laps in case I need them.  If I cut 2 laps it to say 5:30 my 2200's would be at 20%. 

Now I'm looking at a bunch of models in my fleet to convert.

Later,
Mikey

I know what you mean.  I caught my OS46LA putting CA on it's mounting bolts.  They really do take it hard when you put them on the shelf.  It usually starts on 1 flip so I probably will leave it where it is but hanging next to my formerly OS35 powered Nobler is a constant reminder that things can change!

Well it appears I am NOT ordering the conversion kit for my Brodak P-40.  The $9.00 item will cost almost $30.00 to get it here!  I certainly do not understand that as the item should fit into an envelope of some sort.  I've had much bigger items sent to me for far less!  So buying from Brodaks is a no go for me.  Anyways, enough whining.  I am very grateful for all the great suggestions and advice.  It would seem the best thing to do is just start bashing something together and hope it works.  Thanks again everyone, I really do appreciate all the advice and help.

Just about everything that can be converted has been by now by someone so once you figure out what it is, let us know and I will bet we can find a thread somewhere with color pictures.  It is only a mystery once.

Ken

Thank you Neil.…..good idea.  I can order it now and pick it up when I go in!