There should be an idiot's guide.

No, wait -- there is an idiot's guide.  Several of them, in fact.  The best one, if you just want to buy your way to success, is the packages offered by Brodak's.

Go to the Brodak's site, click on their link to their electric stuff, and then look for the EPS-40, EPS-50, and EPS-60.  Look at the kits that they're recommended for, and get the one that roughly matches the size of your plane.  If in doubt, get a bigger one and a collection of propellers to fool around with -- the only down side you'll create for yourself is weight.

The biggest problem of all is that there are so many choices.  The second biggest is that there's a lot of folks that don't know a lot about electronics or basic physics giving out advice (and really, you don't need to know much of either).  The third biggest is the whole market niche thing -- we don't command a big enough market share for some big company to make products specifically for us, so getting things to work is all about adapting ESCs and whatnot to our use.  The fourth biggest problem is that the market is still new, so the choices of timers is constantly changing (and not well advertized, because of the third biggest problem).

Edit:

Sorry, the thing to look at on Brodak's site is their "Arrowind Power Systems" chart:http://brodak.com/media/pdf/Arrowind_Power_Systems.pdf.  You still have to match from whatever you're building to the similar Brodak kit, but everything is selected by an expert to play well together

I think another part of the problem is that some people just panic as soon as watts or amps or volts enter into the conversation.  If you can't grasp the relationship among those, then it gets hard to understand how to pick a green battery if you happen to have a part number for a red one.

when we all started I/c we latched onto someone who knew and was guided by them ,the problem is now people are dissecting electric too much as the world is all computers now
the days of simplicity has gone

 The list that Chris lists at the top of the forum is so helpful ,it certainly helped me and many others ...

paul

When I first got into electric what I looked for in a motor was one that would swing the same size prop at the same RPMs as the nitro burner I was replacing.  That approach worked for me.  I did have the advantage of understanding batteries and chargers.  I have had less trouble getting electrics to run then I ever had with nitro.  I still have trouble getting a 2 cycle nitro run right.  I have had better luck with 4 cycle runs (scale).  The bottom line is electric is no harder than nitro.  I will admit a burn out (up) of an electric can be expensive.  but my last venture with nitro destroyed an airplane when it would quit every time I went inverted.  My advice is to stick with whatever works for you.  If you are just starting out learn electric.  It is the wave of the future.  As with any new sport read all you can and read some more.

 

Speaking as a new to electric control line flyer, I don't find the packages offered by Brodak or RSM to be all that informative. Yes, you can "buy your way to success", but it doesn't help me to understand certain terms I see bandied about on this forum. Terms like 'outrunner' and 'inrunner' come to mind immediately, but there are others.

All permanent magnet motors have magnets and coils; the coils make electromagnets that work against the permanent magnets to generate torque.

All the brushless motors that we use attach the magnets to the stationary part, that gets bolted to the airframe.  The magnets are attached to the part that rotates.

Inrunners put the magnets inside and the coils outside.

Outrunners put the magnets outside and the coils inside.

I need pictures, but don't have 'em -- sorry.

I've seen the explanations of battery capacity, number of cells, charge rates, and all the other happy stuff that 'help' you choose the right battery. Motors, on the other hand, are a bit of a mystery. Having seen a mathematical formula to determine how many watts you need to fly a given model, I find it confusing to see the motors rated in kV. Further study shows a range of voltage the motor can handle, as well as a range of amps. So, one can figure out watts.

You understand volts, watts and amps.  Good.

You need the kV rating of the motor in addition to the rated current and voltage.  Basically, the kV tells you how fast the motor will spin for a given voltage, in RPM per volt.  Put one volt on a 1000 RPM/volt motor, and it'll go 1000 RPM (more or less - ratings never tell the whole story).  Generally, the higher the kV the fewer batteries you need, but the more current the motor will pull to generate the same power.

Again generally, two motors that are otherwise identical but have different windings will weigh the same, turn the same speed, produce the same power, use the same power and otherwise act the same, but the one with fewer windings (with thicker wire) will have a higher kV and will use fewer volts (and more amps) to do the same thing as the one with more windings will do with more volts and fewer amps.

Then come other questions that might seem like a no-brainer, but for the newbie it might be important. Like, if I have a .25 (IC) sized model, Ringmaster, Flite Streak, etc., can I invest in a .35 equivalent electric package for use in a larger plane, but use it in the smaller plane as well. I would think that you could easily dampen the performance by downsizing the prop and dialing in a few less RPMs. There would be a weight penalty, but for someone just getting into it perhaps it would be more economical to buy one 'system'.

If you have two motors of the same kV rating and different power ratings, then unless the size difference is huge pretty much the only thing you'll change going from the smaller motor to the larger one is weight.  That's assuming the same batteries, ESC, and prop.  You may even gain a bit in efficiency.

The big weight and cost penalty is the batteries -- if you get too much battery then your plane has to lug it around all the time, while if you don't get enough then you get short battery life and possibly flights that are unsatisfactory at the end.

Most forums have a sticky at the top of the page for FAQs such as this, to help newbies such as me to get those repeated questions covered in one easy to find spot. Since the idiot's guide has already been covered, perhaps someone could start a sticky called Electric Control Line for Dummies. I for one would appreciate it. Compatability charts, equivalent power charts, Pro's and Con's of each piece of equipment, and idiosyncrasies, considerations, or characteristics of these items.

That'd be nice.

Most forums have a sticky at the top of the page for FAQs such as this, to help newbies such as me to get those repeated questions covered in one easy to find spot. Since the idiot's guide has already been covered, perhaps someone could start a sticky called Electric Control Line for Dummies. I for one would appreciate it. Compatability charts, equivalent power charts, Pro's and Con's of each piece of equipment, and idiosyncrasies, considerations, or characteristics of these items ...

message received.
  Dean P.

Tim,
I think we sometimes make things sound more complicated then they are or need to be. When I started in ECL about 2 years ago, I started reading this forum and I asked what was a good starting point. Well at the time it seemed no one could just say what motor, ESC, timer and battery to use for a particular size ship. I was asked all kinds of questions and told it all depends on X Y Z etc. I didn't buy this and decided to take advantage of the "list your setup" area.

I copied Bob Hunts Genesis package except I originally used an A123 pack because I wasn't sure about the safety of the Lipo's. I call Bob and found that if you are just starting using the "fixed rpm" mode in the Castle 45 ESP to set the rpm,  use the timer (a Zrton II) it to control the flight time only was pretty straight forward. Granted as you get into it you can play with the power curves and timing etc. But for just starting this gave you the equivalent of a very good upright Fox 35, 10x6 prop, 4oz uniflow tank, 5% Super Fuel set-up (I know there are better engines than the Fox but this is an example of a typical setup that works well without an in-depth knowledge of details).

As I flew and read more I picked up the lingo and terms and start changing out stuff to make it more like a good tuned pipe. I still fly the simple setup on some ships as it is as good or better then most IC setups.

Best,        DennisT

Bob Hunt sent the "Rudy Taube’s electric cookbook:" to me. I have not read through it completely, but maybe it can be made a sticky if it meets approval.

For a new flier (or even a convert's first venture in ECL) would be to start with a Brodak Super Clown package. That will get them going and then they can get crazy into it like the rest of us.

Best,      DennisT