Torque for Adams / Ace and other pulse actuators
Posted: 08 Jan 2024, 13:53
Hi all you single channel experts
I trying to fly a Sharkface I built with a Ace Pulse Commander and a newer Ace/Dorffler Rx. It's electric powered and I use a CL type timer for ESC/Motor control. The Rx is powered by a separate 2.4V NiMH battery. The Radio has plenty of ground range (about 270 ft, antenna down). BTW, I was originally trying to use a linear regulator off the ESC BEC but found ground range dropped to 1/3 the distance...evidently too much noise coming from the BEC through the linear regulator.
When I fly, the plane will initially roll left which I can correct but as it picks up speed it seems the actuator just doesn't have the ooomph to allow control,. I started with a Adams Std and then changed to a Stomper...same result. I am suspecting weak magnets and low torque of the probably 50 year old actuators. I attached pics of the linkage on the Sharkface and it is free and really has virtually no slop. I also posted a pic of my selection of actuators
Does anyone know the torque specs of the Ace actuators?
I do have a bunch of various actuators so I did a quickie bench test using 2 wheel collars to hold a fishing leader on the actuator wire and then hang lead fishing weights up to the point the actuator stops working properly. The wheel collars/leader weigh <5g. Unfortunatley, my scale reads in 5 g resolution, so it's not very accurate. Here are the torque results in g-cm:
Stomper #1 Coil=18.3ohm w/ 100ohm parallel / <12.5g-cm RETEST WITH SHORTER ARM LENGTH 6.5 g-cm
Twin Mag #2 (this might be a testors?) Coil=16ohm w/ 100ohm parallel / 10.5g-cm
Std #1 Coil 18.4ohm / 2 wheel collars only so <12.5g-cm RETEST WITH SHORTER ARM LENGTH 6.5 g-cm
Std #2 Coil 18.4ohm / 9 g-cm
Std #3 (Mattel) Coil 16.1ohm / 8 g-cm
Std #4 Coil 18ohm <7 g-cm RETEST WITH SHORTER ARM LENGTH 5 g-cm
Baby Twin #1 Coil 12.9ohm w/ 220ohm parallel / <7.5 g-cm RETEST WITH SHORTER ARM LENGTH 4.5 g-cm
------------
Baby Twin #2 Coil 29.3ohm
Baby #1 Coil 32ohm
The last 2 won't work reliably on 2,4V, I believe they are for 3.6V operation based on the coil resistance. I could get more accurate measurements on several by shortening the location of the wheel collars/leader....but they all just seem so weak. Many wouldn't take any weight at all added to the leader (those with a < sign)
for "fun" I measured a Hitec HS-55 and I ran out of weights at 308 g-cm (specs are 1300 g-cm). It's certainly not a powerhouse, but compared to an actuator it's a monster!
So...are my actuators weak??? I couldn't find specs anywhere.
Thanks,
Bill
I trying to fly a Sharkface I built with a Ace Pulse Commander and a newer Ace/Dorffler Rx. It's electric powered and I use a CL type timer for ESC/Motor control. The Rx is powered by a separate 2.4V NiMH battery. The Radio has plenty of ground range (about 270 ft, antenna down). BTW, I was originally trying to use a linear regulator off the ESC BEC but found ground range dropped to 1/3 the distance...evidently too much noise coming from the BEC through the linear regulator.
When I fly, the plane will initially roll left which I can correct but as it picks up speed it seems the actuator just doesn't have the ooomph to allow control,. I started with a Adams Std and then changed to a Stomper...same result. I am suspecting weak magnets and low torque of the probably 50 year old actuators. I attached pics of the linkage on the Sharkface and it is free and really has virtually no slop. I also posted a pic of my selection of actuators
Does anyone know the torque specs of the Ace actuators?
I do have a bunch of various actuators so I did a quickie bench test using 2 wheel collars to hold a fishing leader on the actuator wire and then hang lead fishing weights up to the point the actuator stops working properly. The wheel collars/leader weigh <5g. Unfortunatley, my scale reads in 5 g resolution, so it's not very accurate. Here are the torque results in g-cm:
Stomper #1 Coil=18.3ohm w/ 100ohm parallel / <12.5g-cm RETEST WITH SHORTER ARM LENGTH 6.5 g-cm
Twin Mag #2 (this might be a testors?) Coil=16ohm w/ 100ohm parallel / 10.5g-cm
Std #1 Coil 18.4ohm / 2 wheel collars only so <12.5g-cm RETEST WITH SHORTER ARM LENGTH 6.5 g-cm
Std #2 Coil 18.4ohm / 9 g-cm
Std #3 (Mattel) Coil 16.1ohm / 8 g-cm
Std #4 Coil 18ohm <7 g-cm RETEST WITH SHORTER ARM LENGTH 5 g-cm
Baby Twin #1 Coil 12.9ohm w/ 220ohm parallel / <7.5 g-cm RETEST WITH SHORTER ARM LENGTH 4.5 g-cm
------------
Baby Twin #2 Coil 29.3ohm
Baby #1 Coil 32ohm
The last 2 won't work reliably on 2,4V, I believe they are for 3.6V operation based on the coil resistance. I could get more accurate measurements on several by shortening the location of the wheel collars/leader....but they all just seem so weak. Many wouldn't take any weight at all added to the leader (those with a < sign)
for "fun" I measured a Hitec HS-55 and I ran out of weights at 308 g-cm (specs are 1300 g-cm). It's certainly not a powerhouse, but compared to an actuator it's a monster!
So...are my actuators weak??? I couldn't find specs anywhere.
Thanks,
Bill