DX-6 regulator mod?

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

I felt like my DX6 had a short battery life, I even went so far as to purchase an after market 1000mah battery pack.

Someone just pointed me to this website.
Anyone try this? I hear it is the chickens biscuit for the aircraft guys.
:confused:
http://www.dimensionengineering.com/appnotes/spektrum_mod/spektrum_mod.htm

http://www.instructables.com/id/EOXE7JRF03GBB2D/

The person that asked was looking for an electronic technician to do his.
Didn't JohnMCA mention someone the Texas combat guys use?

What about Galaxy hobbies? Has the worldest greatest Technician been replaced? :(

[Corner]

Those power regulators are buggers for leaching power from the batteries you can easily tell how efficient they are by how much heat they give off.

This mod should be a walk in the park... If worst comes to worst you could just bring spare batteries...

[Kmot]

Cool! I'm there! I have been running out of Tx batt before my boat runs out of batt!

Thanks Umi! :D

[Brooks]

It's not a walk in the park: the pads that the original regulator are soldered to are very small and will lift off the PC board. I've made the mod, and you do get much longer battery life. My friend did the same, and his TX no longer works :-(. We don't know what he did wrong. There is a humungous thread giving tips and traps, be sure to read it before attempting this mod.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=548325&page=7&pp=15

[Kmot]

I just placed my order. :D

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

The person that wanted help had someone, that had been doing several of these mods for people, work on his, but for some reason over heated his, and one other persons circuit board. So They both had to have horizon hobby repair their transmitters.

I can see doing this myself, but I doubt that I would risk damaging someone elses radio to do this or a dual stick mod...

[green-boat]

Tomorrow I'm going to a hobby swap meet and maybe I'll get lucky and find a good deal on a DX-6 so I can try out this mod/upgrade.

[Kmot]

I have made solder repairs to Novak esc circuit boards. I ain't skeered! :D

[MILLERTIME]

I did this mod to my DX6, piece of cake.
I cut the regulator pins and then disoldered one pin at a time. I think this made it easier.

Don M.

[patmat2350]

Sounds cool. For those who are skeered to hack, you can TRIPLE run time with a 2000 mAh NiMH pack. But you really don't want to trickle charge those, need to pull it out and run on a regular battery charger at 2A charge rate.

Pat M

chickens biscuit???

[Frank Hurd]

If you follow the instructions per the Radio thread, it is an easy mod. I made the mod after changing my 6102 to a 6102DX. I use a 3S 900 mah TP pack and can fly for a couple of weekends before charging again. The Regulator mod really works well. I have another DX tx that is dedicated to boats and it will have the Regulator mod. I now, routinely, change my tx packs to lipos. 3S packs are becoming very inexpensive. Just make sure to remove them from the tx when charging. I use a 50 calibre ammo can to charge my batteries in for safety's sake. The two pin red connectors on most small lipo packs will fit the DX battery pins and no modifications are needed to the pack leads.
Frank

[sgil2001]

I did the mod on my DX6 without any problems. Only took a few minutes. I tried the same mod on my DX7 and two of the pads lifted. Had a heck of a time fixing things with small wire jumpers to the appropriate place on the pc board. Just be very careful if you do the mod. Better yet, cut the legs on the old regulator and solder the new reg. to the legs.

[Kmot]

Better yet, cut the legs on the old regulator and solder the new reg. to the legs.

Smart idea!


I use a 50 calibre ammo can to charge my batteries in for safety's sake.

I store, and charge in a BBQ! :cool:

[patmat2350]

And I thought you were just warming you Lipolys...

[Brooks]

My friend with the dead radio (after adding the new voltage regulator) sent it back to Spektrum for repair. They will remove the new voltage regulator and replace it with a stock, darn-near-useless one :-/ I am not sure what it is going to cost him. Alas, he sent it back before I could repair it for him...but then again, maybe he avoided an even bigger repair problem, :-).

Radical RC has replacement batteries for lots of Tx's, and we ordered a nice 1650mah NiMH for each of us (SKU Number:RRC08H1650S, with the white JR Spektrum connector, $30.00). That is certainly a safer way to get longer runtimes, if you are hesitant about risking your Tx. Dave at Radical has always delivered my orders very quickly, beating my local Hobbytown store by weeks, for instance.

When I researched the Tx failure on the thread, it appeared that there are 3 causes: a) lifted pad, b) cold solder joint c) wrong voltage regulator installed (they may have changed this, but the original Dimension Engineering order page defaulted to the 5 volt output regulator, not the 3.3 volt regulator that the Specktrum needs...be sure to double check your order, and the part when it arrives). A confusing feature of the installation process is that the LCD screen will fire up just fine even if you screwed up the new regulator installation. So, be sure to test your modified Tx with a Rx to be sure you are ok, before buttoning up the Tx.

http://radicalrc.secure-mall.com/shop/?shop=1&cat=20&cart=596063

[patmat2350]

http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=260

$26 for TWO 2200 mAh NiMH, though you'll probably have to swap connectors.
Can't guarantee that you won't get what you pay for (!), but mine are doing fine...

PM

[Brooks]

Nice price, Pat. The connector on the Spektrum is so chinsy, I am happy to pay the extra 2 bucks to get them installed by Dave, but 2 batteries for the price of one is hard to beat.

Dave at Radical is a battery fanatic :-). Lots of good info on his site, even if you don't buy from him. He was one of the first, for example, to push for balancing Lipo cells. At the time, his were, I believe, the only lipo's with center taps to allow you to do this without tearing your lipos apart. Now, Eflight, for instance, sells it's CX helicopter with center tap lipos and includes a charger with the chopper that does the balancing automatically.

[Kmot]

Got the new regulator Saturday and had a chance just now to install it. I first heated up the solder pad and lifted the factory stock regulator up. Then I cut the pins and straightened them with needle nose pliers. Then I bent them to a 45° angle and soldered the new regulator pins to the old pins. Then I bent it back to the board. At this point, one pin lifted off the pc board but it didn't break. I soldered it again and so far the Tx powers up like normal.

[Brooks]

Kmot, that's great, glad it worked out. Thanks for the photos, too.

[RCheroske]

How come the factory doesn't use the new regulator?

[Kmot]

Only Horizon knows the answer to that one!

[Kmot]

Tested the Tx this morning. Works like normal, except after 1.5 hours my battery meter still was reading 10.1V :D

Awesome mod!

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

I did my mod in a similar fashion to Kmot.

Working well. Ran two days in a row, with no charging, and no power problems.

:cool: :cool: :cool:

[tim slocum]

Stupid question,what voltage does a DX6 run at?

[tim slocum]

Ok, I did a little checking around on this radio.As you guys/gals probably already know the DX6 runs on 9.6v.So heres a stupid idea from someone alot less experienced as you folks,so dont be too rough on me.Why not just get a battery holder from Radio shack for 8-AA rechargeable batteries and wire it up?I did this with one of my radios.I used 8-AA 2500mah Nihd batteries from WalMart.I've used them several times and their still going strong.Just a thought.

[Kmot]

Tim, I am going to slap you with a wet noodle!!! :D

Just kidding! Okay, the DX-6 comes with a 600mAh battery. Puny! As Patmat stated you can buy a pair of 2400 mAh replacement batteries for $25 plus shipping. Good deal, and you get 4 times the endurance of the stock battery.

Now, the fancy new regulator gives the stock battery double or triple the running time it used to have. For less money. That's good, but if you don't want to chance wrecking your radio with a bad modification job you can just get the higher capacity battery.

Or, you can get the regulator and do that mod, plus get a high capacity battery and charge the Tx maybe once a year!! ;) just kidding again, but figure it would be at least 8 times the stock endurance and maybe 12 times. Stock endurance is 3 hours, approximately. With the regulator mod, it is 6 or 9 hours. With a battery change it is 12 hours. With a battery change AND a regulator mod it is potentially 24 to 36 hours endurance!

[Kmot]

There is another online battery company that I have been doing business with for awhile:

https://www.all-battery.com/index.asp

I just ordered two 2000 mAh radio Tx battery packs for $24.99 and there is a discount code for free shipping plus 5% off:

memorialday

[tim slocum]

Kmot, thanks for clearing that up for me...and I ducked,so you missed with the wet noodle...ha! Have a nice day.

[slotracer577]

That would work if you dont run all day. I ran a 1800 mah pack dead in a days sailing, so the regulator mod gives me a little extra insurance so I wont run out of batteries at an inopertune moment. Did it to my DX 6 and DX 7 with no issues, cut the stock regulator leads, then they came off once I put some heat to them. Just solder down the new regulator and good to go.

John

Ok, I did a little checking around on this radio.As you guys/gals probably already know the DX6 runs on 9.6v.So heres a stupid idea from someone alot less experienced as you folks,so dont be too rough on me.Why not just get a battery holder from Radio shack for 8-AA rechargeable batteries and wire it up?I did this with one of my radios.I used 8-AA 2500mah Nihd batteries from WalMart.I've used them several times and their still going strong.Just a thought.

[MILLERTIME]

Kmot,
Do you have the part number for the2000 mAh radio Tx battery packs?
I can't find them.

Thanks
Don M.

[Kmot]

Here you go Don.

Single pack:

https://www.all-battery.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=166

Double Pack:

https://www.all-battery.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=512

[MILLERTIME]

Thanks Tom. :)

[Kmot]

Don, I received my battery packs yesterday. In order to use them in the DX6 the plug will have to be changed. Instead of cutting off the plug from the factory DX6 pack I am going to my lhs and see if he has the correct plugs available.

[Kmot]

Got a battery plug to match the DX6 from my lhs.

WARNING!

You must wire the connector backwards to work in a JR/Spektrum radio. Confounded JR just has to go backwards to normal convention.

So, I wired it up and cut the wires short because all that excess is not needed. I also placed a label on the battery so I would know it was backwards wired ini case I ever remove it later for some reason.

[MILLERTIME]

Thanks again Tom,
Can you still use the DX6 charger?

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

Got a battery plug to match the DX6 from my lhs.

WARNING!

You must wire the connector backwards to work in a JR/Spektrum radio. Confounded JR just has to go backwards to normal convention.

So, I wired it up and cut the wires short because all that excess is not needed. I also placed a label on the battery so I would know it was backwards wired ini case I ever remove it later for some reason.

Couldn't you have just lifted the plastic retainer clips on the plug, and pulled the wire and contacts out? Then put the wires back into the plug the way you needed them?

[Kmot]

Tried that once before on another plug. Basically ruins the plug. And then you would have a black wire connecting to the + on the radio which could lead to possibly more confusion.

Don, yes I am using the stock charger right now to charge up that 2000 mAh pack.

[sgil2001]

I've decided to sell my DX6 in case anybody is interested. I switched my boats over to the DX7 recently and I'd rather just carry one tranmitter to the lake.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=701910#post7656569

[MILLERTIME]

Did the battery mod, easy as pie.
I got my batteries on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Two-9-6V-2000mAh-NiMH-Square-Transmiter-Batteries_W0QQitemZ330139713689QQihZ014QQcategoryZ 34056QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

Thanks
Tom

[Kmot]

Kewl.... :cool:

[Aerominded]

I went "Spektrum" today and finally bought a DX6...

Looks like this mod is worthwhile! :)

Just to review the above on batteries: JR/Spektrum really went against convention of black- red+ ??? :eek: :confused: I know, I know, I see what you did there Kmot but I am stunned!!! :eek:

I went ahead and bought a 2700mA Ni-MH pack which I will do the conversion on...

The other thing... Do I understand right that the "stock" Ni-CD charger that came with the radio can be used to charge the Ni-MH replacement battery while on board?

Thanks! :)

[Brooks]

Spektrum follows the normal color code of red = +.

They don't follow the normal RC Tx recharge plug configuration of center = plus, but rather the Spektrum center tap is negative. This is why you can't use a Futaba wall cube to recharge Spektrum Tx's (well, you could if you swapped the leads of the plug, but then it'd be useless for your Futaba Tx's).

I don't know about their internal battery plug conventions, other than to say that Dave at Radical RC wired my replacement battery correctly, with red wire of battery going to the labeled positive pole in the Tx. The label on the Tx pc board is pretty small writing, btw; I just recorded the correct red wire terminal before removing the original battery, only later discovering the printed label.

The small white plug used to hook battery to Tx is not symetrical wrt plug thickness; you can only attach the female to the male one way. Perhaps the white plugs Kmot purchased were wired "backwards" wrt plug thickness and that is why he found it necessary to hook black plug wire to red battery wire.

[Kmot]

The other thing... Do I understand right that the "stock" Ni-CD charger that came with the radio can be used to charge the Ni-MH replacement battery while on board?

Yes, but it will take a lot longer for it to fully charge that 2700 mAh battery.

I don't know about their internal battery plug conventions, other than to say that Dave at Radical RC wired my replacement battery correctly, with red wire of battery going to the labeled positive pole in the Tx.

If he built that pack for you, then he wired it up to look conventional. I will bet you dollars to donuts that if you take that pack out of your SPektrum and try it in a Futaba or Hitec you will fry something.

Aero, if you try to wire it up without reversing the connector you will blow the fuse in the Tx. The fuse is a short version glass tube fuse of 0.25 Amp capacity in case you do blow it.

[Brooks]

Kmot, I don't think we really have a disagreement. It is the asymmetry of the little white plug that causes the problem (and the radio manufacturer's choice of how to implement that asymmetry), not the reversal of red/black. If you say the little white plug would not orient correctly in a Futaba, I believe you.

I have charged both the original Spektrum NiCd and the replacement RadicalRC NiMH battery outside the Tx with my fancy German charger. In both cases, I just connected red charger wire to red battery wire, and nothing bad happened. Thus, my contention that red = + is ok for Spektrum's Tx batteries.

[Kmot]

Correct. We are talking the same thing. Outside the radio, positive is positive. Can't change physics. And you better test with a VOM to verify before you hook up a charger. :p

That is why I labeled my Tx replacement battery.

But if we don't make that clear, someone like Aerominded will wonder why he is popping fuses when connecting the 'red to red' in his Spektrum with a replacement battery.

Verify your polarity with a VOM before connecting your Tx to battery.

[Aerominded]

Correct. We are talking the same thing. Outside the radio, positive is positive.

Hummm, I read 'outside the radio' as everything from the battery plug back to the battery (I understand this is separate from the JR charging jack reversal issue)

On the outside, wouldn't that be red red + black black - ? The asymmetrical "only one way on" plug would basically dictate which way the electrons flow through the radio? :confused:

Don't want to pop any fuses!!! :eek:

[Kmot]

This is exactly what I feared would happen. Confusion.

Just use a VOM, and if you are replacing the battery connector simply be sure you have "+" on the battery harness connector going to "+" on the Tx end of the plug inside the Tx. In the case of the replacement batteries I purchased, I had to switch the colors as you see in the photos.

[Aerominded]

Hee hee, I confuse easily! :o ;) :)

Totally agree on verifying polarity... but for those that rely on colors...

I guess a question would be, the plug you bought as a replacement, was it a JR part or aftermarket? I can't imagine that JR would invite the red black confusion, assuming folks were using these to adapt existing battery packs... Or was the problem possibly with the way your replacement battery pack was rigged at the factory (defect)?

:)

[Kmot]

As received, the battery plugs into a Futaba radio just fine.

The connector I bought was packaged by Maxx Products (MPI) and it is labeled as a "White plug for JR Tx".

Futaba/Hitec and JR do not mix. The wires have to be reversed.

[expat flyer]

I've done the regulator mod on both my DX6's - I have one mode 1 and one mode 2.
Both successful in spite of the fragile pcb tracks lifting.

One TX has stock 1600 battery and the other a replacement 2700. Both suffer from loose connector plugs so have to be very careful not to shock the TX.

The supplied charger is only available with US pins and 110v supply so is no use in Europe. I believe many european suppliers take out the charger to avoid confusion and damage. I would recommend anyone who has non-JR equipment as well as the DX6 to throw away the JR charger and swap the wires to the charge socket so a 'normal' charger can be used for all your radios. I'm not sure if I was lucky or what but I blew the internal 3A fuse before I did the mod, without any other damage to the TX.

A final warning, if you use large batteries do not charge at high rates or you may well have an internal explosion or fire. That does mean you will have to put up with a 20 hour charge at 160mA for the pleasure of 18 hours useful life! My LHS said I could charge the 2700 at 1A - maybe if the battery was removed for cooling - but the result was a big bang and a melted rear case that looks pretty ugly. If I had not been in range of the stuff at the time it would certainly have been a destroyed TX - if not worse a burnt out workshop. Good idea to always do your charging out of range of all flammable materials - not just for the dreaded LiPo's.

Jerry

[Brooks]

No Nickel-based battery should be fast charged (ie charged at a rate greater than C/10) until it has been slow charged and discharged at a normal usage at least once and maybe twice. The logic board in your smart, fast charger is expecting normal cell statistics, and they don't exist for new batteries, or for ones that have been unused for a long time. Restore those normal cell patterns with a slow, C/10 charge before hooking up your battery to a smart fast charger. I fast charge my 1650mah NiMH Tx battery at 1 amp rate, but I followed above guidelines first. I can detect no excess heat from the battery. I use the Orbit Microlader charger on Reflex setting.

[Michael Johnson]

Thanks for the help.

[Brooks]

Kmot, I think the simplest explanation of your battery problem is that your vendor sent you a battery wired for Futaba, not the one you requested wired for Spektrum. Vendor error is the problem. You reversed the wires so that the plug would work for Spektrum. You had to do this because of vendor error, not Spektrum error or Spektrum color mixup/reversal.

There is no black/red confusion in a Spektrum vs. a Futaba (I don't work for either of them, I'm just a retired hobbiest). Red in Futaba=red in Spektrum= Positive, black Futaba=black Spektrum= negative. The only differences between the two radio brands are:

A) The charge socket in the Tx case is wired opposite wrt the center pole, ie Futaba center tap wants positive, Spektrum center tap wants negative (look at the diagram on the respective company's wall cube charger). You could use either charger with either Tx as long as you made sure that the charger's plug's center tap was putting out the correct polarity. You could do this by cutting the wires between cube and it's plug and then twisting them up to do the job needed for the Tx you are charging at the time. Room for mistake, so I don't do it this way, but there is nothing electrically wrong with the process.

b) The little white plug on the battery will only go into it's socket *one way*. Futaba chose to use the left hand side for +, Spektrum chose to use the right hand side for +. Again, there is no difference between the two companies wrt color, the difference is just the position of the battery's positive red wire in the white plug. (bear in mind that left and right are defined by how you look at the plug, and are thus unique to the definer, ie. me. You may look at the plug differently than me and thus call my left your right...so don't take my left and right literally if you are wiring up some white plugs, but check your radio for indication of which is which wrt polarity).

You can rewire your Spektrum's Tx charge socket, if you want, to allow a Futaba cube to charge your Spektrum Tx and your Futaba.
You can cut the cube's wires to allow you to set it up to charge either Tx.
You can label each company's cube *at the plug* to remind you which brand the unmodified cube will work with (what I did).
You can rewire a battery, if necessary, so that it's polarity matches the requirements of the Tx.
You can send back a battery that is wired incorrectly.
Lots of options :-).

[LtDoc]

FWIW
Which pin of the connector is positive/negative goes back a few years to when most devices were made with a metal case, and it was a safety feature, sort of. This goes back even further to when the common, or ground wire was chosen to be negative polarity (thank you General Motors!).
Since the plug for most power connections typically had one of it's connections exposed, if not both, there was the possibility of that exposed connector touching the case/chassis of something that would short it out, bad news. So, if all exposed connections were made the same polarity, then the likely hood of shorting something was less likely. And since people could also provide a path to ground, it sort of kept people from getting shocked when they had'a hold of something and touched something else. (I never made that sort of mistake, I'm too smart! And it can hurt like @#$$!)
So, depending on what the connector/connection looks like, it's a fairly good idea to make the shell, or outer conductor path the most common. The center pin, conductor, connection is also sort of shorter than the outer one, right? Same reason, keeps things from making accidental contact.
All that was discovered back during those 'dark ages' of electrical/electronic history when most/some thingys had a metal case. In this new enlightened era when most/some things have a plastic case, it isn't exactly something that ~has~ to be done. Certainly doesn't hurt, but no biggy.
- 'Doc

(General Motors didn't really decide how that was going to be done, but they certainly helped. Ever thought of how you'd put in a radio/cd player, whatever if the @#$ Ford had a positive ground? They did, I did, and swapped the thingy over to a negative ground. That's fun too!)

[green-boat]

But let's not forget that electrons actually flow from negitive to positive not positive to negitive.

[LtDoc]

...Ah! But in the case of shorting things, it doesn't make a lot of difference, does it. And then there's the 'hole' theory of looking at electronics, instead of the 'electron' thingys. I had enough of a headache learning that @#$%, I don't care to go back over it again! - lol
- 'Doc

[green-boat]

... I had enough of a headache learning that @#$%, I don't care to go back over it again! - lol
- 'Doc
I hear you there, that's why I didn't go into detail. We don't need to confuse the others out there any more. LOL