Hi,
I'm starting this thread to keep track of working brushless bricks and the technical data on how to do it. Please post which brushless controllers work with the converters.

I used the converter designed by QUAX and sold by TheSteve here: http://thesteve.ca/walkera/ with a Cessna brick and a YGE4 brushless controller.

Hook up is as shown in the link with the yellow wire going to the FET gate as shown in the picture below.

I built my converter onto a female JST connector and soldered that onto the brick so my YGE just plugs in. Other mounting methods/hard wired should work just as well

Tested with one cell on the bench and in the air, works great. I have not tried 2 cells but I THINK the brick maybe ok at 5V BEC voltage, try at your own risk.
Mike

Edit: Note that you won't be able to program your ESC when it's attached to the converter/brick. You will need to have a normal rx to program the ESC.

This is very cool. I need to check it out.

It should be mentioned that the brush to less converter designed by Quax has the entire project available down in the DIY section. You will need to make your own circuit boards, and be able to program the AVR, but for those that can, the info is there. (sorry Steve). Just wanted to make sure those that can do this know where to look for the info. Also note that Steve may have changed a couple of things with this adapter, so his version may indeed be better. He works with the AVR chips, so his knowledge base and resources extend pretty far.

Also for the price Steve is charging, it will be hard to justify the DIY route unless you really want to do it yourself. Yes you can make them for around the $15USD, but there is going to be a bunch of work to do. I think I am going to be lazy and just grab a couple from him when the Vapor bricks are in good supply, not worth my time to build it myself.

Now if we can only get a brushed to direct connection brushless controller (connect motor to adapter without another ESC), you could save that extra gram!

Thanks VI, I forgot to mention the DIY route. Here's the link http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=744929

There really isn't much to it so I doubt a board is really needed, in fact Steve does his without a board. For most people I think Steve's is probably the best way to go unless you already have a programer. $15USD is really the easy, quick way to go brushless.

Mike

Cheapest reliable programmer is the AVRDragon, and that will set you back about $40-$50. So he builds these dead bug style? Surprised he didn't build up a little circuit board with surface mount stuff. I'll have to look more closely at the schematic and see what I think my approach would be. Circuit boards just lend themselves to "mass" production.

It's only 3 components and 4 wires. Steve does a very good dead bug with glue for strain relief and shrink covering for protection. End result is a very light assembly.
Mike

Subscribing

John

That for posting this Mike. Even though I sell the converters I fully support and will still help anyone else that makes there own!

I've pondered going brushless in one of my Vapors. I was thinking of making an even smaller converter and using the new 1 gram esc. I think I can get the converter down to 0.1 grams(or less) and the brushless ESC is 0.42 grams with all wires removed.

Question is, what motor/gear/prop combo do we run?

Hi,
I through this together to answer the question that's bound to come shortly.
Mike

Steve,

What would it take to get a single AVR device that will read the brushed motor signal, and output the pulses for the brushless motor? After that all you would need are some FETs and a whole step could be skipped, along with the extra weight (not that is weighs much). Just a thought for a product that is still lacking.

Originally Posted by village_idiot

Steve,

What would it take to get a single AVR device that will read the brushed motor signal, and output the pulses for the brushless motor? After that all you would need are some FETs and a whole step could be skipped, along with the extra weight (not that is weighs much). Just a thought for a product that is still lacking.

That exists actually, its the SBL-Flea from Quax. There are two different software versions for the ESC. One is driven via regular receiver PWM. The second version will connect direct to the motor negative output of a 1S brushed ESC and use regular motor PWM to driven the brushless ESC. The PCB can be purchased from an online store in Germany. It uses an Atmel mega8l or mega88v. Assembled without any wires its about 1.2 grams.

Nice idea building the converter into a connector!

This converter does not change the current limit of the FET, correct? So, if one were to combine Dan Schlarlach's mod to increase the current limit to 2A, with this mod, it should theoretically work? (emphasis on theoretical).

Hmmm.... That sounds like a better deal. Is there a thread on the SBL-Flea? I don't think I've seen it.

It would be my understanding that with this mod the only current the original FET would be carrying is the signal. The brushless ESC would be carrying the motor load which would be limited only by the specs of this ESC.

John