LED problems

[mjotrainbrain]

Hey guys! New to the forums, but not to RC.

Just a short introduction before getting on to my question:
I have been into RC for 10 years, since I got my first RC (a Tamiya Hornet) when I was 7. My SCX10 Dingo is my favorite RC that I have ever had, and have enjoyed every minute of the last 2 years that I've had with it. Currently, I have almost $900 USD in it, yet it still has no lights....that is what I set out to change, especially now that winter is here and it gets dark at 6 o'clock. Here is the truck in question:



The LEDs I used are the 4 light strand from the Traxxas Summit. It is plugged into the Bind port on my Spektrum SR201 Reciever (which worked perfectly when I had this exact same receiver and lights in my Slash), but in my SCX10 the lights don't do much of anything...in fact, it is difficult to notice that they're even on! One thing that I noticed, which is rather strange, is if I turn the wheels while under load and then let the wheels center (thus suddenly taking the load off of the electrics), the lights get bright for an instant. Any ideas on how I can keep that brightness all the time? I really would like some good light on the truck, and this is just frustrating me...

[Jeepy84]

Judging by your steering load on the Rx, you don't have a BEC, I would start there.
Next, see what kind of voltage you're getting from the Rx, LEDs shouldn't be dimming unless you're already nearly starving them of power.

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[mjotrainbrain]

Originally Posted by Jeepy84

Judging by your steering load on the Rx, you don't have a BEC, I would start there.
Next, see what kind of voltage you're getting from the Rx, LEDs shouldn't be dimming unless you're already nearly starving them of power.

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Thank you very much! I was thinking a BEC might help, but I wasn't sure so I wanted to check here first and see if anybody else had an idea. Also, I will check the voltage, just haven't done that yet. I'll post the results if it's anything out of the ordinary...I should be getting about 6V, right?

[Jeepy84]

5-6v, yup. Depends on the age, manufacturer, etc.

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[svt923]

A BEC would definitely be a good idea. Besides the obvious benefit of extra power to the servo, small changes in voltages can have a dramatic effect on the output of leds. Assuming those Traxxas lights are wired for 6V, anything less than 5.8V or so will make them significantly less bright.

For even more light output, replace the headlights with a couple of these high output leds (wired in series) and set your BEC to 6.2V. That is the setup I have on one of my trucks and it is all the light I could need for night driving.

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/super-br...-heatsink.html

[k7zpj]

Originally Posted by mjotrainbrain

Hey guys! New to the forums, but not to RC.

Just a short introduction before getting on to my question:
I have been into RC for 10 years, since I got my first RC (a Tamiya Hornet) when I was 7. My SCX10 Dingo is my favorite RC that I have ever had, and have enjoyed every minute of the last 2 years that I've had with it. Currently, I have almost $900 USD in it, yet it still has no lights....that is what I set out to change, especially now that winter is here and it gets dark at 6 o'clock. Here is the truck in question:



The LEDs I used are the 4 light strand from the Traxxas Summit. It is plugged into the Bind port on my Spektrum SR201 Reciever (which worked perfectly when I had this exact same receiver and lights in my Slash), but in my SCX10 the lights don't do much of anything...in fact, it is difficult to notice that they're even on! One thing that I noticed, which is rather strange, is if I turn the wheels while under load and then let the wheels center (thus suddenly taking the load off of the electrics), the lights get bright for an instant. Any ideas on how I can keep that brightness all the time? I really would like some good light on the truck, and this is just frustrating me...

The Summit LEDs are designed to be powered at 6 V. If you are running them at 5V then they are going to be a lot dimmer due to resistors in the string being too high and limiting the current too much.