LED lighting question

[smithguyaz]

Hello all! I have a Nero 6BLXthat I would like to add LED lighting to and am not quite sure where to wire the light interface to. I have an LED set that comes with a "multi-tap" interface (see below) that has its voltage supplied by a standard, servo type connector. My issue is that the Nero has the Diff Brain technology, so all of the channels are used up. Any suggestion on how to supply power to the LEDs? This isn't something that a BEC would come in handy, would it?

 

[mooq!]

You are right, that is exactly what a bec would do. You already have two servos running and using the built-in bec from the esc to power all your lights plus your servos and receivers might cause brownouts. Get a good stepping bec (much more effective and less heat) and use it to power your leds.
Another solution would be to use a second small battery to drive your lights.

 

[smithguyaz]

You are right, that is exactly what a bec would do. You already have two servos running and using the built-in bec from the esc to power all your lights plus your servos and receivers might cause brownouts. Get a good stepping bec (much more effective and less heat) and use it to power your leds.
Another solution would be to use a second small battery to drive your lights.

Thanks Mooq! for the reply! I will look into a BEC then. Any good sites you can suggest for the wiring/install of one? I'm still trying to wrap my head around how they work & and how they're installed.
I appreciate it!
Thanks!

 

[mooq!]

Pretty simple to do:
A bec is a device to step down the voltage of your battery to a desired voltage for your application. In your case to power your lighting.
I decided to use the Castle BEC 2 waterproof because my Kraton gets wet from time to time. But you can waterproof other BECs by gooping them up inside their shrinkwrap. You have to choose the right voltage for your application or get something programmable like the ones from Castle. Be aware that you have to consider what batteries you are using, in my case 6s, to get the right bec that can handle the input voltage.
I just installed one yesterday to drive my new Savöx 1210 servo at a higher voltage and took some images.
There are several ways of getting your power to your bec.
I opted to grab the power from the main cables running to the esc because I do not like additional adapters in my main power cables. You could solder one of those pretty easily by taking a pair of you battery-connectors, XT90 in my case, and some cables between them and do the same to them I did to the wires diectly. That way your cables would stay intact and you could remove the bec later on if you decided to.
In addition to the bec wires I connected a little jst plug into the line for later applications. (In your case that is not needed.)
How I did it:
I stripped away a small piece of the isolation of the main wires, used some flux on the wires and tinned the small section with solder. Then I soldered the wires of the bec onto the wires and shrink-wrapped the whole thing. Done.
In case you want to drive your receiver/servos with the bec you have to disconnect the middle wire from the esc plug going into the receiver because that is the power-line from the bec inside your speed controller, and that would interfere with the external bec. (In your case not needed.)
Here are some pictures:

 

[smithguyaz]

Pretty simple to do:
A bec is a device to step down the voltage of your battery to a desired voltage for your application. In your case to power your lighting.
I decided to use the Castle BEC 2 waterproof because my Kraton gets wet from time to time. But you can waterproof other BECs by gooping them up inside their shrinkwrap. You have to choose the right voltage for your application or get something programmable like the ones from Castle. Be aware that you have to consider what batteries you are using, in my case 6s, to get the right bec that can handle the input voltage.
I just installed one yesterday to drive my new Savöx 1210 servo at a higher voltage and took some images.
There are several ways of getting your power to your bec.
I opted to grab the power from the main cables running to the esc because I do not like additional adapters in my main power cables. You could solder one of those pretty easily by taking a pair of you battery-connectors, XT90 in my case, and some cables between them and do the same to them I did to the wires diectly. That way your cables would stay intact and you could remove the bec later on if you decided to.
In addition to the bec wires I connected a little jst plug into the line for later applications. (In your case that is not needed.)
How I did it:
I stripped away a small piece of the isolation of the main wires, used some flux on the wires and tinned the small section with solder. Then I soldered the wires of the bec onto the wires and shrink-wrapped the whole thing. Done.
In case you want to drive your receiver/servos with the bec you have to disconnect the middle wire from the esc plug going into the receiver because that is the power-line from the bec inside your speed controller, and that would interfere with the external bec. (In your case not needed.)
Here are some pictures:
View attachment 12369 View attachment 12370 View attachment 12368 View attachment 12371 View attachment 12372 View attachment 12373 View attachment 12374 View attachment 12375

Again, thank you so much for this wealth of information! I really do appreciate all of your help. The pictures are spot on, they really do get the point across. I'm assuming that I can power the LEDs with the control wire coming off of the BEC. Hopefully I got that right!

Thanks again!

 

[mooq!]

I don't think you can control the lighting with this unit, atleast that is what someone posted on hobby king in an review.
You could swith the whole thing on and off with one of those Turnigy switches.
I have one laying around but I don't have the time to try it out at the moment.

 

[smithguyaz]

Awesome! Thanks for the info, all went well! Pics are below, loving the way it looks now!

Here is the wiring prior to neatening up...

 

[mooq!]

Well done!
Looks good, glad I could help.