McRC Project 4WS part 2

Here is the progress so far:

I received in the final part for my 4WS conversion project: the aluminum servo mounts:

Now I get to have fun converting the rear axle for steering function.  Oh how I love to work on such small parts (too bad my hands disagree, and quite "loudly" at that).

Next item on the project check list was to test the electronics to verify they work.

The first nervous item is the brand new LiPo battery.  I got it setup to charge, and kept watch.  With the battery charging and using an extra receiver battery box, on/off switch, and 4 trusty AA alkaline batteries, I proceeded through the necessary steps to bind the receiver and transmitter.  Once I remembered to remove the bind plug, the Tx and Rx now had a solid relationship.  On to the server.  This was the easiest one by plugging it into the channel I want to use, turn on the gear, and move the stick.  Servo is ready for action.  Now on to the next nervous parts: ESC and motor.  I connected up the fully charged LiPo and followed the steps to setup the ESC for 2S LiPo.  A quick power cycle of the ESC and it was time to set it up for the radio. After following the setup steps, ESC is ready.  I turned off the ESC and connected the motor.  Now for the big moment.  I turned on the ESC, moved the stick for the channel I plugged it into, and...IT'S ALIVE!  All parts worked, and nothing smoked or overheated.

(just a little short video to show the success.)

Since the main electronics are working, it was time to install on the micro monster.  The old receiver/ESC was removed quite easily with a small standard screw driver.  With that out, it took me about an hour to figure out how to get the new receiver and ESC mounted.  This involved test fitting with the original body and actually trimming a now un-needed bit off the electronics mount, but I got them to fit though wire management might be an issue.

(rear servo in place only to help decide were to mount Rx and ESC.)

The current battery has also been removed.  I'm still deciding on where to mount the LiPo.

 

Next up is getting the new brushless motor in.  After that comes the rear axle conversion and rear servo mounting.

Once everything is in and working good, I'll get up a video that compares the old with the new.