Carbon Rods For Electrical Connections

Tritium

Amateur Extra Class K5TWM
Has anyone experimented with carbon rods as conductors to supply power between points. I know it has some resistance but what I am wondering is if it might be possible to use a part of the framework of a TINY quad copter design I am working on to supply current to the 5 gram motors from the esc's. The rods are isolated from contact with each other and common contact on the frame. I suspect that the resistance will be a killer of the idea but possibly someone has already experimented in this area. The rods in question are 3 mm diameter with a 1 mm hollow core and 6" long.

Thurmond
 

sandblaster

Senior Member
I don't thing they will conduct at all. Have a short piece of round carbon rod and it has totally resistance, no current flows using a Fluke ohm meter to test. Use the carbon rods to run wires down the middle sounds like a much better plan.
 

Tritium

Amateur Extra Class K5TWM
Mine is from rcfoam.com and a 6" piece measures 1.8 ohms end to end on my Fluke 77

Thurmond
 
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colorex

Rotor Riot!
Mentor
I don't thing they will conduct at all. Have a short piece of round carbon rod and it has totally resistance, no current flows using a Fluke ohm meter to test. Use the carbon rods to run wires down the middle sounds like a much better plan.

Maybe yours is covered in some sort of resin...
 

Ak Flyer

Fly the wings off
Mentor
Sounds good, but how crash worthy is it. I can tell you this. If you get a crack in that carbon rod, it may work fine on the ground or hovering and you may never know it's there. But, if you are stressing the airframe in a maneuver and that crack causes a signal loss, you could lose the craft and never know why. I would not trust a solid conductor to control my model. Even as flexible as they may be, there are infinite sizes of wires that will do the job.

Don't get me wrong, it would be super cool if someone did it, but I don't think it's practical.
 

sandblaster

Senior Member
Maybe yours is covered in some sort of resin...

Actually I used it as a insulator between two G scale train wheels and ran it quite a bit without any shorting, so I know it does not conduct. Maybe different ones that do, all I can go by is the piece I have.
 

Tritium

Amateur Extra Class K5TWM
I checked a solid 6" piece of 3mm rod today from a different vendor and it measured 25 ohms, so the resistance varies widely from vendor to vendor.

Thurmond