Power distribution (Power hungry systems)

Power distribution idea here.

After seeing the FB post from FliteTest about the Power hungry systems dist block http://www.powerhungrysystems.com/products.html I thought I would throw out an idea.

First a little background, well because I'm long winded. I used to work in car audio and pro audio and we saw this kind of thing all the time. Supposedly specialized equipment for crazy prices to work in just the application you need it to. Stuff like $100 fuse holders, and $1000 speaker cables were very common. Yet when we were trying to fix a cable or connection, a quick run to Home Depot or Lowes would usually be able to fix the problem easy and cheap.

Now I have never used the above linked product, heck I haven't even seen it in person but $275+ for a dist block and some bullet connectors? Yikes! Maybe there is a better way? Disclaimer #1. I am NOT an electrical engineer, just someone who has twisted a lot of wire. Disclaimer #2 I have never put together a multirotor so I might be missing something huge in the way they work.

So the way I understand things is this dist block works by taking your battery/batteries power, running it through its board and then out at 4 different termination points to the esc's. It eliminates some wiring clutter and it is pretty light. However wouldn't something like a regular power terminal block do the same thing?
BUS_Ele_Power_Terminal_Block_Series_160_220.jpg
Is it as cool looking? No. Is it as organized? No. Is it vastly cheaper....Yes.

For something as simple as this, a power distribution block doesn't care if its carrying 2s, 12s, 120volt or 240 volts. As long as the effective gauge of the block is able to handle the power it will work just fine. The pictured block can carry up to 1500 amps. Just run your battery power into the large terminal and you have several outputs to send to your esc's. And they cost a few dollars. Yes you would have to use a 2 terminal block, one for positive and one for negative and then make a short heavy gauge run with your favorite battery connector on the end but I can't see why that wouldn't work just fine.

I can see it in my head and hopefully I was clear enough that it makes sense without pictures. Without a multi of my own it's hard to make a visual example of my own to show via pics.
 

Jamblor

Member
$275!?!?! I hope that thing wires itself :p

The thing I can see with that product is it's specifically designed for it's intended purpose. Swapping out electronics is easy because of the connectors.

However, electrical terminal blocks would work perfect. Your understanding is correct. Electronics and car audio stores have them in variety of amp ratings. Once I have everything set up in my current scratchbuild I'll clean up the wire clutter and will be putting in distribution blocks for my 12V and 5V power.

Thanks for bringing this up!
 

xuzme720

Dedicated foam bender
Mentor
I don't know what they are thinking...it's maybe about $15-20 worth of stuff. 3.5mm bullets, a breadboard and some nylon standoffs...Who buys that for that price?
 
Ahhh $12 for the HK one....that is MUCH better. 400 amp capacity though? Doing a ROUGH, I say again ROUGH calculation in my head for a 6s system that is equivalent somewhere between a 2 and 3 gauge wire? 2 gauge is about 1/4 inch thick. I'm thinking 400 amps is burst current.
 

vk2dxn

Senior Member
From an electricians point of view all I can say is that this is the best case of snake oil I have ever seen
 

Tritium

Amateur Extra Class K5TWM
It would be a great addition to my solar panel system though! ;) (But never at that price since the surplus market is WAY cheaper)

Thurmond
 

xuzme720

Dedicated foam bender
Mentor
From an electricians point of view all I can say is that this is the best case of snake oil I have ever seen
LOL!!! Glad to have my opinion backed up by someone who does this for a living.

At least in this case it's functional snake oil...but no, I won't be buying one either. I'll stick with making my own harnesses. They are lighter, cheaper and custom lengths as needed...
 

Tritium

Amateur Extra Class K5TWM
At least in this case it's functional snake oil...but no, I won't be buying one either. I'll stick with making my own harnesses. They are lighter, cheaper and custom lengths as needed...

Oh come on. You know you need 5 lbs of distribution hardware! :p
It ought to shorten those agonizing long flights to less than a minute.
What a savings.

Thurmond
 

xuzme720

Dedicated foam bender
Mentor
Oh come on. You know you need 5 lbs of distribution hardware! :p
It ought to shorten those agonizing long flights to less than a minute.
What a savings.

Thurmond
Right, just up and down without all that bothersome flying around stuff! Who needs it!?!
 

Tritium

Amateur Extra Class K5TWM
Right, just up and down without all that bothersome flying around stuff! Who needs it!?!

On second thought too many of my flights already resemble your remark (and your sig line) WITHOUT the extra power distribution weight. :black_eyed:

Thurmond