Zepsus magnetic switches

[jmears]

I am thinking about changing to these switches on my 1/4 scale Cherokee II and Moswey IV. Anyone have experience or opinions about these (7 amp size)? It would be nice to not remove canopy each time to power on and off. The vendor I found is Aloft Hobbies in California. Also Soaring USA stocks them.

[Swiss1]

I have no experience with that brand John, I do have a magnetic switch in the Ka-6 I bought from Asher and it's sold by Esprit and made by Jeti and works great, so I bought a couple extra for future projects!
http://www.espritmodel.com/jeti-elec...ey-dps-40.aspx

Jeremy and Ben
SCCAAA TT TN

[jmears]

Thanks for the info on the Jeti, Jeremy. Looks like a nice unit. Must be high quality if Asher had it in there.

[Asher Carmichael]

John,
The Jeti DPS switch is much larger than the zepsus. I used the DPS 40 because that was all they had at the time. They now have smaller units which might be more suitable . I have no experience with Zepsus.

[lenb]

Not to be a buzz kill becauseI think the switches are awesome, but remember to open your canopy during the day when its hot out. The sailplane sitting in the sun with the canopy closed gets warm inside.

Len

Now back to the regularly scheduled program

[Asher Carmichael]

Good point

[jmears]

Len - Not to worry. My Moswey has continuous A/C.

[lenb]

LOL, then you have no worries

[Tom McP]

Hi John,

I've used Zepsus switches in four F3J/TD sailplanes in the last couple of years. They are quite small, probably 1/2 in X 1/4 in without leads and essentially weightless. As you know, they are magnetic switches so they really need to be mounted right against the side of the fuselage so the magnet will reliably trip them. I usually just wedge them in beside the RX, but a small piece of Velcro would do the job too. As far as operation, mine have been absolutely faultless. They aren't affected by temperature so far as I can tell. Mine typically sit in the Florida sun for hours inside the fuselage and work every time. They have a LED status light so if you have a clear canopy you can tell whether the airplane is ON or OFF.

Some have charge leads, like a regular switch, some don't. I usually get my flight batteries made with a second charge lead so it's not an issue for me but could be for some setups.

Hope this helps,

Tom McPherson

[jmears]

Thanks for the input, Tom.

[Tom McP]

John,

One last thought. Graves RC Hobbies, near Orlando FL, is another good source. He carries both the 7A and 15A versions of the Zepsus. He also carries a nifty little retractable magnet carrier you can clip to your pants or jacket. Friend of mine glued his magnet to a clothespin and clips it to his shirt pocket.

Tom

[selleri]

I use the Zepsus switches in my F3F and F3B planes, both regulated and normal versions, from 14A and down to 5A and they've never given me any trouble.