Q – What is the Zombie and how will it improve my electric free-flight?
A – The Zombie is a small, lightweight, advanced and highly integrated timer/throttle control for brushed DC electric motors with many built in features. It allows the user to set precise throttle and time intervals for two phases of flight profile (e.g. take-off and climb out followed by descent and landing). There’s no longer a need to time the battery charging – the Zombie takes care of the full flight profile. The latest version even includes a programmable idle feature so you can have your model idling on the tarmac before taking to the skies!
Q – What is the maximum current that the Zombie can handle?
A – The Zombie is rated for 4 Amps maximum motor current – you need to consider the stall current of the motor as this may be much higher than the running current. However, if you’re running the motor at less than 100% power then the effective stall current would also be reduced – e.g. You have a motor with a stall current of 6A at 100% power but for your particular model, you only have the Zombie set for 50% power – in this case, the stall current would be 50% of 6A = 3A thus a stalled motor in this situation would not damage the Zombie.
Q – What type of batteries are suitable for the Zombie?
A – The Zombie is compatible with Lithium Polymer (1 to 2 cells) and Ni-Cd/Ni-MH (3 to 7 cells). The Zombie incorporates low voltage shut-off to protect the battery from over discharge and also indicates the state of charge through its on-board status LED.
Q – Which motors are compatible with the Zombie ?
A – The Zombie is compatible with most small DC brushed motors (both coreless and conventional cored) providing the maximum current rating for the Zombie is not exceeded. In particular, all our Voodoo range of power units are 100% compatible with the Zombie. Coreless motors tend to give better results with the Zombie idle feature as they do not suffer from ‘cogging’ normally associated with conventional cored motors.
Q – Is the Zombie suitable for brushless motors?
A – No the Zombie is only suitable for brushed DC motors.
Q – Is the Zombie supplied with connectors?
A – No – we do not supply connectors as the choice is vast and largely dependant on the motor to be used and the current drawn (we can however supply suitable connectors for your application). We strongly recommend that you use a connector to connect the battery to the Zombie as we recommend that you disconnect the Zombie from the battery if not used for extended periods (click here to find out why). The motor may be soldered directly to the Zombie’s green motor wires and insulated with heatshrink sleeving.
Q – How easy is the Zombie to install?
A – The Zombie is very easy to install. Simply solder your selected connectors onto the Zombie’s wires (1 connector for the 2 battery wires and another (optional) for the 2 charging wires for the charging jack) then solder the Zombie’s green motor wires to your motor, mount the Zombie with a double sided foam pad (e.g. servo mounting tape) and you’re ready to go! Always ensure that you complete all soldering and that all bare connections are insulated with heatshrink tubing before applying power to the Zombie.
Q – I’ve received my Zombie and it’s supplied in a foil bag stating ‘ATTENTION Contents Static Sensitive, Handling Precautions Required.’. What does this mean?
A – Like most electronic circuits, the Zombie contains components which may be damaged when subjected to the high voltages generated by static electricity. As a precaution we ship the Zombie in a silver foil static dissipitive bag to ensure you receive it undamaged. Before handling the Zombie it’s a wise precaution to ‘discharge’ your body by momentarily touching an earthed object (e.g. radiator, metal PC case, cold water pipe etc) close to your hobby desk. For instance it’s pointless discharging yourself by touching a water tap in the kitchen then walking up stairs to the ‘workshop’ to open your Zombie – by this time, your body could have obtained a charge or several thousand volts! The Zombie is no more susceptible to static damage than most other uncased aeromodelling electronic products (e.g. micro receivers, ESC’s, digital servos etc) these are just wise precautions. When the Zombie is fully installed these handling precaustions can be disregarded as it is no longer as susceptible to static damage.
Q – Since I purchased my Zombie more features have been added – is it possible to upgrade my Zombie to the latest version?
A – Yes we can perform upgrades from earlier versions to the current version but the price is dependant on the version upgrading from so please email us for a quote (please state your name and address and date of purchase). Most of the revisions relate to additional features e.g. adjustable start delay and programmable idle power/time. As a guide, the current version (firmware version 1.50) began shipping on the 23rd April 2007 so if you received your Zombie before then you may wish to consider an upgrade.
Q – Can the Zombie be left connected to the battery indefinitely?
A – We recommend that if not being used for an extended period of time then the Zombie be disconnected from the battery. The reason for this is that in standby mode the Zombie still draws a small current from the battery to power some on-board circuitry. As a rough guide, the Zombie would discharge a fully charged 145mAh battery in approximately 6 months – in fact this is a worst case figure and in practice the time period would be longer than this. Obviously for a lower capacity battery the time period would be proportionally shorter and likewise for a higher capacity battery the time period would be proportionally longer.
