Introducing the Gryphon Extreme Regulator

It comes in two flavours, with a black or silver heat sink (as pictured)
I got the black one thinking it would merge well with black plastic frames and carbon,
infact that's exactly what happened, you don't notice the regulator which is a shame
Next time I will get silver to show off this sexy piece of hardware

Why use a regulator?

A new flying style called "Smack" has emerged over the last ~5 years
It's a hard hitting, low on the deck, death defying adrenaline rush
Gennerally speaking, you need a quick and predictable swash reaction
One way to get that is by running very quick/strong CCPM servos
and even doing so at higher than normal voltages
but numerous other electrical devices on the heli can't take these higher voltages
most notably these are the throttle and tail servos,
but there are others (some Gyro's, governors, on board glow, etc)

Another reason to use a regulator is simply to ensure a robust power supply to the CCPM servos
The standard RX on/off switch and wiring that is intended for R/C planes is not heavy duty
Our helicopters often have 3 * 10kg servos on the swash, they should have a robust power supply
The regulator gets it's battery power via a thick input wire and a deans plug
The CCPM servos plug directly into the regulator to obtain amps from a heavy duty device

So the idea is to deliver a higher voltage & current (10amps) to the CCPM servos
(the Gryphon can do 5.2, 6.0, 6.8, 7.2 and bypass)
and a standard 5.2v & 5 amps to the RX, throttle, Gyro, Tail Servo, etc
You can use this regulator with 5 to 8 cell NiCad/NiMH or 2 cell LiIon/LiFe/LiPo

The Gryphon wiring diagram is very clear and easy to follow

There are two blue LED's to show the independant low and high voltage circuits are working
There is a red LED and buzzer to warn you when the battery is low on voltage

You can also get an external low battery LED - you mount it in a visible position on the frame
It has a blue LED to show working and a large ultra bright red LED to show low voltage - you would see it in flight I think!

The Gryphon comes with a electronic safety switch
which you remotely mount on a the frames in an easy to access position
It has a 3mm hole, you use a frame cap screwn to locate it

So let's get into some bench testing

The first thing I always test with regulators is that they must go into bypass mode
when the battery voltage falls below the regulated voltage setting
(We don't want the regulator to turn off!)
The gryphon stayed on and passed all the voltage straight through right down to 2.8v - passed
(my PSU can't go lower than that - but at that level some RX's turn off anyway)

The next test was voltage stability
No change in regulated voltage between sitting idle and drawing 5 amps - passed

So what sort of average current do our helicopters draw?
My 50/600 nitro draws about 300ma per nine minute flight
That works out at an average of 2 amps
No doubt there will be higher peek current events, but they are very short (less than 2 seconds)

The next test is a current draw and thermal cutout test
Some regulators get too hot and burn out, some have thermal protection and shut down early
(I would rather the regulator did not go into thermal shut down,
protecting a $120 regulator and crashing a $1500~$3000 heli is stupid)
The standard test I do here is a constant 3 amp current draw for 13 minutes
That's 50% more current than normal and not many nitro's fly longer than 13 minutes
This test is done with no airflow over the heat sink, ambient temperature was 22 degrees
The regulator's heat sink steadily increased in temperature over the 13 minutes finally reaching 70 degrees
It only exceed 60 degrees at th 9 minute mark
No thermal cut out - pass
Probably need to get it hotter but other regulators can't pass this simple test
and my gryphon is only ever luke warm on landing (not 70 degrees!)
so we are well within sensible safety margins
If you can ensure some airflow over the heat sink you are even safer
The body of the regulator never exceeded 38 degrees
The discharger and the PSU both had their fans going half way through this test,
yet the Gryphon just took it in it's stride