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Question:

Motors make the voltage drop on battery pack causing camera to shut off. How can I make the voltage steady ?

I have a 8.2v battery pack (supposed to be 7.2v but its always around 8.5 when charged) that runs a circuit. The circuit has motors in it that turn on and off. I have a wireless cmos camera that taps into the same battery pack, the camera needs 8v. The unit works fine until the motors turn on then the camera shuts off for the duration of the motors being on. I had a similar problem before but it was downstream in the circuit after a voltage regulator, I stuck a large capacitor after the voltage regulator and it solved this problem. I tried putting a capacitor on the camera and it didnt seem to help much. Do I need a voltage regulator and a larger battery pack to do this or is there another way ? I'm thinking its not so much the current that is the problem but the reduction in voltage coming from the battery under heavy load, but I might be wrong. thanks !

Answer:

Try a coil to oppose voltage drop in the circuit.
Hi this sounds like a ni cad pack as used in model cars and boats and although they deliver high currents at times the voltage does drop very dramatically. so that may be the issue what you really need is something like a lead acid battery of a decent capacity as that will give you some over head voltage to use should the need arise. so you might need a voltage regulator for the lower power devices and the lead acid would provide a bit of extra capacity for more demanding motors. it's all about source impedance really.
Get a 9-12 v battery, and run the motor directly from the battery (insure that the motor is rated for the higher voltage) then run the camera off a parallel wired reducing voltage regulator. I fly high powered electric R/C planes and we use a similar scheme to power the receivers and servos.

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