2/3 AF reciever battery packs

[Gromit]

I now have a time scale ranging from 45 mins to all day long

 

  Stu.

[Steve J]

What I meant was last longer before they go wrong. I have a couple of vapex instants that are over 5 years old and still seem to give full capacity.

2/3a types seem less reliable.

 

I don't have a lot of experience with 2/3A's, but what I have agrees with this. My first 2/3A pack started acting up after a year. I have yet to see a problem with an Eneloop (and I have a Sanyo LSD pack from before they were called Eneloops) and am just about to bin one of my Instant packs after it peaked early on a preseason check (3+ years old, 100ish cycles). 

 

One thing that those graphs tell me is to be careful with battery checkers and telemetry alarm points. One size does not fit all.

 

Steve

[Rooster-X]

I'd go with what Mike said, take more models! Two six servo mouldies will last you all day, I'm lucky if I put more than 2 hour on my TX battery which roughly translates to an hour apiece per model, that's about as much flying as I get in on a day out as I get bored on my own and we take turns flying the slope when I'm in a group. Guess it depends on the type of flying your going to do.

 

All my models apart from a foamy and a scaley are running 2/3a 1400 4 cell packs, don't seem to take longer than an hour to re-charge at 600 maH charge rate, I can't measure the ammount on my simple charger so can't be any more scientific than that

[satinet]

You could always take a charger powered by a 3s lipo or small lead acid battery if you are  worried about it.

[Gromit]

Thanks for all your posts guys, info much apreciated  .

 

  Stu.

[Gromit]

Buy more Models seems to be the best advice i've been given  , although i already get stick from other flyers for taking so many

Tom, a charger that i could take along powered by a Lipo or Lead Acid battery would indeed be a very usefull bit of kit for me . I'd like to do some trips to Slopes further afield & do some Camping overnight so the ability to charge batteries needs to be sorted. My present charger doesn't have this facility.

Can any of you guys recomend  such a suitable charger to me ?

 

  Stu.

[satinet]

The are loads of small 12v chargers about tbh.

[Steve J]

Can any of you guys recomend  such a suitable charger to me ?

 

I use a Graupner Ultramat 12 Plus Pocket for field charging, but any decent 12V powered 50W charger would do.

 

Steve

[isoaritfirst]

Hi Stu,

I have had various chargers some around the £100 mark, but overall this one has been the best, 

Mains or Battery in

up to 6 cells out and all battery types with balance function, and trickle charge.

 

Also gives good understandable feedback on the various screens.

 

Mine is a branded version of this is a few years old now and cost somewhere around £45 i bought it on an impulse just as a back up to my more expensive stuff, but it is now my preferred choice.

 

http://alshobbies.com/shop/lookupstock.php?pc=35029

[Gromit]

Thanks for your posts & personal recomendations 

 

  Stu.

[satinet]

It's a good charger Mike, but it is not really a pocket charger.

[isoaritfirst]

True Tom,

but Stu did say that he was going camping and staying away the night etc- so I guess he will have the car and be charging off the hill.

 

I also have a small Propeak one that would be more suitable for carrying around - but I think I have done that once when running in my FS4 and it was using loads of battery power due to slightly stiff LDS at the time.

[Gromit]

Yep, i'd like to do a bit of travelling and Camping to slopes further afield this yr so charging from the car is needed .

 

  Stu.

[Jon_F]

I just bought a brand new intellect 4.8v 1600 mah 2/3 AA pack (from Robotbirds) to replace the exact same item that I've had in one of my gliders for the last 5 years. The old battery still has a 'working capacity' of around 1450 mah when discharged on delta peak charger / discharger.

 

The new pack despite cycling around 6 times now and having been given a long 70 mah charge at the start - is only giving me a working capacity of around 1050 mah on the same charger. (voltage after charging is 5.69v)

 

Have I cycled enough or do you think I've got a duff pack?

[Austin]

1050 is definitely not right. 1600 normally all do 1450 ish. I have had one or two that do 1550 but very rare.

[rc-soar]

The new pack despite cycling around 6 times now and having been given a long 70 mah charge at the start - is only giving me a working capacity of around 1050 mah on the same charger. (voltage after charging is 5.69v). Have I cycled enough or do you think I've got a duff pack?

Depends on your discharge rate, the specs are usually at C/5, so ideally you'd be using 300mA to get a meaningful result. I know it's not always possible with finished packs (unless you puncture the end caps) but I find checking the off-load voltage of individual cells immediately on receipt i.e before connecting to a charger is v. useful, any cell below 1V on delivery indicates that it's been self-discharging in a warehouse and is effectively duff even though the overall pack voltage may look OK. Small DLG packs used to be the worst offenders.

[thermaldoctor]

Hello Jon,

 

Yes 1050mah is low if you are getting 1450mah on another pack under similar conditions. As Austin says most packs, whatever the brand, function perfectly normally around 1400mah despite what capacity they say on the label. But it depends on where you set your voltage cut-off and what rate you discharge them at as well as to what figures you get. 

 

In my experience a full charge followed by a 200mah or 300mah discharge rate down to 1v per cell should give you at least 1400mah. Anything much less than this should be queried. If you get this or greater the pack is fine. Try this maybe?

 

I quizzed Intellect Directly over the capacity issue some time ago. I quizzed them over the fact they say 1600mah on the tin yet their cells give nothing like this. They replied the batteries are meant for 1/18th RC cars where power and a higher nominal voltage is more important than capacity. They skirted round the capacity issue. 

 

If it was me, and I had any suspicions after thorough testing then I'd bin a £15 battery pack if it was going into £1500 airframe.

 

hope this helps

 

Neil

[Jon_F]

 

If it was me, and I had any suspicions after thorough testing then I'd bin a £15 battery pack if it was going into £1500 airframe.

 

 

Exactly what I've done - that was my philosophy behind installing a new pack in the first place. Hours repairing a mouldie Vs £15 every couple of years is a no brainer......ask me how I know

 

I might split the suspect pack open and test each cell out individually out of curiousity. regardless, I do still have a lot of confidence in these batteries.

 

Jon

[thermaldoctor]

Jon

 

I use 2/3 batteries exclusively in all my airframes. Like you I have tremendous confidence in these sorts of batteries. I know them and I trust them. 

 

I also don't see the point of lighter battery packs when they are going into a glider nose? All it will then need is more lead to balance if you use a lighter RX pack. Li stuff is also blocky shapes at the moment so don't fit into the nose area as well as the III-- I use at the moment or a 4 cell II-- configuration of a nimh. 

 

Even if you are not worried about all up weight, a nicely fitting nimh rx pack can go further up the nose and free up space thus easing installation issues.

 

Just my take on it, doesn't mean it's right. I see massive advantages of Li technology but can't translate it to gliders just yet

 

Regards

 

Neil

[Austin]

I might split the suspect pack open and test each cell out individually out of curiousity. regardless, I do still have a lot of confidence in these batteries.

 

Jon

 

Very likely you will find one duff cell. I had a batch about a year ago that suffered this in quite a few packs. They seem to be much better now.