I'm pretty paranoid about batteries.
The Berg6 GIII in the Pike Superior was running on a 5-cell CP1700
NiCd pack that had been cycled and profiled with my Schulze ISL6-636
charger. I always test and profile my packs before they go into a
new plane. I do this periodically throughout the season, and
especially when the plane has been sitting for a while during the
winter. I the ISL6 to generate and print charge/discharge curves for
packs, file them, and compare them as the packs age. When I see a
significant degradation in a pack's discharge performance (like
10-15%), it gets replaced.
All my planes are equipped with Expert Battery Voltage Indicators,
4.8v or 6v versions as appropriate. I do quick checks before each
flight by moving all the surfaces at once and observing the voltage.
I generally recharge when I get even close to nominal voltage (1.2v/
cell for Ni cells). I also have a voltage meter that will do 500mAh
load and I use it religiously. Also, I often discharge my packs
after a day of flying (Schulze recommends this, plus it allows me to
get an idea of how much current a given plane consumes per unit of
time, given my mechanical setup, my flying style, ambient temps, etc)
The Elektron 400 was on a Kokam lipo 3-cell 1320mAh pack. After the
crash, the ISL6 discharged the pack another 600mAh, so there was
plenty of juice left in the pack.
The Image was using a 4-cell KAN1050 pack and discharged another 500mAh.
Don't as me how I remember this stuff when I can hardly find my keys
in the morning. ;-) I'm a battery geek, what can I say? I got
tired of always having to hook up my laptop to the ISL6-636, so have
added an ISL6-936 to my charging setup, so my battery care is better
than ever!
--Jim
On Jan 16, 2006, at 12:42 PM, TDL wrote:
It alsmost sounds like a drained battery the way you described the
Berg and
Samba Rxs' failures. What kind of batteries you using for the RX? I
had some
Bergs and thought one may have been bad, it turned out to be one
cell in the
pack that didn't hold voltage. NiMh seemed more prone to problems
for me.
When range checking I usually move the sticks all over and pay
attention to
just the rudder. I also test with a watt meter to see current pulls
and
voltage drops....
I'd say most of the Rx problems are traceable to the Batt.
My .02 cents. Thanks.
-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Laurel [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Monday, January 16, 2006 11:48 AM
To: Jim Laurel
Cc: Bill Swingle; RCSE
Subject: Re: [RCSE] Receiver perfrormance
Oops! Guess I better have that second cuppa joe this morning!
The Maple Leave Image 2m was on a JR R700, not a 770.
Sorry for the confusion.
--Jim
On Jan 16, 2006, at 11:20 AM, Jim Laurel wrote:
--2m Image on a JR R770: Had been flown a whole season with no
problems. One day on final, just as a hotted-up Zagi whizzed by it
at high speed (between me and the Image), the R700 spazzed out, and
plane pitched straight into the ground.
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