oldog
Flying officer
Posts: 12
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Post by oldog on Nov 29, 2009 2:18:42 GMT 1
My new SC LP will arrive in Tue and I am a total newbie to RC and dont want to waste these Lipo batteries. I ordered the small $4 tester but dont know what to test for really. How much should they be charged up? How long should I fly them or wear them down before recharging etc. How do you know when its time to land the plane?? Treat me like a noob cause I am.  |
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belem
Squadron leader
Posts: 210
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Post by belem on Nov 29, 2009 6:51:39 GMT 1
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belem
Squadron leader
Posts: 210
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Post by belem on Nov 29, 2009 6:54:48 GMT 1
In general people tend to time their flights. How long that is depends on the mah of your batteries. For my 1800 I can get 10-12 minutes before I hit the 80% mark. I typically fly them for 10 and bring them down with plenty of juice left. If you're flying the stock battery you've got a 1300 mah pack. Try flying for 8 minutes and then check your battery with your new tester. Be sure to let it rest for a bit before you test it.
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oldog
Flying officer
Posts: 12
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Post by oldog on Nov 29, 2009 21:29:50 GMT 1
Thank You for the great info!
What is I only fly for 5 minutes do I have to drain the battery more or just recharge...does it matter??
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Post by flydiver on Nov 29, 2009 23:22:48 GMT 1
Lipos are NOT NiXX. Under NO circumstances should you unnecessarily discharge them below 3.0v/cell if you can avoid it. The Cub lipo is a 3S (3 serial cells) so should never go below 9.0v and will be at 12.6v (4.2v/cell) when full. They will do better if you keep them ABOVE 3.6v/cell RESTING. The resting voltage will ALWAYS be higher than the loaded voltage. You cannot measure the loaded voltage while flying without special tools. The low voltage cut-off for the Cub is a bit low at 2.8-2.9v/cell. It's better for lipos if you do NOT fly to LVC. Start working your way through the parts of this you need: www.batteryuniversity.com/partone.htmThere's a lot of good info here on many aspects to flying: www.ezonemag.com/pages/faq/index.shtml |
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belem
Squadron leader
Posts: 210
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Post by belem on Nov 30, 2009 3:31:17 GMT 1
Thank You for the great info! What is I only fly for 5 minutes do I have to drain the battery more or just recharge...does it matter?? Just recharge. No need to drain them all the way. |
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oldog
Flying officer
Posts: 12
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Post by oldog on Dec 3, 2009 6:40:38 GMT 1
Thanks
Can my SC charger be used to charge other batteries besides the battery that comes with it like if I bought a different plane that used a larger Lipo battery??
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Post by patmatgal on Dec 3, 2009 17:59:07 GMT 1
oldog
No it cant. Seems that the HZ charger is just going to charge their 7 cell NiMh battery. Even if you were to charge an 8 cell NiMh using the stock charger then the battery wouldn't get completely charged. There's a technical reason why (I think it has to do with the amount of time needed to charge an 8.4 volt 1000 mah battery) but I'm not familiar enough to be able to explain it. Don't even think of using the stock battery charger on a Li Po, a bad (BAD) idea. If you decide to try Li Po you'll have to get a whole new charging set up. Read thru the Electronics/ Battery and Electronics/Charger sections on this site for more info.
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belem
Squadron leader
Posts: 210
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Post by belem on Dec 3, 2009 22:21:48 GMT 1
He said he has the LP version, so his stock charger can charger other 3S batteries. It's not very good, but it can do it.
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Post by patmatgal on Dec 4, 2009 1:58:06 GMT 1
Sorry about that. Had just read the previous post and responded to that one.
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Post by Dillzio on Dec 4, 2009 2:13:19 GMT 1
The stock charger is fine for any 3s, it pumps out 1.5 amps though so you wouldn't want to use any thing less than a 1300mah battery with it. I still use my stock charger occasionally and find it works great. If you made up a parallel charging array you could even use it to charge multiple batteries at the same time.
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oldog
Flying officer
Posts: 12
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Post by oldog on Dec 5, 2009 1:22:05 GMT 1
Thanks guys Id be lost without this forum!!
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oldog
Flying officer
Posts: 12
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Post by oldog on Dec 7, 2009 23:10:47 GMT 1
So would it work to charge a TP 4200 3s ??
How long would it take to charge it and would the light go off when its done like with the SC battery???
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Post by Dillzio on Dec 8, 2009 0:21:21 GMT 1
The light will stop flashing when it's full. It should take about 2 1/2 hours to charge
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Post by flydiver on Dec 8, 2009 0:35:09 GMT 1
Is the new LP lipo charger HBZ1003 adjustable? Most of the 'lipo capable' HZ planes come with the flat 2S/3S charger PKZ1040 with an adjustment knob.
Looking at the HZ site it appears the LP charger is a modification of the old pistol shaped NiMh charger. Old housing, new electronics?
The PKZ1040 was not reliable for terminating some brands of lipos. It would charge, would balance, but would not signal when it was done correctly. It did not have catastrophic failures that I know of, just this odd behavior that was confusing.
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