Originally Posted by
Tom Nied
Please excuse my ignorance. What is the advantage of using a single LiFe battery? I'm currently using a two battery system. 2x NiMH 6V 2000mAh. What seems to work for me (in my mind) is that I like the engine has its battery, and the Rx and servos has its own battery. I've had a 5 flight (15 minutes each) day and all seemed well. Don't get me wrong here, I'm amazed how you simplified your battery needs. I just feel (maybe ignorantly) secure about having two different systems. Obviously you are ahead of me in the battery game. Thanks for sharing. Tom
It is mostly a matter of preference. There are pro's and con's with every setup.
I used two batteries for years. Post #3016 shows the two NiMh batteries and two switches (ignore the charging note). That solution gave true redundancy. If one battery fails open, the plane can fly with no problems. I only used my NiMh batteries for two years before I replaced them, but I put over 500 flights a year on each one of my planes. I never lost a plane that had two NiMh batteries with the way I had them connected.
I never liked a separate battery for the ignition and receiver, that solution did not provide any redundancy. In the "old days" it made sense to have a separate battery when the ignition voltage was different (lower) than the receiver voltage. Now the new ignitions can use the same battery voltage as the receiver. With the separate ignition/receiver battery setup, if the receiver battery failed, there would be total loss of control and the engine could continue to run if the the fail-safe was not set correctly. About half of the ones I've checked at our field were not set right. If the engine battery failed, the second battery would allow control with a dead-stick ASAP. Also, the new ignitions only draw about one-fourth of the power of the old ones, so a high-capacity battery for them is no longer required. A 2100mAh battery would run my ignition for almost 20 hours.
The only problem I have now with two LiFe batteries is cost. I have four airplanes to support. The initial cost is high, also like ahicks mentioned in post #3013, if you forget to turn off your system it may trash your batteries and that could be very expensive. The NiMh batteries could recover, with the LiFe batteries that is not guaranteed and I would not trust them if they did appear to recover.
Since the each 6.6V LiFe battery only has two cells and does not seem to be susceptible to the single cell failure like the Nicad and NiMh batteries I'm willing to take the risk and use a single battery now.
has two cells which is the equivalent of two separate batteries, I like the redundancy that provides, so I don't need a separate battery.
I don't fear deadsticks with the GSS, I've had hundreds of them and have only peeled off the landing gear a few times. The fuselage mounted gear is great.