CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

I have three LIFE battery packs (Lithium Iron Phsphate-4). They are all two cell (3.3 volts nominal per cell) 1800 milliamp-hour packs.

One was in a plane that I flew two years ago, one was "in storage" and the third is brand new.. well, I picked it up at the hobby store on Monday.

I was very curious as to the remaining charge in all three cells so I put them on my charger. What I have is a Triton 2 EQ charger, which is the recommended charger for those packs.

The first pack, which was the one that was in storage for 2 years, took about 5 minutes to bring it to full charge. I did not cycle it because I think I read that you don't cycle these type packs. The second pack, is the brand new one, is now on the charger, has been on now for about 10 minutes, and it just finished charging.

The third pack, which was in my Skylark 70, is going on the charger shortly.

I was amazed with the packs in that they held a charge for all that time. I will work with them to see how they perform, but I am confident that they will work out very well.

So, based on what I saw tonite, I am convinced that this technology battery pack is reliable, holds a charge, and will continue to do so for quite a while.

Comments?

CGr.

overbored77

My Feedback: (11)

Good to hear that info. I just ordered a 2600, and 3800 for my planes. Did the weather make you want to fly today?

Gene Margiotti

My Feedback: (4)

CGR,

I fly JR 2.4, and LiFE or A123 are the only way to go for receiver battery packs. The LiFE packs hold a charge extremely well and have a very flat discharge curve (as do the A123's). The only real con to the technology for me is that you cannot load test the battery to see if it still has enough capacity left for the next flight. You need to fully charge the battery and fly 2 times then recharge and see how many mAh you put back in the pack and determine how many mAh you consume per flight and adjust number of flights per charge based on total pack mAh. Clear as mud!

No more NiCds or NiMH for me!!

Gene

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

I have been using a Voltwatch 2 on my planes. It works out ok for me, but I am very careful about receiver packs and don't push the number of flights per charge.

CGr

KW_Counter

Gene,
Why can't you load test a LiFe battery?
KW_Counter

jester_s1

Load testing isn't meaningful on LiFe packs because they keep their voltage up so well. By the time you actually get enough draw down for the load test to tell you anything, the battery is almost gone.

CG, cycling is still a useful tool for checking the capacity of your packs. True, the batteries themselves don't need it like NiCd's do, but if you are wondering about the health of the pack a cycle test will tell you if the pack is indeed delivering the capacity that it is supposed to.

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

Hi Chris.

Happy New Year! I hope 2012 is good to you and yours.

I had the day planned out for me. So, I didn't/couldn't head on out. I just bought a new Cesna 350 Corvalis that should be here mid week. That should be great fun to fly.

Dick.

ameyam

They are very sturdy, these batteries. I didnt use them through the off season (I have a 1300mAh and a 3200MAh one) and it still had close to full charge when I cycled it before the first day of the season. They hold charge very well. Particularly the 1300mAh Hobbico one is much lighter than the others from Hobbico

I had one question though. The Hobbic battery packs came wired for balancing. It is expensive for us to get the Hobbico packs and I want to put an LiFe (with diode) on the ignition. I noted that the local camera stores have these batteries. How do you wire them for balancing? Is it required to wire them for balancing or will just normal series connection do if I am assembling the pack myself? Also, will the Hobbico charger then be suitable for charging the assembled batteries?

Ameyam

TimBle

welcome to 2012.

Steve Steinbring

There is a new battery checker now the market that gives what percentage of charge is left in a battery or the percentage left in each battery cell.

The battery checker is the EOS Sentry the unit will check Nicad, NiMH, Life, Lithium Ion, 123, costs about $40.00

Can be purchased at the Hobby Super Store in Ft. Lauderdale, FL

jester_s1

ameyam- If you want the batteries to last you have to balance them. But wiring for balancing isn't hard. You just add a tap between each cell where you soldier the leads together and put on on each end where the main leads are connected.