AXE CP Battery Problem?
01-05-2007, 12:20 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Surrey,
BC, CANADA
Posts: 115
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
AXE CP Battery Problem?
Hi all,
I recently purchased the AXE CP and seem to be having some real "lack of power" issues with the stock battery.
I charged it once while assembling the helicopter, light went from red to green on the included charger in roughly 1 hour.
I then let the battery sit overnight as I didn't fly that night because of the weather.
So 2 days later I decide to try and fly but there was so little power (ie. juice). So I charged the battery again, the light went from red to green after about 1 hour again.
I then install the battery and when I give it quite a bit of throttle, the heli barely gets "light" and ready to go airborne.
As a test I even flicked the idle switch and it gave the heli some power but still it can barely get off the ground.
Has anyone experienced this? Do I have a bad battery? Shouldn't these batteries be slow-charged overnight at all to get it to charge full peak?
I didn't change any of the default electronic settings either.
Any help would be great and thanks!!!
Brandon
I recently purchased the AXE CP and seem to be having some real "lack of power" issues with the stock battery.
I charged it once while assembling the helicopter, light went from red to green on the included charger in roughly 1 hour.
I then let the battery sit overnight as I didn't fly that night because of the weather.
So 2 days later I decide to try and fly but there was so little power (ie. juice). So I charged the battery again, the light went from red to green after about 1 hour again.
I then install the battery and when I give it quite a bit of throttle, the heli barely gets "light" and ready to go airborne.
As a test I even flicked the idle switch and it gave the heli some power but still it can barely get off the ground.
Has anyone experienced this? Do I have a bad battery? Shouldn't these batteries be slow-charged overnight at all to get it to charge full peak?
I didn't change any of the default electronic settings either.
Any help would be great and thanks!!!
Brandon
01-05-2007, 01:28 PM
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Southwick, MA
Posts: 118
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: AXE CP Battery Problem?
ORIGINAL: Nitroedge
Hi all,
I recently purchased the AXE CP and seem to be having some real "lack of power" issues with the stock battery.
I charged it once while assembling the helicopter, light went from red to green on the included charger in roughly 1 hour.
I then let the battery sit overnight as I didn't fly that night because of the weather.
So 2 days later I decide to try and fly but there was so little power (ie. juice). So I charged the battery again, the light went from red to green after about 1 hour again.
I then install the battery and when I give it quite a bit of throttle, the heli barely gets "light" and ready to go airborne.
As a test I even flicked the idle switch and it gave the heli some power but still it can barely get off the ground.
Has anyone experienced this? Do I have a bad battery? Shouldn't these batteries be slow-charged overnight at all to get it to charge full peak?
I didn't change any of the default electronic settings either.
Any help would be great and thanks!!!
Brandon
Hi all,
I recently purchased the AXE CP and seem to be having some real "lack of power" issues with the stock battery.
I charged it once while assembling the helicopter, light went from red to green on the included charger in roughly 1 hour.
I then let the battery sit overnight as I didn't fly that night because of the weather.
So 2 days later I decide to try and fly but there was so little power (ie. juice). So I charged the battery again, the light went from red to green after about 1 hour again.
I then install the battery and when I give it quite a bit of throttle, the heli barely gets "light" and ready to go airborne.
As a test I even flicked the idle switch and it gave the heli some power but still it can barely get off the ground.
Has anyone experienced this? Do I have a bad battery? Shouldn't these batteries be slow-charged overnight at all to get it to charge full peak?
I didn't change any of the default electronic settings either.
Any help would be great and thanks!!!
Brandon
01-05-2007, 03:23 PM
#3
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Surrey,
BC, CANADA
Posts: 115
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: AXE CP Battery Problem?
Thanks for the feedback.
Ok, I'll keep charging it over and over for a bit
Do you think I could actually charge it with my Duratrax Piranha charger?
Is there another after market battery you could recommend I buy?
Cheers!
Brandon
Ok, I'll keep charging it over and over for a bit
Do you think I could actually charge it with my Duratrax Piranha charger?
Is there another after market battery you could recommend I buy?
Cheers!
Brandon
01-05-2007, 03:37 PM
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Southwick, MA
Posts: 118
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: AXE CP Battery Problem?
ORIGINAL: Nitroedge
Thanks for the feedback.
Ok, I'll keep charging it over and over for a bit
Do you think I could actually charge it with my Duratrax Piranha charger?
Is there another after market battery you could recommend I buy?
Cheers!
Brandon
Thanks for the feedback.
Ok, I'll keep charging it over and over for a bit
Do you think I could actually charge it with my Duratrax Piranha charger?
Is there another after market battery you could recommend I buy?
Cheers!
Brandon
Plus the AXE pack is a 9 cell. Not sure of that either with this charger.
This seems to be the hot setup.
Great Planes LiPo 11.1V 910mAh 3S 15C Discharge Deans
Great Planes PolyCharge Lithium Polymer DC Charger.
Tower Hobbies has this stuff. I would try charging the pack one more time.
01-05-2007, 03:57 PM
#5
Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: between-my-tx&crashed-aircraft
Posts: 92
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: AXE CP Battery Problem?
ORIGINAL: UKIE
I Have had several NiMH packs that wouldn't take very much charge for my R/C vehicles. Sometimes I had to charge them 3 or 4 times to get it up to full charge even when new. It has to do with a false voltage peak being detected by the charger. When it hits this peak it shuts off. Very possible your pack does not have the charge it should. NiMH are funny batteries. Some packs I have had work great and others not so great. all identical packs from the same company. Best suggestion I could come up with..
ORIGINAL: Nitroedge
Hi all,
I recently purchased the AXE CP and seem to be having some real "lack of power" issues with the stock battery.
I charged it once while assembling the helicopter, light went from red to green on the included charger in roughly 1 hour.
I then let the battery sit overnight as I didn't fly that night because of the weather.
So 2 days later I decide to try and fly but there was so little power (ie. juice). So I charged the battery again, the light went from red to green after about 1 hour again.
I then install the battery and when I give it quite a bit of throttle, the heli barely gets "light" and ready to go airborne.
As a test I even flicked the idle switch and it gave the heli some power but still it can barely get off the ground.
Has anyone experienced this? Do I have a bad battery? Shouldn't these batteries be slow-charged overnight at all to get it to charge full peak?
I didn't change any of the default electronic settings either.
Any help would be great and thanks!!!
Brandon
Hi all,
I recently purchased the AXE CP and seem to be having some real "lack of power" issues with the stock battery.
I charged it once while assembling the helicopter, light went from red to green on the included charger in roughly 1 hour.
I then let the battery sit overnight as I didn't fly that night because of the weather.
So 2 days later I decide to try and fly but there was so little power (ie. juice). So I charged the battery again, the light went from red to green after about 1 hour again.
I then install the battery and when I give it quite a bit of throttle, the heli barely gets "light" and ready to go airborne.
As a test I even flicked the idle switch and it gave the heli some power but still it can barely get off the ground.
Has anyone experienced this? Do I have a bad battery? Shouldn't these batteries be slow-charged overnight at all to get it to charge full peak?
I didn't change any of the default electronic settings either.
Any help would be great and thanks!!!
Brandon
1. NiMH batteries take several charge/discharge cycles (3 to 15?) before they are at their best.
2. The first charge, one should try a long trickle type charge to get all the cells evenly charged.
3. I have had some apparent problems with false peaks.
I have been told to try to charge again to make sure it is not a false peak.
Another check on whether the battery is fully charged is its temperature at the end of a charge:
It should be warm (80 degrees F to 110 degrees F?, not sure. The venom aircorp site lists some temperatures for their Night Ranger 2 and 3D).
01-05-2007, 05:41 PM
#6
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Surrey,
BC, CANADA
Posts: 115
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: AXE CP Battery Problem?
Thanks,
I saw another fellow's post where he mentioned he could not get off the ground either and his lhs said he put his blades on the wrong way. I don't think that is my problem as I recall double-checking this but I'm at work and can't see the blade orientation now.
I don't know if you can tell from this picture if I have them on the right way?
I will definitely also really charge the battery tonight, then let it cool down for 10-15mins before using it.
Brandon
I saw another fellow's post where he mentioned he could not get off the ground either and his lhs said he put his blades on the wrong way. I don't think that is my problem as I recall double-checking this but I'm at work and can't see the blade orientation now.
I don't know if you can tell from this picture if I have them on the right way?
I will definitely also really charge the battery tonight, then let it cool down for 10-15mins before using it.
Brandon
01-05-2007, 09:09 PM
#8
Member
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Whiteman AFB, MO
Posts: 48
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: AXE CP Battery Problem?
Blades are on correctly. You might want to even out the flybar paddle on the far side it looks like it's not parallel with the other one. Then again it could just the angle of the photo
01-09-2007, 04:10 PM
#10
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Surrey,
BC, CANADA
Posts: 115
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: AXE CP Battery Problem?
Thanks so much all for your help....
Last night I practiced a bit, made a chalk circle and took it easy. The heli did get off the ground but only a little. Even with the battery fully charged it seemed if I went full throttle, it would only slowly gain altitude.
So what I'm thinking then (from all your comments) is:
- My blades are on correct
- My flybar paddles are upside down (weird since I didn't assemble those, they were on the heli out of the box)
- OR are they on correct, but one of them is angled wrong, should they be parallel to the ground?
Also, (i expect these problems are also related to the flybar paddle orientation):
- When I flew last night, with all trim controls centered, I noticed the heli was wanting to turn "counter-clockwise" which in my understanding from reading posts here, is incorrect as the helicopter should naturally want to rotate "clockwise" on throttle up and in place due to the natural rotation of the blades going "clockwise" - Is my thinking correct?
- The entire helicopter was very unstable to try and hover and kept going left and even some slight cyclic rolling tilting
I've attached a picture close-up I found on heli-max's site, does the picture show the proper angle and orientation then for the flybar paddles?
Thanks!!!!
Brandon
Last night I practiced a bit, made a chalk circle and took it easy. The heli did get off the ground but only a little. Even with the battery fully charged it seemed if I went full throttle, it would only slowly gain altitude.
So what I'm thinking then (from all your comments) is:
- My blades are on correct
- My flybar paddles are upside down (weird since I didn't assemble those, they were on the heli out of the box)
- OR are they on correct, but one of them is angled wrong, should they be parallel to the ground?
Also, (i expect these problems are also related to the flybar paddle orientation):
- When I flew last night, with all trim controls centered, I noticed the heli was wanting to turn "counter-clockwise" which in my understanding from reading posts here, is incorrect as the helicopter should naturally want to rotate "clockwise" on throttle up and in place due to the natural rotation of the blades going "clockwise" - Is my thinking correct?
- The entire helicopter was very unstable to try and hover and kept going left and even some slight cyclic rolling tilting
I've attached a picture close-up I found on heli-max's site, does the picture show the proper angle and orientation then for the flybar paddles?
Thanks!!!!
Brandon
01-09-2007, 04:28 PM
#11
Member
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Bakersfield,
CA
Posts: 31
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: AXE CP Battery Problem?
They should be level and they should be the exact same distance from the center of the head button.
I had to adjust mine right out of the box.
I had to make a lot of adjustments out of the box... Crazy how they state they are all test flown. I find that hard to believe.
But its a very nice heli... I can't wait to get all the cnc parts for it.. If I get good at flying.. I am going to buy a step up heli.. like the t-rex..
I had to adjust mine right out of the box.
I had to make a lot of adjustments out of the box... Crazy how they state they are all test flown. I find that hard to believe.
But its a very nice heli... I can't wait to get all the cnc parts for it.. If I get good at flying.. I am going to buy a step up heli.. like the t-rex..
01-09-2007, 08:20 PM
#12
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Surrey,
BC, CANADA
Posts: 115
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: AXE CP Battery Problem?
That worked good, I adjusted the top paddles and then made sure everything was parallel...
Then measured the distance between the paddles to the center screw and they matched...
I was able to get about a 2-3 sec hover and that was gold for me, my enthusiasm is through the roof and can't wait to practice more..
I think the stock battery dies quick and I should have maybe properly fully charged it the first time as I think my the stock charger detects false peaks and says it's done charging but it isn't...
Real windy here in Vancouver, Canada tonight so going to keep practicing in the garage
Hope I can fine tune it more to really get the baby (and my control) stable!
What I found quite amazing is how much turbulence the blades create at less than say 12" off the ground.... when I had it up a bit in altitude the control seemed to be more "forgiving"...
Thanks again!!!
Brandon
Then measured the distance between the paddles to the center screw and they matched...
I was able to get about a 2-3 sec hover and that was gold for me, my enthusiasm is through the roof and can't wait to practice more..
I think the stock battery dies quick and I should have maybe properly fully charged it the first time as I think my the stock charger detects false peaks and says it's done charging but it isn't...
Real windy here in Vancouver, Canada tonight so going to keep practicing in the garage
Hope I can fine tune it more to really get the baby (and my control) stable!
What I found quite amazing is how much turbulence the blades create at less than say 12" off the ground.... when I had it up a bit in altitude the control seemed to be more "forgiving"...
Thanks again!!!
Brandon
01-11-2007, 04:11 AM
#13
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Toronto,
ON, CANADA
Posts: 920
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: AXE CP Battery Problem?
ORIGINAL: Nitroedge
Thanks so much all for your help....
Last night I practiced a bit, made a chalk circle and took it easy. The heli did get off the ground but only a little. Even with the battery fully charged it seemed if I went full throttle, it would only slowly gain altitude.
So what I'm thinking then (from all your comments) is:
- My blades are on correct
- My flybar paddles are upside down (weird since I didn't assemble those, they were on the heli out of the box)
- OR are they on correct, but one of them is angled wrong, should they be parallel to the ground?
Also, (i expect these problems are also related to the flybar paddle orientation):
- When I flew last night, with all trim controls centered, I noticed the heli was wanting to turn "counter-clockwise" which in my understanding from reading posts here, is incorrect as the helicopter should naturally want to rotate "clockwise" on throttle up and in place due to the natural rotation of the blades going "clockwise" - Is my thinking correct?
- The entire helicopter was very unstable to try and hover and kept going left and even some slight cyclic rolling tilting
I've attached a picture close-up I found on heli-max's site, does the picture show the proper angle and orientation then for the flybar paddles?
Thanks!!!!
Brandon
Thanks so much all for your help....
Last night I practiced a bit, made a chalk circle and took it easy. The heli did get off the ground but only a little. Even with the battery fully charged it seemed if I went full throttle, it would only slowly gain altitude.
So what I'm thinking then (from all your comments) is:
- My blades are on correct
- My flybar paddles are upside down (weird since I didn't assemble those, they were on the heli out of the box)
- OR are they on correct, but one of them is angled wrong, should they be parallel to the ground?
Also, (i expect these problems are also related to the flybar paddle orientation):
- When I flew last night, with all trim controls centered, I noticed the heli was wanting to turn "counter-clockwise" which in my understanding from reading posts here, is incorrect as the helicopter should naturally want to rotate "clockwise" on throttle up and in place due to the natural rotation of the blades going "clockwise" - Is my thinking correct?
- The entire helicopter was very unstable to try and hover and kept going left and even some slight cyclic rolling tilting
I've attached a picture close-up I found on heli-max's site, does the picture show the proper angle and orientation then for the flybar paddles?
Thanks!!!!
Brandon
First, the flybar paddles are on correctly but they must be exactly parallel to each other and the flybar control frame.
Second, viewed from the top, the main blades turn clockwise, therefore the torque reaction is opposite to this: without the tail rotor, the heli body would turn counterclockwise (nose yaws to the left).
Third, the helicopter is in fact moving in response to turbulence, pilot-induced oscillations, and the tail rotor is, after all, a powerful fan pushing the heli to the left... so you do have to fly it constantly to keep it in one place in a hover. Because of the tail rotor thrust, a stable hover will actually be a bit "right wing low".
The Heli-Max Pic is correct.
