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All Forums >> RC Helicopters >> Electric RC Helis >> E-Flite Helicopters >> New Blade 400 battery questions?
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New Blade 400 battery questions? - 4/18/2008 1:07:08 AM   
rotarydoc


 

Posts: 924
Joined: 3/17/2008
From: Laurel, MD, USA
Status: offline 		Hi all,

Well, I'll be picking up my new Blade 400 tomorrow night! I can hardly wait, but I have a couple of battery questions for you guys... First of all, I currently do not have any way to check battery condition, that's the next question. (except for a simple digital volt-ohm meter)

I lieu of any way of checking voltage on the brand new B400 pack, what is a good, SAFE run time on the all stock B400 and battery? Someone mentioned that the radio comes set from the factory with the timer at 4 minutes, 30 seconds? Is it really going to be that short, if I'm only hopping and a little hovering?

I don't want to damage the battery, I already hurt one of my CPP packs by discharging it too far it now has a significantly reduced run time...these batteries are too expensive for that!

Next question what type of battery monitoring device/method do you guys recommend? I have seen some of the battery monitors that go inline (I think?) from the battery to the controller/ESC? I don't mind spending the money for the best method, to a point...I mean, I'm not going to spend hundreds to have the absolute best, high tech, super-duper battery monitor...

I did see some at the LHS last time I was there, that had like red/green/yellow LED's that show battery condition, but they did not seem to have any for 11.1 volt systems?

Thanks so much in advance, you guys are a great bunch!

Glenn
       Post #: 1

RE: New Blade 400 battery questions? - 4/18/2008 1:35:21 AM   
Wolfpackin


 

Posts: 962
Joined: 6/4/2007
From: Avon, CO, USA
Status: offline 		You should be able to get 6-8 minutes of hovering without problem.

I don't have any links for you but you can do a search.
The Watts Up meter can be hooked up to tell you how many mAh's your putting back into the battery. You want to stay around the 1500mAh mark per the 80% depletion guidline.
You can also get a stand alone balancer like the one made by Equinox. This will balance your cells better than the stock charger.
There are also high end chargers that do all of this built in.

You should at the very least use your voltmeter to check the end voltage of the battery after a flight. Make sure the voltage is not below 3.5v per cell. I keep mine higher, 3.7v, because this is not the best way to determine how much you are depleting the battery but it's better than nothing.

EDIT: don't, it's, mAh's...I'm not doing that the site is. Can't make them go away.



(in reply to rotarydoc)
       Post #: 2

RE: New Blade 400 battery questions? - 4/18/2008 3:32:32 AM   
jp473


 

Posts: 112
Joined: 2/8/2008
From: Dallas, TX, USA
Status: offline 		Maxprow lipo monitor for 11.1. Just got one from Mikes Hobby in Carrolton TX. (Has a website) for 22.94. Sounds an alarm if you reach a critical point. Full charge blue light. Changes to blinking blue after a while. Then red and finally red with an alarm at the stop or I told you so point. Works great. Plugs in to the balance charge connector of the battery. Even in daylight you can see the led’s clearly.

_____________________________

Gravity works, now overcome it!
JP

(in reply to Wolfpackin)
       Post #: 3

RE: New Blade 400 battery questions? - 4/18/2008 3:54:16 AM   
rotarydoc


 

Posts: 924
Joined: 3/17/2008
From: Laurel, MD, USA
Status: offline 		Hey wolf, jp,

Thanks so much for the info, I'm going to have to research that Maxprow (Maxpro, or Maxprow?) monitor, that sounds really cool, just what I need, a lazy man's battery monitor! In the meantime I'll keep the runs to about 7 minutes to be safe, and I'll try to monitor the voltage after the flight for now...

Let me google Mikes Hobby now....sounds cool!

Thanks guys!

Glenn

(in reply to jp473)
       Post #: 4

RE: New Blade 400 battery questions? - 4/18/2008 3:59:05 AM   
jp473


 

Posts: 112
Joined: 2/8/2008
From: Dallas, TX, USA
Status: offline 		"MAXPRO" mibad

_____________________________

Gravity works, now overcome it!
JP

(in reply to rotarydoc)
       Post #: 5

RE: New Blade 400 battery questions? - 4/18/2008 4:19:45 AM   
rotarydoc


 

Posts: 924
Joined: 3/17/2008
From: Laurel, MD, USA
Status: offline 		Hey jp,

I checked Mike's hobby website, and didn't see it listed...however, I did a google search, and there is an eBay seller in China that has them for $6.50...I wonder if it's the same thing, and I wonder how long it will take to get here? Did yours come with bare wires on the end, and a connector for the balance charger wire separate?

Did it come with instructions? This one looks like you have to solder the leads to the correct terminals on the balance charger leads...

Maybe I'll just call Mikes, and see if he has any left?

Thanks for any details you can provide!

Glenn

(in reply to jp473)
       Post #: 6

RE: New Blade 400 battery questions? - 4/18/2008 4:25:11 AM   
SeaComms


 

Posts: 246
Joined: 7/11/2006
From: Sunshine Coast,Sunny Queensland, AUSTRALIA
Status: offline 		Just found em on ebay - $9.50 US including freight... Think I might get one myself

Also noticed that seller has 11.1v 2250ma 20C continuous, 25C burst LiPO's for $32 US

EDIT: Just ordered both... I like the sound of the battery monitor, with just learning to hover I seem to spend half my time on the ground, and after bout 12 minutes of stuffing around still came in under 75% capacity.

< Message edited by SeaComms -- 4/18/2008 4:43:32 AM >

_____________________________

Blade 400 - learning to fly again
SeaComms.com.au, For Seamless Communications

(in reply to jp473)
       Post #: 7

RE: New Blade 400 battery questions? - 4/18/2008 6:25:37 AM   
evdreamer


 

Posts: 2033
Joined: 8/12/2007
From: Lincoln, NE, USA
Status: offline 		The way to get the most flight time without depleating is by using something that tells you how many mAh's you put back into the battery. Set the timer on the transmitter to around 2 minutes. Just do the type of flying you will mostly do. Then charge the battery and see how many mAh's are put back in. Then take that number and divide it by how long you are flying. That gives you mAh's/minute. Then I take the rated capacity of the battery then multiply it by .8. Then take that number divided by your mAh's/minute and that will tell you how long you can fly with 80% depletion. With that method I can get 9 minutes on a 2170 mAh battery with just doing simple hovering.

Flight time = (Capacity of battery x .8) / (mAh's put into battery / test flight in minutes)

Nick

_____________________________

Since I started this hobby money seems to keep disappearing. :)
Blade CX, Blade CP Pro, T-Rex 450SEV2

(in reply to rotarydoc)
       Post #: 8

RE: New Blade 400 battery questions? - 4/18/2008 7:20:39 AM   
jp473


 

Posts: 112
Joined: 2/8/2008
From: Dallas, TX, USA
Status: offline 		$9.50 US including freight! LiPO's for $32!!

Can you point me in the right direction?

As for instructions, it came witn none at all but Mike told me what to do. You will need to solder the plug. Simple. Black to black and Red to red. No bigee

Did you order a Bat? I’d be interested in knowing how they work out.

_____________________________

Gravity works, now overcome it!
JP

(in reply to evdreamer)
       Post #: 9

RE: New Blade 400 battery questions? - 4/18/2008 2:35:31 PM   
rotarydoc


 

Posts: 924
Joined: 3/17/2008
From: Laurel, MD, USA
Status: offline 		Hey jp,

The place I found the battery monitor on ebay is an eBay store called rcmegastore...just do a search on eBay for "maxpro battery monitor", you'll find the links in the eBay store section of that search. The biggest problem is that he is in China, so I don't know how long shipping will take?

Thanks for the hook-up info, that is what it looked like from the pictures, just two wires, red/red and blk/blk...cool !

I also want to know about the $32 batteries, hopefully seacomms will fill us in with more details soon !!

Take care, Glenn

(in reply to jp473)
       Post #: 10

RE: New Blade 400 battery questions? - 4/18/2008 3:43:13 PM   
SeaComms


 

Posts: 246
Joined: 7/11/2006
From: Sunshine Coast,Sunny Queensland, AUSTRALIA
Status: offline 		Yep, ordered both (also sent the link b4 but the site crashed on me...)

Will tell you in a week or two when they get here. Seems to take bit over a week for stuff to arrive here from China, just got my Hitec 5000 kit today I ordered last thursday. And now I have no transmitter to set it up with

_____________________________

Blade 400 - learning to fly again
SeaComms.com.au, For Seamless Communications

(in reply to rotarydoc)
       Post #: 11

RE: New Blade 400 battery questions? - 4/18/2008 4:55:44 PM   
brookshay


 

Posts: 151
Joined: 8/13/2007
From: , MS, USA
Status: offline 		I want to hear about this one too. Not sure about the setup but don't mind a little soldering if it works well!

(in reply to SeaComms)
       Post #: 12

RE: New Blade 400 battery questions? - 4/18/2008 5:34:07 PM   
rotarydoc


 

Posts: 924
Joined: 3/17/2008
From: Laurel, MD, USA
Status: offline 		Seacomms,

Did you order them from the rcmegastore on eBay? I am curious about the $32 batteries as well, did they have the EC3 connectors and the proper balance ger connectors on them?

Sounds like a good deal to me if they do!!

Thanks for the info!

Glenn

(in reply to SeaComms)
       Post #: 13

RE: New Blade 400 battery questions? - 4/18/2008 8:16:36 PM   
evdreamer


 

Posts: 2033
Joined: 8/12/2007
From: Lincoln, NE, USA
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: rotarydoc

Hey jp,

The place I found the battery monitor on ebay is an eBay store called rcmegastore...just do a search on eBay for "maxpro battery monitor", you'll find the links in the eBay store section of that search. The biggest problem is that he is in China, so I don't know how long shipping will take?

Thanks for the hook-up info, that is what it looked like from the pictures, just two wires, red/red and blk/blk...cool !

I also want to know about the $32 batteries, hopefully seacomms will fill us in with more details soon !!

Take care, Glenn


When you are adding a connector make sure the two wires never touch! I don't know if the battery you are looking at has a connector on it already or not, but just do one wire at a time then put heatshrink tubing over the connection. Then go to the next wire. I didn't do it that way in the past and I got a huge spark. I learned real quick after that. Luckily there was no fire/explosion and the battery was fine.

Nick

_____________________________

Since I started this hobby money seems to keep disappearing. :)
Blade CX, Blade CP Pro, T-Rex 450SEV2

(in reply to rotarydoc)