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All Forums >> Radios, Batteries, Clubhouse and more >> Batteries & Chargers >> 3D Plane Receiver Battery Problem
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3D Plane Receiver Battery Problem - 5/3/2008 2:58:29 PM   
T.W.


 

Posts: 915
Joined: 10/25/2002
From: Way Up North , UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		Hi Guys. I'm struggling with a receiver battery problem and wonder if a "battery expert" out there can offer me some help or advice. I've had lots of model planes over the years, but this is the first one which has given me this particular problem

Put simply: I'm only getting 3 or 4 flights of around 8 minutes before the on-board battery condition indicator fitted to my IC-powered model warns me that the Rx battery is losing power. The check: I waggle both sticks in all directions immediately after landing - if I see a red led flickering I know that I need to re-charge the battery. I do this with all my other models, and I usually get 6 or 7 flights (sometimes 8 even) before the red led lights-up

I've tried several new batterys (all 4.8v) and currently have yet another brand-new 2100mah NiMHi pack installed in the model. The results have been the same with each battery I've tried. The model in question is a Hangar 9 Funtana 40S, which I fully admit to "flying pretty hard." As a comparison I also have a 40-size Hangar 9 Twist which I fly in exactly the same way, and this model's Rx battery will produce 6 or 7 flights per Rx charge (it has 5 standard Futaba S148 servos). I tried installing the Twist's Rx battery and found that it only produces 3 flights when in the Funtana

The Funtana has 4 Futaba 148 servos, and none of them are stalled at full deflection, the rudder's S3010 is also free-moving and un-stalled. All control surfaces and linkages are free-moving and non-binding

Yesterday I saw the red led flicker after 3 flights when moving all 5 servos, but as there was no red light whilst moving just 2 or 3 of the servos, I "chanced a 4th flight - which was kept quite short (although the model was still "flown hard" . The red warning light was "solid" when I checked after the 4th landing

Back home I put the Rx battery on my cycler and re-charged it . . . . it took only 330mah before cutting-out!

Final note: As a test for the on-board battery condition indicator I connected several of them the Funtana's Rx, and they all show their red lights at the same time as the on-board meter turns red

I'm completely puzzled by this situation and would welcome any advice

Tony



       Post #: 1

RE: 3D Plane Receiver Battery Problem - 5/3/2008 4:45:04 PM   
pilotpete2


 

Posts: 1302
Joined: 10/31/2002
From: Lyndonville, VT, USA
Status: offline 		Hi Tony,
I have very little faith in those on board battery checkers.
A good ESV with a switchable load of 400 to 500mA is much more reliable of an indicator of your charge status, I use mine between every flight.
Also, it's a good idea to cycle those batteries to determine their actual capacity and if they have never been charged at C/10 (210mA) for 16 hours, it's a good idea to do so, peak charging is never as good as the old tried and true overnite charge for longer life of the cells.
good luck,
Pete

(in reply to T.W.)
       Post #: 2

RE: 3D Plane Receiver Battery Problem - 5/3/2008 6:20:13 PM   
T.W.


 

Posts: 915
Joined: 10/25/2002
From: Way Up North , UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		Thanks for this Pete

The batteries I'm talking about here are all new (or more accurately: months, rather than years, old), and indeed I do trickle-charge my new batteries at C10 to "equalise" the cells before bringing them into norlmal use. They have also all been cycled perhaps 5 or 6 times to get them up to capacity and to check that they discharge something close to their labelled capacity

Until a few years ago I used to charge my batteries overnight before flying too. But these days a quick top-up charge using a delta peak charger is all I can actually arrange to have - and it's worked really well for me over the past 5 years or so. Since this particular problem raised its head I've even flown my Funtana after an overnight charge on one occasion, just to see if it made a difference. But I still only got 3 flights out of the battery before I had to re-charge it

I'm not familiar with the term "ESV," but I guess this is a plug-in battery checker? Perhaps you could point me at a web-page where I might learn more about them? Maybe you could recomend a particular type I should get too?

Tony

(in reply to pilotpete2)
       Post #: 3

RE: 3D Plane Receiver Battery Problem - 5/3/2008 9:54:55 PM   
pilotpete2


 

Posts: 1302
Joined: 10/31/2002
From: Lyndonville, VT, USA
Status: offline 		Hi tony,
Sorry about the untranslated acronym , ESV stands for expanded scale voltmeter.
I don't know what is available from your local distributors on your side of the pond, but here's a popular one from Tower Hobbies.
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXWW16&P=0
With one of these you first read the no load voltage and then see what it settles at under the simulated load. It seems that all the guys planes I see with the volt watch, dip into the red when you twiddle the sticks.
It sure sounds as though you're doing all the right things with the batteries[)].
Here's a thought, the next time you fly, start with a full charge, then fly until the voltwatch makes you think you should stop, then when you get home put the battery on the cycler to discharge it and see how much capacity is left, probably a lot more than you think.
Good luck,
Pete

(in reply to T.W.)
       Post #: 4

RE: 3D Plane Receiver Battery Problem - 5/3/2008 10:27:53 PM   
T.W.


 

Posts: 915
Joined: 10/25/2002
From: Way Up North , UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		Thanks again Pete. I see exactly what you mean . . . . I think the meter in my picture may do the same job as the Towe Hobbies item, and I'll be sending-off for it if you can confirm that it's what I need. I'll also try doing what you suggested regarding discharging the battery following a flying session too

Tony

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       Post #: 5

RE: 3D Plane Receiver Battery Problem - 5/3/2008 10:34:02 PM   
pilotpete2


 

Posts: 1302
Joined: 10/31/2002
From: Lyndonville, VT, USA
Status: offline 		That's a very nice looking unit, the 300mA load is better than the tower one.
Best of luck,
Pete

(in reply to T.W.)
       Post #: 6

RE: 3D Plane Receiver Battery Problem - 5/3/2008 10:45:22 PM   
T.W.


 

Posts: 915
Joined: 10/25/2002
From: Way Up North , UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		Cheers - my order is going-in right now! I'll report back if ever I discover exactly what's going-on with my Funtana battery

Tony

(in reply to pilotpete2)
       Post #: 7

RE: 3D Plane Receiver Battery Problem - 5/8/2008 11:32:34 AM   
T.W.


 

Posts: 915
Joined: 10/25/2002
From: Way Up North , UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		My new battery checker (see above) arrived yesterday morning, and I flew my Funtana in the afternoon, taking the new checker with me . . . . after only 2 (10-minute) flights the on-board checker told me that it was time to re-charge my Rx battery (I could see a red led whilst moving the servos). Checking with the new device I could see that the battery was still fine (under 300mah load). So I had a third flight - and then a fourth one after doing another post-flight check

After the fourth flight I re-checked again. The on-board checker was now showing a solid red light - without any of the servos being moved. The new checker showed the battery to be more than three-quarters full - plenty of capacity for another flight, maybe even two. But time had run-out and I had to leave for home

Back home I was surprised to discover that the 21,000mah battery would take only 350 before it was fully charged-up - surely it should have taken more (or am I misunderstanding things here?)

But here's something I definitely need to check-out: I noticed that the new battery checker's display "flickers" when initially connected to the Funtana's charging socket. It doesn't do this when I connect it directly to the battery socket itself, so I'm guessing that spent fuel has entered the charging socket . . . . I'm unsure exactly what this means, but perhaps it has a bearing on the overall problem?

Tony

(in reply to T.W.)
       Post #: 8

RE: 3D Plane Receiver Battery Problem - 5/8/2008 1:43:37 PM   
richrd


 

Posts: 737
Joined: 7/18/2005
From: Waterford, PA, USA
Status: offline 		I have two suggestions if the batteries are checking out ok after fights do a capacity test to actually see what left and go from their. BUT! The on board meter makes me very nervous if it is actual correct you may have a BAD harness where the resistance is very high and not getting correct voltage to receiver. The test is to measure with ESV at the receiver next to the on board monitor and see if they are the same reading. The is something that must be fixed a red light is not right con not just ignore it if bad replace it or try another one but the esv will tell all.
Rich

(in reply to T.W.)
       Post #: 9

RE: 3D Plane Receiver Battery Problem - 5/9/2008 8:50:57 AM   
T.W.


 

Posts: 915
Joined: 10/25/2002
From: Way Up North , UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		Thanks for this Rich. I'll check-out the remaining capacity after my next flying session - however, after the previous session I discovered that it took only 350ma to re-charge the battery (this is a recently-bought and checked-out 2100mah pack btw)

I replaced the switch harness yesterday evening and this morning I hooked-up my ESV right alongside the battery at the Rx end via a Y-lead. Then I hooked-up a couple more on-board battery checkers for comparison - and left the battery turned-on to see what happened

Tony

< Message edited by T.W. -- 5/9/2008 9:07:59 AM >

(in reply to richrd)
       Post #: 10

RE: 3D Plane Receiver Battery Problem - 5/9/2008 8:52:39 AM   
T.W.


 

Posts: 915
Joined: 10/25/2002
From: Way Up North , UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		This is what the set-up looked like at the outset of this test

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       Post #: 11

RE: 3D Plane Receiver Battery Problem - 5/9/2008 8:53:45 AM   
T.W.


 

Posts: 915
Joined: 10/25/2002
From: Way Up North , UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		Some time later this is what I see

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       Post #: 12

RE: 3D Plane Receiver Battery Problem - 5/9/2008 8:57:15 AM   
T.W.


 

Posts: 915
Joined: 10/25/2002
From: Way Up North , UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		More time passes . . . .

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       Post #: 13

RE: 3D Plane Receiver Battery Problem - 5/9/2008 9:01:35 AM   
T.W.


 

Posts: 915
Joined: 10/25/2002
From: Way Up North , UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		This is taking a lot of time . . . . . this time I've pressed the ESV's "start" button so the pix shows the voltage when a 300mah load is applied

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(in reply to T.W.)