gunneredwards

My Feedback: (4)

How often should I cycle my battery packs? They are the old nicad 4.8v battery packs, and should I just turn them on and let them discharge or is there a special way to do it? I used to just leave the receiver on and let them run down and then recharge and never had a problem but thought I would ask since I have been out of the hobby for a while.

dignlivn

That's what I use to do with 700 mAh Rx pacs (nicads).


Now I have a charger/discharger, so I know how many
mAh's i'm putting back into the pac. I use nMhi now, but
i'm going to start using Li ion's soon.


Bob

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

I started having problems finding big nicad packs and started using nim. When I first started flying RC I used to turn on my RX and TX and play like I was flying my plane in front of the TV until I ran down the battery then charge them up again. I guess it worked? I never lost a plane due to a low battery. Today I have a couple of chargers with the discharg cycle on it. With these you can see what the condition of your batter really is. I was doing the cycle a few times a year whenever the thought crossed my mind. I was pretty bad about it but my batteries always lasted a long time. Having a good charger is really a good idea, wall warts work but there are better ways to go these days.

jaka

Hi!
I never cycled my NiCad:s when I used such batteries 30 years ago! Today many of us use NiMH cells!

Lnewqban

Check this FAQs up:

http://www.radicalrc.com/abattfaq.html

1) Recycle every 10 charges or when you notice poor performance; today's NiCd are more resistant to memory development.
2) Don't allow the battery be dischaged bellow 4.4 volts.
3) When not sure, charge the pack with the wall charger for 15 hours; and go fly!

wcmorrison

My Feedback: (2)

One thing about NiCds - they have a graceful discharge curve. And they can deliver a lot of power for a short period of time. NiMh have a distinct knee in their discharge curves, when the knee in the curve is reached, the battery discharges at an alarming rate. And the NiMh does not like to have a large load put on it. Ergo, use a much bigger milliampere NiMh battery in place of your NiCd and make sure they are well charged before flying. I lost an airplane because the NiMh indicated it was marginally okay, well the load drove it down and the airplane circled itself away, gradually climbing and in ever wider circles. It went into a lake never to be found again.

Cheers,

Chip

phildflyer

You should cycle your Nicads at least every two months or so depending on use. As important, you should know how many mah the battery pack is retaining after the full cycle. For me, if the fully charged battery pack retains less than 75% of it's capacity I will buy a new battery pack to use. Remember with a new battery pack, cycle it at least 3 -5 times before using it to bring it up to full charge. Don't cut corners. I've seen to many planes go down because of poor battery maintenance.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

NIM isn't supposed to require a cycle but we have discovered it takes about 4 cycles before they charge up all the way, after that they seem to be OK. Just an FYI.

gunneredwards

My Feedback: (4)

What would be a reputable dealer for such a pack?
dan