BillinIndiana

Hi, I'm still working on my Sig MK II trainer and need to order a few things so I thought I might look into a Rx battery. I have the Spektrum AR400 Rx. What should I buy as a battery? I also have that DuBro Quik-Switch and charge jack coming .. This onewww3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p

BuschBarber

My Feedback: (2)

I have used NiCad and NiMh for many years. With the advent of electric power and the introduction of Lithium batteries, I switched to 2cell LiPos with a voltage regulator and bought FMA 10S Lithium chargers. I have finally settled on 2cell LiFe batteries. They do not require a voltage regulator and have all the advantages of other Lithium batteries such as light weight, fast to charge, and hold their charge for months.

I never get caught without charged Rx batteries. I can charge on the way to the field or charge at the field. They are very reliable and safe to handle.

BillinIndiana

OK.. Looks like a LiFe battery is 6.6 volts.. My servos are the Spektrum A6060 the specs say 4.8- 6 volts. Will these still work together? www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/WTI0095P
andwww.spektrumrc.com/Products/Default.aspx

Here's the AR400 Rx www.spektrumrc.com/Products/Default.aspx

BuschBarber

My Feedback: (2)

Yes

BillinIndiana

Thanks, I wasn't sure if 6/10 of a volt wold hurt anything or not..?

I guess I should look into a charger also..

BuschBarber

My Feedback: (2)

As long as the servos are 6v compatible, you will not have any problems. I am using JR 791 Retract servos on a warbird. With a 6v battery, they jittered at one end. Horizon informed me that those servos were not 6v compatible. I use a 5v voltage regulator on those servos.

BillinIndiana

What do you use for a charger? After a quick search on Towers Hobbies, I'm a little confused on what to look for? Is it a Lipo charger?

BuschBarber

My Feedback: (2)

My first LiPo charger was an Astroflight 109. I have also used a Triton. As Lithium battery manufacturers added Balancing Taps to their batteries and it became more obvious that Balancing the cells extended the Performance and Life of Lithium cells, I eventually purchased FMA 4S and 10S chargers and charge through the Balancing Taps. I can charge at higher rates and monitor each cell voltage.

Be sure the charger you choose supports A123/LiFe battery chemistry.

BillinIndiana

Well that gives me something to look up..Haha.

I'm trying to get an order together through Towers..

rmh

Good choice in battery-
Charger choices are getting very tricky
Choose correct chemistry types -for what batteries you will use in all your models
Then make certain you buy one which will chage these at a rate (time) which fits your needs.
There are lots of cheap ones but some require only a 12 volt input while others will charge at 12 volts OR plugged into the wall socket -110 ac
A mistake here will cost you over 100 dollars in buying two where one good choice would have worked
I use multiple FMA Direct's 10 S- -but that is because I run some batteries which require lots of power ( 10 cell at 5000) ma
read up on these carefully!
beware strangely low prices!!

BuschBarber

My Feedback: (2)

FMA chargers are purchased direct through:

http://www.store.revolectrix.com/Pro...llpro-Chargers

You also need the adapter that is compatible with your battery's Balancing Tap.

BillinIndiana

So far all I have is a trainer plane, so if I can just come up with just one combination of battery/charger.. Any future models I'll just buy the same battery...

tony0707

Radical RC.com is a great source of battery info
Check it out

BuschBarber

My Feedback: (2)

Here is an A123/LiFe pack from Hobby King

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...iver_Pack.html

You can purchase an FMA Cellpro 10S from Hobby King

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...r_Charger.html

or the FMA Cellpro 4S Multi from FMA

http://www.store.revolectrix.com/Pro...Cellpro-Multi4

BillinIndiana

Thanks I'll look into those

BillinIndiana

How about these? This is the chargerwww3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p And this is the battery.. www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p The battery says it has Universal receiver plugs, so this should work with the Spektrum AR400 right?

H5606

This is an informative thread - I'm not well versed in the new battery technology but I was thinking of trying LiFe chemistry myself. Could you go with the 1300 mah LiFe pack and save a few bucks? If 600 mah NiCads were the standard for a four channel airplane in the past, then it would seem logical that switching to a 1300 mah LiFe battery should be more than sufficient. I'm not sure what the "C" rating has to do with selection of LiFe cells either as some are rated at 1C, 3C, and 10C. The 1300 mah pack is rated at 1C with just a Rx lead and balance tap whereas the 2300 mah pack you linked to has a 10C rating with three different leads and balancing tap.

BuschBarber

My Feedback: (2)

In your case, 1C would be 1.3a. It refers to the maximum Discharge Current. Sometimes you will see a Burst rating, as well. Which C rating you may need depends upon How Many and What Type of servos you have installed.

There is also a Charge C rating indicating how much Current you can use to Charge the batteries.

1C would be 1 times the Capacity of the batteries, for example.

Zeeb

My Feedback: (41)

While there are now a few meters out there which go to three digits and can volt check LiFe/A123 batteries, you have to be willing to check for voltage differences out to at least hundreths of a volt and I would consider such devices mixed with human memory as insufficient.... lol

Better to fly by the number of mah's used based on past experience and charge accordingly e.g. one of my models uses about 13-15mah's per minute on the rx/servos so I recharge it's 2300mah A123 according to flight time. That charger you linked to does not appear to display the number of mah's put back in the battery? You NEED that information.

FMA is without doubt the leader of the pack when it comes to LiFe/A123 battery care and the little Multi 4 charger isn't that much more than the one you listed at about $60.00 or so dollars from various vendors. You will need a DC power supply to use with the FMA chargers. Another vendor you might like dealing with is WrongwayRC where you can get an FMA charger and genuine A123 (that's what the LiFe's are copying) batteries at very reasonable prices plus the owner is quite knowledgeable and willing to help.

http://www.wrongwayrc.com/

Red Raider

My Feedback: (86)

I use only LiFe A123 batteries for my receivers. For our purposes they come in two capacities, 1100 and 2300 mah. The 1100 size battery is the best I've ever used. Charges quickly, holds a charge virtually indefinitely and does not have the issues that other lithium chemistry batteries do. There's several good places to get them - Radical RC, NoBS batteries, Electrodynamics. These places can also guide you in selecting the right charger. Be sure to get one that is multi-chemistry. You don't want to have one charger for your receiver and another for your transmitter. Be very cautious about using LiFe batteries that are not A123. There is a difference that really concerns me, but there's no need to go into that here. The best advice I ever received or have given about this great sport is this: Be thoughtful about your initial purchases (sounds like you're doing a good job of that) and be consistent in the future. I'm a little anal about this advice since I've been down the very expensive road of mixing up a little of everything under the sun. What I mean is, When it comes to radios, batteries, chargers and even hardware, the simpler, cleaner you can keep it the better off you are. For me, after 30 years of flying I finally settled into my niche - 30cc size gas engines (Syssa), JR 9303 radio, JR 821 digital servos, LiFe batteries in all my planes, and Eneloop 2000 on all my ignition systems. I even use the same ignition and spark plugs on everything. You will find that as you progress in the sport and add planes to your hangar (and you will ), that maintenance becomes an issue. The simpler you keep it, the more time you will have for flying.
Steve

raptureboy

The best place for quality batteries and reliable information http://hangtimes.com/rcbattery_faq.htmlRememberI said QUALITY batteries not CHEAP. I have used the Triton 2 battery charger from Tower for years and it works great. The new EQ version will charge everykind of battery in use today. This is where making a quality purchase and not one based solely on price pays off in the long run. http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...FB%3E+chargers The EQjunior requires a 12v power supply. Enjoy!

Zeeb

My Feedback: (41)

Well, where to start????

Advice given with good intentions and I normally try to stay out of such input but this one caught my eye. You should NOT be using those servos on gas engine powered planes per the manufacturer's recommendations. They used to mention gas engines specifically due to vibration and model weights not to exceed 12lbs. for airplanes. It's just basically not a good idea. Do some guys use 'em for things they are not recommended for? Yep, doesn't make it right or safe just because someone has gotten away with it for awhile, sooner or later it'll bite 'ya.....


From Horizon's website:

"Overview
The DS821 servo is a powerful, accurate sport digital servo recommended for RC airplane applications up to 1.20-size. For helicopters, the DS821 operates best with 30-size glow models, and up to 50-size electric. Loads and vibration in larger models may cause premature failure of the servo resulting in damage or injury to property and persons."

As for the Triton chargers and A123/LiFe chemistry batteries? Well do some looking around the forums and you'll find there are issues with almost any charger except the FMA's when it comes to those batteries. It used to be the Triton was kind of the top of the heap but not when comes to the newer battery chemistries and balancing. I still keep a couple of them around for charging field batteries and doing discharge duties when I cycle the packs but I wouldn't charge my A123's with them even if they had that chemistry in the programming.

While I think there is some really good battery information on the NoBS website, Steve can be a bit short (he's a New Yorker.... lol) and there are places with better pricing.

Here's another vendor who has LOTS of information on different battery types and how to handle them as well as being one of the better known suppliers for Giant Scale applications. This link will get you started if you're interested there's lots more, if not? Oh well......

http://www.fromeco.org/support/artic...and.LiFe.packs

rmh

For a rx pack on a 2.4 radio- a 1c pack is risky -unles you have tiny servos which do very little work In reading"crash reports it is apparant manydo not understand how the C rating importance has jumped with the advent of 2.4 and th newer high energy servos
The 72.xxx stuf worked -sorta on 600ma because th e rx would still operate (sorta) down to a couple of volts and servo power was typically under 40 inch ounces - BIG DIFFERENCES!!!! A genuine 1100 ma A123 pack at under three ounces will weld wires in an instant if you short em. The old 600stuf - barely a pop. .