teryn1

My Feedback: (77)

my JR 8103 transmitter was on for extended period (battery went dead) with the antenna down....

what is the likelihood that damage has been done?

what is the best way of testing it for damage?

It was left on and the battery went dead...

Thanks for any help,
Teryn

mauiglide

My Feedback: (1)

There won't be any problems with your transmitter or module for that matter. The JR and all other R/C transmitters are pretty robust and can tolerate that situation. The battery, on the other hand, does not like that kind of abuse. Running your batteries down to zero volts can cause the cells to short out. Try cycling your battery on a good charger and it should be okay.

Josey Wales

My Feedback: (61)

Dont know about JR but according to Futaba You CAN damage the module if you leave the antenna down. they suggest either putting it up or removing the module when programming.

Rodney

Anytime that you operate your transmitter, regardless of brand, with the antenna collapsed you are heating up the output stage. the power that would normally be radiated is instead converted to heat in the output stage. The manufacturers know that this will happen sooner or later so do take some pains to make a robust heat dissipation path for the output transistor(s) which will minimize this problem. However, you are lowering the mean time to failure rate on the output stage anytime you increase the temperature (roughly doubles the failure rate for every 10 degrees C that you raise the temperature). It is just good practice and good sense to never operate your transmitter for any extended period of time with the antenna collapsed, even partially collapsed. Make your range checks quickly and then extend the antenna. The comment on possible battery damage is correct, a reversed charged battery can suffer permanent damage. When you discharge with the switch on, the weakest cell invariably receives a reverse charge.