seeforu

Can someone tell me if my [NEW!] JR10X is suppose to do this. I placed it on the charger when I first recieved it in the mail the other day. It charged up okay to 11.3v. Two days later, after some use during programming it, I placed it on the charger and the charger light did not come on. The main display screen indicates 10v worth of charge left. I'm wondering, does it have to drop down to a certain voltage before it will start taking another charge or is there something wrong with the radio? I placed my other JR radios (JR8103 and my JR652) on the same charger and they take a charge fine. Maybe I'm missing something real simple here!! Thank you for any advise!!

JLB

My Feedback: (2)

You have done nothing wrong, JR has in my opinion. The problem is that JR has put a diode internally in the battery pack they think is an "improvement". It seems this diode decides to take a hike even when you charge the radio correctly. I have flown JR equipment exclusively for the last several years and now own nothing but JR charging jacks and truly believe I am capable of charging a JR transmitter. When I called Horizon, I was told the only way this could happen was if I hooked up the charging equipment backwards and they had never seen this happen before. Funny that when I ordered a spare pack from another source I was told they heard of this happening quite frequently. Bottom line is that it should certainly be covered under warranty but you will be without your new radio for a while.

Dansy

My Feedback: (53)

There's no Diode in the 10x JR pack.....unless you buy it from oversea. But there is a small board mounted fuses inside the battery box/pack of the 10X.

Please don't ask why I know!

CWLWL

I think manufacturers, regardless of brands or equipment, eg, RC, cellular phones, to doing these to the batt,packs are just protecting the sales of their accessories, rather than for the actual protection / safety issue.
I really dislike/ hate the complexities or related problems they brought to consumers.

David.

mulligan

Huh??? We're talking fuses and diodes to protect against shorting the battery and cooking your transmitter? What sales of accessories are related to this?

E-limon-8

Dansy is right about the fuse in the battery. JR should cover it under warranty, if not, it is not too expensive. I've had this similar problem a few times.

MO_Radio_Tech

Has anyone here ever been stupid enough to defeat this fuse? I have seen people jump this fuse with soldered wire.

Result: $1200 10X's melted from run away batteries that would have been prevented by the fuse.

The fuse is a GREAT design. If you charge your batteries at a reasonable rate (1.5 - 2 amps) you would never blow this fuse.

Also goofy things can happen with all chargers but especially fast chargers. Voltage spikes, accidental shorts, etc.

MO_Radio_Tech

I should mention the exent of damage. Melted battery, melted battery tray, melted ribbon cables to screen. Melted screen. I looked at it and told him to send it in to Horizon. Horizon fixed it but he would not tell me how much $$$.

visioneer_one

My Feedback: (506)

Hmm.

I had this problem with one of my 10X radios a while back. Plugged it into the quick charger - which came on for a fraction of a second, then switched off. The radio still worked, but the charging circuit didn't.

I opened up the battery case and spotted a burned/raised trace on the board.

I called Horizon about it. They recommended that I jump the trace with a bit of wire instead of sending it in.

I did as I was told, and have had no problems since. Note - in addition to soldering the wire in place I also added a bit of electronic-safe RTV over it. Just in case.

Is this the 'fuse' you're referring to?

ec121k

And that brings up another point. Electrical Grade RTV or silicon seal. How many people use the "regular" RTV on and around electrical components?

Use only Electrical Grade unless you want to destroy circuits. Highly corrosive that regular smelly stuff.

MO_Radio_Tech

Hmm.

I had this problem with one of my 10X radios a while back. Plugged it into the quick charger - which came on for a fraction of a second, then switched off. The radio still worked, but the charging circuit didn't.

I opened up the battery case and spotted a burned/raised trace on the board.

I called Horizon about it. They recommended that I jump the trace with a bit of wire instead of sending it in.

Is this the 'fuse' you're referring to?
------------------------------

I hope you are lying.

I can not believe anyone at Horizon would ever tell you to do this. Who is this person?

I highly reccomend you send the battery into Horizon and have it fixed right.

Tell them you were told to fix it yourself by someone over the phone!!!

The fuse looks like a yellow/green resistor with no stripes.

Don't charge the battery inside the transmitter with the fuse defeated.

Maybe they told you this beacuse you live extremely far away in the virgin islands.

Is your 10X American or US? I have seen Danny and others say several times on RCU that overseas 10X's have charge diodes rather than fuses. Maybe yours had the diode instead?

visioneer_one

My Feedback: (506)

I've had this happen with both of my 10X radios. I generally charge these with my Alpha 4 - I think that I shorted the charging jacks while plugging them in.

I don't remember seeing a resistor or diode in that spot - just a raised trace, in both cases.

I don't remember the name of the Horizon tech I spoke with the first time I had this problem - this was months ago. From the way he described it it certainly didn't sound like a kludge - he made it sound like a common fix for the problem.

I'll open up one of the batteries tonight and take another look.

MO_Radio_Tech

I would think that the fuse would blow before a trace would burn. I don't know without seeing. Older 10X's had a 5 amp fuse, newer ones (and all the ones with fuses replaced) seem to have a 10A fuse. Maybe with the newer fuse the trace can overheat before the fuse blows? Only JR/Horizon would know.

Can you take a digital picture and post it?

samsrc

My Feedback: (4)

If by chance you fry the 10A fuse on that circuit board, where can you get another?? Or do you have to send it back to JR??

Sam

samsrc

My Feedback: (4)

If by chance you fry the 10A fuse on that circuit board, where can you get another?? Or do you have to send it back to JR??

Sam

visioneer_one

My Feedback: (506)

(got home fairly late last night and didn't put in any shop time.)

I'll post pics of the affected boards later tonight.

MO_Radio_Tech

It is a 10A fast blow fuse, but it is in a small resistor like shape with leads. I am not sure where to get this fuse other than Horizon. Horizon would probably not charge much for it..

You could probably mount another type of 10A fast blow fuse, but there is not much room for it in the battery's case on the circuit board. The important thing is, whatever behavior causes a fuse to blow should be determined and corrected.

This may not be practical for everyone, but I purchased a couple more batteries for my 10X. I trickle charge them and have them ready for each flying day. I can fly for several hours without charging me TX. I just yank one battery out and pop in another. This was quite costly, but the convenience is great.

I always use DSC for programming and tinkering which lowers current drain on my transmitter and extends the life of my charge.

Of course, most of the time I use just fly trainers and small planes with my JR 652.

visioneer_one

My Feedback: (506)

better late than never.



(I cleaned the RTV off the boards for the pictures, hence the white residue.)

The jumped traces are visible on both boards.

MO_Radio_Tech

A 10 amp fuse, 5 amp fuse, or a charge diode is likely to be located real close to the "24J222". It is indicated by a diode symbal. What do you have and is it blown or OK? Also I notice your cells look green on my screen.