ICE929RR

Hi all,

Can you tell me how much battery power do you take when you go sailing ?

How many packs for the receiver and for the radio ?

I currently have only 1 pack for the radio and 2 x 1200 mha for the receiver…

Regards

ICE

SJN

I have 8 2300 cells in the transmitter , and 4 2300cells in the boat.

LtDoc

ICE,
My boat/receiver uses four non-rechargable 'AA' batteries. With two servos, a Futaba '3003' and '3801', they last for several trips to the pond. Just changed them yesterday. That set was in there for about 3 months which included winter, so figure about a month per set. I always try to keep an extra package in the truck, so haven't been 'caught out' yet.
- 'Doc

Pecos45

Ice, I'm running a Futaba 4 pack of batteries in my boat. I can sail all afternoon and when I get home I recharge them. Could I go sail again with them? I don't know. Don't want to chance it.

I would suggest you get a second battery pack for your boat just to have with you. It's a shame to go to all the trouble to go sailing only to discover soon after you get there that your batteries are conking out. Also this could be risky to your boat.

This is one of those things where you should always err on the side of caution.

Wismerhell, I believe, runs a 5 cell battery pack in his boat and I am going to upgrade to the same simply to get faster, stronger servo response.

For the transmitter batteries, again I recharge them after each sailing. If your radio has a battery meter, it tells you the charge in your batteries. If not, you're only guessing. Again, err on the side of caution.

pompebled

Hi Luis,

I have a 5 cell 750mAh AA battery-pack in the boat and 10 AA 2400mAh in my transmitter.

The receiver-pack lasts about four hours (longer than me..) and the transmitter has a Voltmeter in the display.

Just like Jim, I charge my receiverpack after each session, to be on the safe side (don't ask...)

I have some 2400mAh AAcells ready to solder as 5 cell receiverpacks, so in theory I can run the boat for 12 hours...
I need a chair and food and drinks brought to me if I'm going to last thát long.

Regards, Jan

P.S.: The charger just sounded, and I've used 187 mAh out of my receiverpack during the last two hours of sailing.

canesugarrules

I have a 700 mha Transmitter and receiver battery and a 5 cell, 2700 mah battery that feeds the jib winch and the main winch. That will usually last for a few hours, depending on the wind.

Pecos45

What boat are you sailing, Cane?

canesugarrules

It's a Vortex 60, modeled after the 12 Meter America's Cup boats.

Pecos45

Pretty good sized boat. And I suspect you use batteries at pretty good clip pulling those big sails around. Would love to see some pic's if you got um, Cane.[8D]

Silverhawk

My Feedback: (1)

I have AA alkalines in my Sunrise 24 setup and I have 6+ hours of time on them. These sessions have lasted from 15 minutes to 1 hour. I am, however, going to go to AAA NiMH for weight savings and see what happens.

Pecos45

A lot of racers change to the AAA for weight reasons. I should think you can get 4 hours on a boat that size without much problem. However, I wonder if changing out these batteries is a double edged sword, particularly with such a small boat. You may lose a little weight which should help boat accellerate faster but batteries are LOW, waterline weight that helps with boat stability. At any rate, it will be a simple experiment to try. Good luck. jim

wismerhell

sorry to bother but AAA might not have enough "power" herewith I mean mAh...you might check your servo drain on that issue.

scottyfusion

My Feedback: (1)

has anyone tried a small lipo pack? im new to sailing but i put a 2cell 1100 lipo in mine (havent sailed it yet). the lipos last forever in my monster trucks driving three servos two of wich r high tork steering!

what do you guys think?

wismerhell

I heard lipos and water arent best friends...other worry is servos can use 4.8 or 6 volts...
though some heavy winches uses 7.2..might be wirth...but how much weight would you save?

Silverhawk

My Feedback: (1)

Pecos, the stern of my Sunrise sets pretty low in the water now and seems to give the hull a bow-up attitude. I also wonder if that is contributing to the severe weather helm that it shows. In any breeze more than 8 or 9 mph I have to hold in full rudder just to keep going straight.

Sorry, this got a little off course.

pompebled

Off course...,

This looks more like a question of mast rake to me.

If the boat wants to steer into the wind, make the mast lean more forward, if not, do the oposite.

You can also experiment with the balance of the hull, so the stern does not sit so deep (but it's sitting deep for a (nose-diving) reason, if I'm not mistaken?) to see what difference in running this makes.

Regards, Jan.

canesugarrules

The boat is 60 in long and the mast is 80 in tall. Pictures are at[link]http://www.imagestation.com/album/index.html?id=4289016023[/link]

Pecos45

Hawk, if the boat is already down by the stern somewhat, I suspect you should listen to Jan and experiment with different mast rakes. He's done lots more experimenting with this subject than I have at this point and I trust his advice more than I do my own.[X(]
Seriously.

That said, there are other issues here all wrapped up in the size and design of your boat. I don't have the sunrise specs in front of me and wouldn't know what to make of half the design features if I did, but my point is we can only modify and manipulate so much wind tolerance into a boat. The rest is "hereditary" with the size and design.

Silverhawk

My Feedback: (1)

Wow Cane, 60" is only 3X bigger than my Sunrise!! Makes me feel sorta puny. Then again, you would barely fit in the pond I use.

Jan, I'm going to try the mast rake thing. Now that you mention it, I know I tightened things down that seemed too "loose" when I got her. Of course we have had snow the last couple of days so it may be a few before I can try out the changes.

I may relegate the Sunrise to fair weather sailing along with the Rainbow I have coming for my grandson. I think it's time to look long and hard at getting a 36" or 1M job and head for the reservoir. I looked at Victorias but I just don't know about how much "open" water a 30" would handle.

canesugarrules

I would also try playing with the balast. When sailing full scale sailboats, if there is too much weather helm when racing, I will try to move weight forward. When sailing a Laser without a rudder, if you want to head down, you must move forward as well as to windward to turn the boat down. Doing the opposite turns the boat into the wind.

Good Luck

Ed