2014 race season
03-31-2014, 10:33 AM
#176
Marty, what capacity pack and what voltage do you see after 1 flight. I was charging the pack after each flight and putting between 75 to 80 ma back into the pack so I'm sure that 800 ma is plenty capacity but that drop to 6.5V no load and with load it was dropping to 6 V. Im going to pull it out and see what the individual cells are reading. But everything went well got a couple items to change before she goes out again.
Last edited by Jimmy Skids; 03-31-2014 at 10:35 AM. Reason: added info
03-31-2014, 02:26 PM
#179
My Feedback: (66)
Yes the LiFe Batteries are the way to go right now. You dont need a regulator, they are almost fireproof. I have test several in high tests with the ground. batteries were smashed into round balls and no heat or fire.
Shawn your lower voltage could be from LiFe's with a lower "C" rating. some of the smaller batteries only have a 1C rating which means they only like to to put out there rated capacity. So your 800 MaH pack with a 500 MaH draw will see a lower voltage than a 1700 MaH pack with a 1C rating. 500 MaH of 800 is 62% of its rated capacity where the same 500 Mah draw on the 1700 pack is only 29%. The larger battery will have a higher voltage under that same load.
I use the 700 MaH packs in most of my planes. As with all baterriers you should cycle them 2-4 times to see if they are at/or close to the rated capacity, and then fly then recharge, fly 2 times recharge then fly 4 times and recharge to see if you have enough battery. i usually recommend that if you use 500 mah for a days flying you need no less than 1000 MaH pack to be safe.
LiFe batteries have a steep curves at the begging and end of their range. IE: they drop voltage fast on either end, but they will hold at 6.5 or so for a long time. They will be at 90% discharged and still read 6.3-6.4 volts but drop very fast.
I will only use LiFe from now on.
Shawn your lower voltage could be from LiFe's with a lower "C" rating. some of the smaller batteries only have a 1C rating which means they only like to to put out there rated capacity. So your 800 MaH pack with a 500 MaH draw will see a lower voltage than a 1700 MaH pack with a 1C rating. 500 MaH of 800 is 62% of its rated capacity where the same 500 Mah draw on the 1700 pack is only 29%. The larger battery will have a higher voltage under that same load.
I use the 700 MaH packs in most of my planes. As with all baterriers you should cycle them 2-4 times to see if they are at/or close to the rated capacity, and then fly then recharge, fly 2 times recharge then fly 4 times and recharge to see if you have enough battery. i usually recommend that if you use 500 mah for a days flying you need no less than 1000 MaH pack to be safe.
LiFe batteries have a steep curves at the begging and end of their range. IE: they drop voltage fast on either end, but they will hold at 6.5 or so for a long time. They will be at 90% discharged and still read 6.3-6.4 volts but drop very fast.
I will only use LiFe from now on.
03-31-2014, 03:14 PM
#180
Jimmy, I have been fooling with the battery somewhat today. During my last flight yesterday I had a little weirdness at the south pylon. I pulled the throttle back and had JR tell me what the RX voltage was. RX voltage is a standard feature on my A9. He reported that the voltage was steady 6.5V. Had I been running nicad, NiM or Lipo I would have had peak voltage and not dropped down to nominal voltage yet. This is my first LiFe battery and I was expecting to be on the peak longer then one flight. I have recharged and it took 90 mah. That is pretty much what I was noting yesterday. When balance charging after a discharge the cells stayed within .1V of one another. At this point the battery looks fine and I am just not used to the discharge charicteristics of the LiFe. The weirdness could easily have been that I didn't follow my own set up rules and had the elevator dual rate dialed down to 30% and was slightly tail heavy. Both of those items will be fixed before flying it again. I was really feeling the loss of resolution while trying to maintain a straight between pylons and while landing. Just have to practice what I preach. Lol
03-31-2014, 05:18 PM
#182
I balance all my 2 cell Lifes, even though some people say you dont have to. They do come w/ a balance lead so I use it.
The beauty of Life's is the lack of memory, unlike a NIMH or NICAD. These Zippys are like $7 each and I have almost every non GS racer fitted with them. Some of mine are over 3 yrs old with around 50 cycles thru them, with no problems yet.
The beauty of Life's is the lack of memory, unlike a NIMH or NICAD. These Zippys are like $7 each and I have almost every non GS racer fitted with them. Some of mine are over 3 yrs old with around 50 cycles thru them, with no problems yet.
03-31-2014, 08:35 PM
#183
Jimmy, I have been fooling with the battery somewhat today. During my last flight yesterday I had a little weirdness at the south pylon. I pulled the throttle back and had JR tell me what the RX voltage was. RX voltage is a standard feature on my A9. He reported that the voltage was steady 6.5V. Had I been running nicad, NiM or Lipo I would have had peak voltage and not dropped down to nominal voltage yet. This is my first LiFe battery and I was expecting to be on the peak longer then one flight. I have recharged and it took 90 mah. That is pretty much what I was noting yesterday. When balance charging after a discharge the cells stayed within .1V of one another. At this point the battery looks fine and I am just not used to the discharge charicteristics of the LiFe. The weirdness could easily have been that I didn't follow my own set up rules and had the elevator dual rate dialed down to 30% and was slightly tail heavy. Both of those items will be fixed before flying it again. I was really feeling the loss of resolution while trying to maintain a straight between pylons and while landing. Just have to practice what I preach. Lol
I was running a telemetry sensor in my plane yesterday.... I just picked up the telemetry and GPS sensor and this is only the second time out with the set up. First time where we were able to get the GPS working. I mention this because my voltage reading as reported by those watching the ipad was at 6.4 and 6.5 while flying.
Tonight I checked my plane that was flown one time after charging. Remember that the plane was running servos, retracts, as well as telemetry and GPS. Then sat for 30 hours before the testing below.
First using a Hyperion EOS Sentry I check the battery (1700 Turnigy Nano Tech LiFE Battery) voltage through the balance plug. The voltage was 6.66 and then dropped to 6.65 and showed 60% remaining. Then I checked each cell... cell 1 read 3.320 58% and cell 2 read 3.335 67%.
Second using a Futaba BR2000 Tester:
1 amp load. Unloaded reading was 6.9, loaded was 6.6
2 amp load. Unloaded reading was 6.9, loaded was 6.3
3 amp load. Unloaded reading was 6.9, loaded was 5.9
Next I placed the battery on a Hyperion Charger and allowed to charge.... minutes later the charge cycle was complete. The charge given was 79 MAH.
Lastly I weighed a LiFe battery that was out of the airplane. I didn't have a 1700 available so I weighed a slightly larger 2100 MAH nano tech. The weight came in at 117 grams (4 1/8 ounces). In comparison a 1100 NiCad 6 volt weighs 122 grams (4 3/8 ounces).
Jimmy Skids
04-01-2014, 08:42 AM
#185
My Feedback: (66)
I broke in my 115 WS last night with a gallon or so of 30% and then moved up in nitro testing props. The best I got was on a 14x14 APC at 11,650 on 75%. One thing about this engine is that it is very easy to needle on the higher nitro. I wonder what the max nitro is. I am thinking of trying some 85% but I cant find any for sale anywhere. May have to try to mix my own.
04-01-2014, 12:08 PM
#186
jimmy, thanks for the info. looks like we are pretty much seeing the same thing. My voltage drops with the same load is more with less then half the same capacity. I may just go ahead and order a larger capacity pack. I will have the setup items sorted out this week.
Jeff. We were running a 14X12N and setting the needle to just under 10K on the ground. This was a very rich setting even running 20%. When I go to lean it our any more I will have to put more load on it. I doubt that I will have to rev it up as much as you are yours. Going to 30% and throwing on a 13.5X13.5 will get me below the breakout. Right now I think I need just as much practice as the engine needs run time.
Jeff. We were running a 14X12N and setting the needle to just under 10K on the ground. This was a very rich setting even running 20%. When I go to lean it our any more I will have to put more load on it. I doubt that I will have to rev it up as much as you are yours. Going to 30% and throwing on a 13.5X13.5 will get me below the breakout. Right now I think I need just as much practice as the engine needs run time.
04-03-2014, 09:21 PM
#190
I'm a little late to the battery conversation but I've been using the NoBS batteries from here...
http://www.hangtimes.com/sportrxpacks.html
I run the 6 cell 7.2v ignition battery with the 2/3 Elite NiMh 1300 cells with HV servos in my planes. It's apparently good to 25amps according to the documentation included with the battery. The build quality on these packs are second to none IMO. They are a little spendy but really high quality and they perform really well. I plan on running standard 6.0v on my next plane so I'll order a 5 cell next time.
http://www.hangtimes.com/sportrxpacks.html
I run the 6 cell 7.2v ignition battery with the 2/3 Elite NiMh 1300 cells with HV servos in my planes. It's apparently good to 25amps according to the documentation included with the battery. The build quality on these packs are second to none IMO. They are a little spendy but really high quality and they perform really well. I plan on running standard 6.0v on my next plane so I'll order a 5 cell next time.
Last edited by camss69; 04-03-2014 at 09:24 PM.
04-03-2014, 09:57 PM
#192
It doesn't weigh much, the pack is pretty small.
I'm already way under breakout speed for silver.
How much does the life pack weigh?
Oh I see now Jimmy posted weights, I bet there is less than an ounce difference between the life and these batts. Each cell weighs .7 oz, so that's 4.2 oz (for a 6 cell HV) plus heat shrink and the lead... If you get a 6.0v 5 cell you're at 3.5oz plus heat shrink and lead. So these are right there weight wise and they also sound like they can support way more current if the life packs are 1c.. The LiFe packs do win on cost though...
I'm already way under breakout speed for silver.
How much does the life pack weigh?
Oh I see now Jimmy posted weights, I bet there is less than an ounce difference between the life and these batts. Each cell weighs .7 oz, so that's 4.2 oz (for a 6 cell HV) plus heat shrink and the lead... If you get a 6.0v 5 cell you're at 3.5oz plus heat shrink and lead. So these are right there weight wise and they also sound like they can support way more current if the life packs are 1c.. The LiFe packs do win on cost though...
Last edited by camss69; 04-03-2014 at 10:13 PM.
04-04-2014, 07:15 AM
#193
My Feedback: (66)
Not all LiFe packs are 1C discharge. Its a hobby and not trying to sway you one way or the other. I will never use another nicad or a NiMh again though.
Question for jimmy. I signed up for all three classes and i should have to planes for gold. Do I have to sign up with both planes on the list? The reason I ask is I am build a WM stang for the 115 WS also. i plan to run both on sat before the race to see which one is the fastest. My little one I was get around 8.4-8.8 second laps pretty easily. I have made some changes to it and Think i need to be in the 8.0 range for the race. So I am not sure what plane I will race in gold yet.
Question for jimmy. I signed up for all three classes and i should have to planes for gold. Do I have to sign up with both planes on the list? The reason I ask is I am build a WM stang for the 115 WS also. i plan to run both on sat before the race to see which one is the fastest. My little one I was get around 8.4-8.8 second laps pretty easily. I have made some changes to it and Think i need to be in the 8.0 range for the race. So I am not sure what plane I will race in gold yet.
04-04-2014, 07:18 AM
#194
Well when I was re-installing the battery into the airplane I found something tangible that nay have been my weirdness. The safety clip I was using on the battery to switch connection was a bit loose and would allow the pins to separate to only 1/2 pin depth. It would have still allowed plenty of current flow but if the pins had slid during operation there could have been a voltage drop. So I ditched the clip and used heat shrink. The plastic connector headers are loose to one another, I almost soldered the battery directly to the switch LOL.
04-04-2014, 09:18 AM
#195
Not all LiFe packs are 1C discharge. Its a hobby and not trying to sway you one way or the other. I will never use another nicad or a NiMh again though.
Question for jimmy. I signed up for all three classes and i should have to planes for gold. Do I have to sign up with both planes on the list? The reason I ask is I am build a WM stang for the 115 WS also. i plan to run both on sat before the race to see which one is the fastest. My little one I was get around 8.4-8.8 second laps pretty easily. I have made some changes to it and Think i need to be in the 8.0 range for the race. So I am not sure what plane I will race in gold yet.
Question for jimmy. I signed up for all three classes and i should have to planes for gold. Do I have to sign up with both planes on the list? The reason I ask is I am build a WM stang for the 115 WS also. i plan to run both on sat before the race to see which one is the fastest. My little one I was get around 8.4-8.8 second laps pretty easily. I have made some changes to it and Think i need to be in the 8.0 range for the race. So I am not sure what plane I will race in gold yet.
Skids
