RE: *Airtronics RD8000 2.4 GHz*
Per my previous post (977) I made a comparison of the no load decay characteristics of the 700mah battery in one of my RDS8000 and old 600mah battery from one of my RD6000s. In this comparison I only used the RDS8000 to check voltage and the empty/full bar for the first 72 hrs. Both batteries were fully to start with the Airtronics wall charger that came with the RDS8000
600mah battery 700mah battery
start 11.1v F 10.8v F
2.5 hrs 10.7v F 10.2v F
24hrs 10.4v F 9.7v 3/5F
36hrs 10.4v F 9.8v 4/5F
52hrs 10.3v F 9.6v 3/4F
72hrs 10.3v F 9.5v 2/5F
Load tested at approximately 250ma. The RDS8000 draws 190ma
10.5v 9.4v
Discharged both batteries on a Triton charger at 300ma down to 8v, 1v per cell. The remaining capacity was
535mah 128mah
I have never observed nicds to have such a short charge storage life. I haven't observed batteries doing this since the nimhs of 20 to 25 years ago.
I did not test the battery from my other RDS8000 because my son is using it while his RDS8000 is at Airtronics being repaired. However during my use of it, it seemed to me that it's battery had the same quick charge decay while not in use.
The RDS 8000 operator manuel says the low voltage alarm will turn on when the battery drops below 9.5 volts. I tested this on my transmitter and found that it came on below 9.2volts. It turned on when the voltage went in one step from 9.2 to 9.0. Before running the decay test I checked the 700 mah battery for capacity 2hrs after fully charging it. Capacity was 650 mah
Again I am not saying these batteries are defective. But they are very different.
I should add that in June I used this transmitter and battery pack in a pylon race. It had been removed from the charger about 12 hrs before I flew the first heat. After 10 heats that day the voltage had just dropped to 9.6 volts.
Denis
Geez I wish this forum wouldn't take all my spaces out. Hope you can read it.