How would I use the ESV to monitor the "health" of the pack?
As opposed to using it to check voltage between flights. ( this use seems pretty straight forward )
I now have this ESV to use and I charge with a Hobbico field charger always at its lowest setting of .2 amps to charge my 4.8v Nimh RX batteries.
I plug a digital Volt Meter into the Hobbico charger and monitor the charge rate.
I have nothing other than a light bulb to drain/cycle packs...
I do have a brand new battery I think I fried by leaving the plane on. how can I test it with the equipment I currently have?
Wife got laid off last week so I really shouldnt buy anything other than Fuel right now .
Steve
ORIGINAL: PilotFighter
The real valuve of having an ESV is to plot your discharge curve. This gives the true health of the battery pack. But the ESV was designed when we mostly flew 4 channel glow models with 500 or 600 ma packs. The load was similar to the current draw of our radios. But now, with 1000 and 1200ma packs and airplanes with 12 or more servos and big servos at that, its difficult to graph the discharge as it actually will occur. Predicting the number of flights and thier duration isn't as easy as it once was. And measuring voltage between flights reveals little about the health of the battery pack.
Do you hear me Hobbico ? Its time for a meter with a variable load !!!! Get on that , will you .