A discussion (queston) came up at the field among us "electric whiz kids"! None of us had a good answer so I am asking here.
A guy has a 6 volt battery for his receiver....... NO regulator... Is this bad?? He sometimes, after charge has 7 volts etc. Also.. he ask.... How long can I safely fly on this battery? I told him 4.8 volts, BUT I told him not to take my word till we know from "knowledgeble people". I am just using the logic that the receiver does not know what kind of battery is on the other end of the wires. It is designed to run on 4.8 to 6 volts. Is that correct...?? OR?? thanks... lownslo
Bob

I have exactly the same question posted!

When I charge my 6 v NiMH battery pack, 1100mamp that runs my receiver I usually get a surface charge of 6.8volts. Im not using a regulator. Does anyone have any problems with this voltage and is a 6 V pack ok or should I drop it to 4.8 v?

Thanks

Many people fly with 5 cell [6 volt] packs with no problems, no regulator. But don't fly them down to 4.8 volts. The cutoff should be closer to 5.9 and even this is pushing your luck as the pack is just about fully discharged. True, the receiver doesn't know what kind of battery is supplying the power - nor does it know when that power is about to run out. Given packs of the same capacity, you will get a bit more flying time with a 4cell pack than with a 5 cell. The 5 cell supplies more power to the servos, more power means more current and more current means faster discharge. Unless you are flying precision competition in large models and your skills are honed to the point where you can detect the difference in servo response you are wasting your money going to 5 cell packs.

The gyros and digital servos that have problems with unregulated voltages over 6V so the most of the helicopter guys fly regulators.

Thanks to all.....
I emailed and left a message for the guy. I hope he didn't listen to what I said earlier I did tell him not to go by what I said till I found out more. OHHHH MY!!![:@] ......lownslo

All radio brands are not the same; I have never found regulators necessary when using 6v battery packs with JR receivers. Also, the typical cutoff voltage for cycling Nicds has been 1.1v per cell under load; this makes 5.5v the "do not exceed" point for discharging. I always recharge when the voltage under load gets below 6v. It's not worth taking a chance; buy a good esv and use it!

(Due to to voltage loss in large models with long servo extensions and 6v power, you will not be getting 6v at the servo anyway.)

I have been using 5 cell packs with planes up to 33% scale (100 inch wing)
I have never had a problem unless the servo itself had a lot of slop in the gear train.

My question is really about the post charging voltage of over 6V on a 5 cell pack. Usually about 6.8V. Im using a seperate 1100 receiver pack to my servo pack of 2000mamp. Can the 6.8V damage a receiver or cause problems?