Does anyone use some form of "Battery Maintenance" notebook to keep track of battery charges, readings, cyclings, etc. If so, I would like to get some format that could be useful for keeping better records of this pertinent data. I think it would be a good New Year's resolution to maintain better info on my battery packs.

A nice Excel format would be great.

Thanks in advance,

Tom

I use Excel and keep mine pretty simple. 4 columns labeled Date, Description, Cycled mAh and the current plane a pack is installed in.

I'm finding as I continue to add packs, I should have started labeling them with some identifier and include that in the spreadsheet.

hope this helps,

Kevin

I have my own "notebook" records kept for battery 'Predictions'---namely life and when to relegate the pack to non-airborne duty.

However there is nothing innovative to pass on.

Go to SRbatterues.com

Larry has a computer program that might prove interesting.

I have a form that I use. It has a couple boxes at the top for battery ID (I give each an ID code), rated capacity, initial capacity after forming charge, and date purchased. Below that are about 20 lines that cross the page. On each line are boxes for the date, followed by a number of boxes to be used for the capacity discharged. Each line can record about 5 cycles, which is about the most I ever do at once. When I cycle the battery, I find the page for that battery ID, record the date, and after each cycle I write in the capacity discharged. I can then easily compare the results to all the other times I cycled that battery, as well as the initial max capacity when first purchased and formed. Its very easy to spot any decrease in capacity, or any other trends.

For most batteries, when first new, I plot a discharge curve using a multi-meter with an RS-232 port. I can see exactly how the battery drains under a normal load for the size of airplane I intend to use it in. Knowing this, with the capacity checks to know the battery is still in good condition, I get a very good indication of the time to discharge, and the ESV readings expected based on the amount of run time. A problem is easily spotted very quickly. Probably overkill for the most part, but then again, a mistake could easily cost me a $7,000 plane. The little extra time is a good insurance policy to me.