I wouldn't fly if you have red...the voltwatch sees things the voltmeter may not see. That is one of the benefits of using them!

Many of them have a 4.8 volt, 5.0 volt or an A123 setting. Perhaps you have it set for 5 volts??

Tom

You know Tom I suspect Kuobin's "4.8 even RED LED might blinks" is a far cry from your "if you have red"

If anything is going on its perhaps an issue of incomplete or undercharging so indeed, Kuobin if you are properly charging then it is indeed time to fly.

John

Wish you would quit bad mouthing my meter Rod, I let it out once in a while to see the sun. Truth is, I used my meter yesterday, then it hit me, I didn't have a battery problem, I forgot to change my TX from PPM to PCM!! Makes a big difference in how a plane reacts.

Still waiting for that voltage "problem" that causes a crash or control issues. Perhaps sometime in the next ten thousand flights. Have I retired sick packs? You betcha. Thanks to voltage/load test meter, status lights and capacity test when suspect.

Well interesting seems to be two factions here consisting of the Volt/watch devotees and the loaded voltmeter adherants.

Oh man I know I shouldn't but times they are a changing and there is yet even a third option these days and this will certainly get the hate mail going.

Well been using the Hitec 2.4 system for a few years now and I use nothing but this system, I think just over fifty receivers.

Now every time I go flying which is pretty much every day it seems I don,t need those blinky things (never much cared for them and never bought one either, but I did survive) and my trusty old loaded volt meters (they pretty much ended up on a dusty self). Don,t think I,ve even gotten a meter out at the field in the last year and then it was for someone else.

What I do is simply turn my airplane and transmitter on and like magic the voltage for not only the transmitter is displayed in big numbers but the voltage in the airplane also. Hmm it can be in the air or on the ground heck even in the truck does not seem to matter. Guess what, this is a real time actual loaded voltage check, heck can even grab a control surface and stall it if I want and watch it go down.

I have pretty much given up carrying a loaded voltmeter and heck that feels almost as good as the revelation that 2.4 provided when it offered freedom from the tyranny of the 'Frequency board'.


John

Status lights are different from maker to maker, some may be sensitive(like my MPI) some may have a buffer. You just have to find out what's normal for yours, barring any problems. Even basic digital servos draw a spike of current when they are suddenly changing direction at speed, add to that four or more servos............

John

Telemetry is cool.

freakingfast,

So flicks of red don't bother you but they drive me to re-charge....

I probably should have mentioned that I am talking from an A123 perspective and I don't know if that changes your thoughts any. As you probably know, when those batteries go they go; fast! One flick of red and that is early warning for me.

I'm not sure I would recommend something different, but the OP was talking NiMh and it is on a basic set-up so maybe I should have clarified my position.

You stop at solid red by the way?

Tom

5 cell, 1600mah? Just how did I survive with a 600mah, 4.8V NiCd? Let alone fly 4 times perdaywithout a recharge?

Hey....you can still survive on that today if you want to as long as you aren't running digital servos.

Many guys have elected to pursue the performance gains of digitals and/or have exploited the longer run times and performance gains of higher capacity and voltage packs.

But you can still survive on the 4.8 NiCd 600mah if you wanted to...no question. There are tons of ways to skin this cat!

Tom

Do not take my comments wrong. I do not condemn the use of a loaded voltmeter, they can be and are very useful. Each type of meter has its advantages/dissadvantages, it just pays to know what they are and abide by them. sometimes, it takes more than one type of instrument to do a complete analysis of a problem.

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5 cell, 1600mah? Just how did I survive with a 600mah, 4.8V NiCd? Let alone fly 4 times per day without a recharge?

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Well RG I too have been surviving the march of technology since my first successful RC flight In which among others required two 45volt burgess dry cells and of course later the 500mah NiCd when they provided their magic and I never quit. Although I did provide the whatever recomended power supply for the systems as they developed.


Now what you did not seem to note is the fact that I posted for a forty sized sport plane using (2.4 not talking about 72 here) a five cell pack of around 1600mah is my preferance and remains so as well as what I suggest to all my student.

Now back to the original poster, still there Kuoban? Once agine it is my beleif that if you are sufficiently chargeing your 2000 pack. That is at around 200 ma for 14 to 16 hours the night before then and your loaded meter indicates something approaching five volts then you need to stop stressing about the twinkie gadgets and start flying.

John

I love it!!!

Yep... as technology marches on, so must we!!!

Just a few years ago, a digital servo was very expensive and consumed a lot of power and made buzzing noises. Now-a-days, seems like just about everything they sell is called digital. Go figure.. again, technology moves on!!!

CGr.

One of the recent advancements in batteries is the new LiFePO4 packs. You can get a two sell pack that has 3.3 volts per pack (nominal) and a 2100mah pack weighs in at quite a bit less than an equal capacity NiCd or NiMh pack and are safer to use than the LiPo's. They are more expensive, but have defininte advantages... and some disadvantages.


One major disadvantage is that the discharge curve is very flat.. good because the voltage is constant. But at the point of exhaustion, the curve takes a very fast and deliberate decay, and this happens very quickly. So, one has to be very careful with them.

A voltwatch or Volt Spy probably would not be very good because of this "plot knee" where the exhaustion point is reached very quickly. The charge level with such devices may show just fine, even with a loaded voltmeter, but could decay in flight to below minimum during a typical 10 minute flight. Not good. So, use with caution.

I was not aware of this really sharp discharge curve knee (if you don't know what I am talking about, look at the plot below. Note how quickly the voltage drops from usable to the uh-oh point. This is not an actual voltage plot as measured, but just a plot that shows that the usable vs. un-usable capacity can quickly catch up with you with LiFePO4 packs. They are very good, but users must be aware of this type of discharge curve. The first plot is an estimate of what a discharge curve would look like. The second one is an actual discharge curve. Note that they are pretty similar, and that the point where the batter is usable to where it is not usable is very close.


CGr.

You can say that again, like off a cliff. Sick ones even faster.

I don't start a flight with solid yellow lit, thou if I see it in flight, I may continue, a few times post-flight I've seen solid red. Solid yellow is 6.2 volts and red is 5.9 (just before the cliff) this voltage is with an installed system at ready/rest. Most packs are 2/3A NiMh a few are AA NiMh.