is it important to cycle the batteries in my planes? how often and why should this be done? aqt the moment i leave the batteries on charge for days so i need some good advice.

I cycle my packs twice a year to make sure they are still good.
Some do it more, others less.

Do you NEED to do it, NO

You should not leave your batteries on your charger for "days." If you are using "wall warts" just charge your batteries overnight the night before you fly. You can also connect your wall warts to a timer, and set the timer for about an hour a day. This will keep your batteries topped off until you are ready to fly.

You can get several years service from a battery pack if you care for it properly.

Don't cycle too often. More than once a month is useless. More than once at the begnning and end of the flying season is probably not going to be helpful. Just once a year is adequate.

Don't let a NiCd sit unused for more than a month. If you don't fly for a month, then you need to operate the radio for a few minutes, then charge overnight. That's all it takes to properly care for the batteries.

Average life expectancy of a NiCd pack is 4 years. Some people replace them at 2 years if they need it or not. (I don't) You can get 5 or more years out of one pack occasionally.

When a pack that is more than 4 years old goes bad, it often gives no warning. One charge it can be fine... the next you get 50 mah capacity out of a 700 mah pack. It was quite a suprize the first time that happened to me... luckilly it was durring the annual cycle-test of the pack. (The day before I had flown with the pack for 90 min with a .91 powered model.)

FHHUBR,

Do you need one of those "Accu-Cycle" unites that will charge and discharge your batteries to properly "cycle" them? I'm getting back into the hobby (after a new house and two kids) so I'm replacing all my Tx and Rx packs. A few years back someone told me I could just leave the transmitter and receiver on and that would drain the packs enough to avoid them getting a "memory" of a charge. Has all that changed over the past few years? Any information is much appreciated.

[sm=confused.gif]

I went over 25 years of flying RC without ever using a cycler. I finally got one last year, and I'm mainly using it for its peak charging of NiMh capabilities.

You don't ever really NEED a cycler as a sport flyer. Competition flyers need one to maintain records of there inventory of NiCds and NiMh packs... if you don't keep track of how old, last cycling and capacity when you have a punch of batteries... you will forget which is ghow old and which can and can't be trusted.

The sport flyer, who only has one or two sets of batteries, by checking his batteries at the end of each flight, can notice a marked decrease in capacity and toss the pack in Radio Shack's recycle bin. (my english teacher would have shot me for that sentance.. [&:] run-on-and-on-and-on[&:])