Hi - was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on a battery cycler/charger.

I have been flying my NexStar a few months, recently soloed and am noticing my niCad RX battery really losing a charge quickly. In fact, even after 1 10 minute flight, I check the battery and it's just barely "still in the green" on my hobbico meter.

I recently bought 2 backup batteries to increase my flying time ( more than 1 flight) at the field per day.

I'm wondering a) is this normal for a battery to only hold a charge for such a short time given the age of the battery b) would putting it on a discharger/charger improve this or c) is this battery just hosed?

Does anyone have any recommendations on a cycler that wouldn't cost > $50.

Thx

If you recharge a nicad before it's completely discharged it will develop a "memory". Cycling will help. Look at the Hobbico brand cyclers for cheap, effective and decent quality.

Can I undo the "memory" by cycling it, or is it fried?

Memory in NiCad's these days is really more of a myth. "Red" Scholefield is THE word in batteries. Spend some time on his website should educate anybody in the use of batteries these days. You can find his website at

[link]http://www.rcbatteryclinic.com/[/link]

Hope this helps

Ken

Your battery is probably fried. The idea that you have to constantly discharge a nicad to prevent a memory from developing is a myth. A memory develops when you discharge a battery to the same level and recharge over and over again (i.e. run it for 20 min, then recharge, over and over). If you randomly discharge (10 min one day, 5 another, 25 another) your batterys and occasionally fully discharge them, you should not see a memory developing. Eventually the battery will wear out and they won't hold a charge. Just time to get new batteries.

My information on this comes from an article I read on NiCad battery's many years ago. I don't remember the source..

Ken,
"Memory" is not a myth. It's a solid fact and I deal with it every day. It's the difference between 100 recharges and 1000 recharges. Or as it goes in my business, it's the difference between customer equipment working three months or three years.

Just how random is flying anyway. A 600mah pack is good for over 100 minutes of flight time in a standard 40 size four channel airplane. If you go out and make about the same number of flights each weekend. Then you come home and recharge your battery. Well, it's not random at all is it? And how many people fly even close to 100 minutes on one airplane every trip to the field?

Shussey, get a battery cycler! That's why they are there. Yes, you can recover some batteries. The best way to handle it is to use it to discharge and then recharge your battery on a set day. If you fly Sundays, then do it on Saturday. Just be careful not to go flying with a dead battery during the week! Also get a battery meter made for receiver batteries. They have a load inline and will give an accurate look at the level of the charge. Voltwatch's are nice too. They use the radio system as the load.

I've got an MRC Super Brain 969 Pro, and love it. It's about $130; you can charge two packs of different types or voltages at the same time, or charge one and discharge one at the same time. It comes with an AC adapter so you can use it on household current , or you can use a 12V source such as car battery or field battery. It's a delta peak charger, when it senses full charge on the battery, it goes to a maintenance / trickle mode. You can select how long to charge, or charge to a specific capacity, or determine the charge rate. The charger automatically detects how many cells in the pack, and when you first connect the battery to the charger, it shows the state of charge. If you need to quick charge, just hook up the battery and press start, that simple. It beeps when full charge is reached. It will charge NiCads, NiMH, and LiPoly's, just follow normal precautions on charge rate with LiPoly's. The charger is very compact.

ptulmer,
I stand corrected. I typed that sentance but was distracted and didn't finish typing what I meant to say. Sorry bout that.

Ken

Ken, don't apologize man! You at least listed a source of information. The other post just said the battery was fried and to toss it. That's just gross misinformation. Proper treatment of your batteries can extend their life. My TX batteries are over three years old and are just now showing signs of reduced capacity. People are more likely to abuse the RX batteries because it's in the flying part. Not realizing that it is abuse!

Before using this charger with Lipos, read this thread http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=2395447

To shussey, I've got a Hobbico Accucycle Elite. Comes with a 110v power supply, but will work off 10v also. Charges and discharges 2 batteries at once, and works for nicad, nimh, and lipos. Nice and compact if you want to take it to the field. I like this charger.

Piper Chuck-- I remember that thread, now. Personally, I don't use LiPoly's, but several of the guys at the field have recharged theirs with my charger, and didn't start any fires; granted, we were sitting around talking and monitoring the temp while we were charging, and we were using a fairly conservative charge rate. I would not rceommend this charger to someone who only uses LiPoly batteries, but find it a fine charger for NiCads and NiMH. I think maybe MRC could amend its recommendations for Lithium battery use, but I see no reason to pull the charger from the market. I'm sure that whatever horror stories are out there, the majority of owners probably like theirs as well as I do. I regularly cycle my batteries, and do a lot of fast charging at the field; most of my batteries are reaching 3+ years, and still hold a good charge.

I would make sure you don't have any servos binding. If you have one that is buzzing then that will chew a battery pretty quick. After that I would look into higher capacity packs, I just bought a 1650mah unit from radicalrc.com for $16. I am not sold on the idea that nimh batteries are any better than nicad for a reciever pack, but I'll have one of each now so I'll be able to figure out which one I like better.

I have an rc truck as well so I run a duratrax ice charger which has a nimh top off feature that I intend to use before heading to the field.

I like the idea of getting a 12vdc charger because it works off of the 12 lead acid battery you pack to the field for your starter.

I was seriously considering the brain, but decided against it. At the time I didn't think I was going to ever use lipos, but 6 months later, bought some. I tend to agree that it's probably fine as long as one watches the batteries closely while charging, which is supposed to be done with lipos anyway. My accucycle actually rarely makes it to the field. Most of my planes have oversized rx packs, I've got a spare tx pack, and I usually bring more than one plane. I've yet to stop flying early due to a low battery.

OK - I need some help here.

I have 3 RX batteries ( 2 are brand new) that I have charged for about 10 hours each on my charger that came with my Futaba radio system. When I put them on the Hangar 9 Voltmeter just after I pull them off the charger, they all show only just over 5.0 Volts and are "barely in the green".

Should I charge them longer? It just seems a little odd that they are all on the low end of the safe scale after 10 hours of charge.

Help - need some advice!!!

Put a multimeter in parallel with the battery and charger. If the voltage is still rising then your batteries are not charged yet. A full charged nicad or nimh battery will have a bit more than 4.8 volts.

If you are using the "wall warts" that come with the radio you are probably going to have to leave them charging longer than 10 hours. 16-18 will usually put them at a full charge.

Ken

OK - will try the 16-18 hours....I was concerned about over charging.

I know....I know...the answer is to buy a real charger and discard the "wall wart"...I will as soon as I get the $$.

Wife's getting a little upset at the outflow for the hobby lately - I'm sure you can all relate

If I have a servo buzzing/binding ( which I do) - how do I fix that problem?

Sorry for the dumb Qs, but you guys are very helpful to me as a newbie.

Charge your battery to 140% using no more than 1/10 capacity charge rate. For example, if you have a 600mah battery, charge it at no more than 60mah for 14 hours. (600 * 1.4 = 840mah, 840mah / 60 mah = 14 hours).

To fix your binding servo, first figure out which one it is, then figure out what part of the linkage attached to that servo doesn't want to move and fix it. I don't know of any other way to say it, it all depends on how it's all linked up.

One thing is for sure, if you have one or more servos binding your going to drain batteries a lot faster.

Make sure you get this all figured out before you fly again.... Half charged - high drain = crash!!

Edit:

Fixed my math, "High drain + half charged = crash!!" should be "Half charged - high drain = crash!!"

I followed the advice given above and charged for 14 hours.

I then pulled the battery off the charger and tested with my Hangar 9 meter and it still read "just in the green" at about 5.2 Volts.

So, I then pulled out the multi-tester and checked it too...and it showed 6.0 volts.

From these different readings, I could conclude that perhaps my Hangar 9 meter is a little off - has anyone else seen this problem before - where the Hangar 9 meter reads less than a multi-tester?

Still confused....

Your Hangar 9 meter is probably putting a load on the battery, which simulates the receiver and some servos. This lowers the voltage. The multi-meter does not put a load on the battery, hence the higher reading. To confirm this, and the accuracy of your Hangar 9 meter, hook up the hangar 9 meter. Then use the probes on the multi-meter to check the voltage, perhaps where the banana plugs connect to the Hangar 9.

sounds like you may have got a bad pack to start with & its cells are weak. trying to cycle back a pack thats going or is bad is often more trouble than its worth. it might come back but it very well may not .memory can develope but its often hard to do & from under charging cells , more often resulting from OVERCHARGING and damaging cells. which is harder to do with the wall wart. ive had packs last for years from regular use AND occasional cycling. there is no definitive answer because packs often differ for operational as well as design/ manufacturing reasons .inital charge should be 24 hours.