Bad Battery
03-24-2007 | 06:57 PM
#1
Bad Battery
The reason this is NOT in the crash forum is because I did not crash. What happened is this:
First of all, I went to the field today with one plane, my Venus II. It has a dual battery pack, a pair of 1200 mah 6 volt NiMH packs. I had both on the charger before I left and kept them on while I drove out. When I got there, my chargers both showed charged batteries. So, I fueled up, checked everything, range checked the radio, and then got ready to fly. I am using the Spektrum DX7 system, by the way, which is all NiMH batteries, even in the TX.
The TX was not the problem because that system monitors the battery at all times for which I am very happy about. Just as a matter of record, most modern systems monitor batteries, so this is not brag, just something that I was grateful for today.
Anyway, I flew four flights. Just before the fifth one, I wanted to check all batteries to make sure I was ok with battery power. Hey, it's been a long winter here in NJ and this particular plane has not been up since last September. So, I put the expanded scale voltmeter on the batteries. First the forward one which read 1 volt under load... ?????? and the second one that read about 5.9 volts under load indicating that it was definitely in need of a recharge.
I rechecked that forward battery with a different voltmeter and got the same thing. So, I removed it from the plane and did more checking on it with other devices that I have. It was definitely bad!!!!
I had a spare battery so I put that on the charger. I also put the good battery on the charger.... spent the next hour charging and checking batteries. Both came up just fine and that bad battery, this battery is only about 6 months old, was put in my parts box for further checks.
So, I was very lucky in that I had a strange feeling about the RX batteries for some reason, and checked them. One more flight with that bad battery would have resulted in this being written in the crash forum instead of here.
So, RC'ers, check those RX batteries. The TX has a battery monitor and is immediately visible to you but the RX batteries are not that easy to detect when they are bad unless you check them frequently. Don't trust that they are 'ok'. Check them before every flight. It only takes a minute.
DS.
First of all, I went to the field today with one plane, my Venus II. It has a dual battery pack, a pair of 1200 mah 6 volt NiMH packs. I had both on the charger before I left and kept them on while I drove out. When I got there, my chargers both showed charged batteries. So, I fueled up, checked everything, range checked the radio, and then got ready to fly. I am using the Spektrum DX7 system, by the way, which is all NiMH batteries, even in the TX.
The TX was not the problem because that system monitors the battery at all times for which I am very happy about. Just as a matter of record, most modern systems monitor batteries, so this is not brag, just something that I was grateful for today.
Anyway, I flew four flights. Just before the fifth one, I wanted to check all batteries to make sure I was ok with battery power. Hey, it's been a long winter here in NJ and this particular plane has not been up since last September. So, I put the expanded scale voltmeter on the batteries. First the forward one which read 1 volt under load... ?????? and the second one that read about 5.9 volts under load indicating that it was definitely in need of a recharge.
I rechecked that forward battery with a different voltmeter and got the same thing. So, I removed it from the plane and did more checking on it with other devices that I have. It was definitely bad!!!!
I had a spare battery so I put that on the charger. I also put the good battery on the charger.... spent the next hour charging and checking batteries. Both came up just fine and that bad battery, this battery is only about 6 months old, was put in my parts box for further checks.
So, I was very lucky in that I had a strange feeling about the RX batteries for some reason, and checked them. One more flight with that bad battery would have resulted in this being written in the crash forum instead of here.
So, RC'ers, check those RX batteries. The TX has a battery monitor and is immediately visible to you but the RX batteries are not that easy to detect when they are bad unless you check them frequently. Don't trust that they are 'ok'. Check them before every flight. It only takes a minute.
DS.
03-24-2007 | 07:43 PM
#3
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From: FERNANDINA BEACH,
FL
RE: Bad Battery
I carry a voltmeter and also have volt watch in my planes.
Batteries are one of the weak links of our hobby.
I lost an expensive scale warbird due to a bad battery once.
Batteries are one of the weak links of our hobby.
I lost an expensive scale warbird due to a bad battery once.
03-24-2007 | 08:07 PM
#4
Senior Member
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RE: Bad Battery
I also put a voltwatch on every plane, I bought a nice little stick (it was .061 I made it .074) from a friend,I didnt realize there even was a battery in it until I had to move the tank,,so I charge it up..I had the plane for 6 months.. it charges up fine but after one 5 minute flight the voltwatch is down by half...so I discharge the battery by electric motor and recharge for several hours and it holds the charge fine, but still after 1 5 minute flight is down into the unsafe area on the voltwatch....that batttery will be replaced before the next flight...Rog
