jigeye

Battery: NIMH
Voltage: 6.0
Mah: 1200
With a properly charged and cycled battery listed above, how many flights would you normally get out of it using futaba S3010 high torque servos?

Missileman

How many servos?
I will guess, 10.
You are talking about a glow engine plane right?

acarter

Just guessing you probably have 5 servos, I wouldn't go past 5 flights without checking it, the only way to be sure it to get a expanded scale voltmeter and check it (if you don't already have one). You could also get a voltwatch to put on the plane that monitors the voltage, but these are somewhat unacurate and take some practice to read.

voltmeter
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXNK81&P=7

voltwatch
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXHDJ2&P=ML

Austin

rwright142

Get a voltmeter and check your batteries before every flight. Don't just assume you could get X flights out of a battery pack. You may fly using more stick movements then others. That means your battery will drain quicker. Plus your fuel tank may be larger so you can fly longer.
Consider the results if you are wrong.

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

There is no way possible to determine how many flights you will have with that battery package.

This all depends on several factors:

1. number and type of servos used (already discussed).

2. Servo load. If there is any sort of a bind in the linkage, or in the hinging of the control surface, throttle link, anything, it will increase the current draw accordingly. The worse the bind is, the more current it will draw.

3. Flying style. If you are constantly in the sticks, moving them to correct each and every movement the plane makes, then you will draw down the battery much sooner than if you were gentle and let the plane fly without making corrections every half second.

4. Severity of your maneuvers. This sort of goes with flying style, but is somewhat different in that if you really 'bottom out' each servo movement with extreme movement, then you will draw down the batteries much faster.

And there is no 'normal' flight routine. Each person flying has his/her own style and how they deal with handling the aircraft. Easy on the sticks or end to end movement for each maneuver. It all depends and will be a cause for long battery duration or short battery duration.

The solution is to have a field quick charger, monitor the battery voltage (I use Voltwatch) (or you can use an Expanded Scale Voltmeter.. not just 'a volt meter', but one designed to test TX and RX battery condition under load ) just before and after each flight, and recharge when needed. It takes a little time, perhaps a half hour or so (depending on capacity, charge rate, and discharge level) to re-charge most batteries of your size. So, monitor them, and recharge when necessary.

Above all, don't go 'one more flight' if you are even approaching questioning the battery condition. If in doubt, recharge. Yeah, it doesn't rhyme, but it makes sense.

CGr.

Thumprding

You should be able to complete four 15 minute flights. I was taught that the standard (what normally comes with the radio) battery packs are good for an hour of use. More than likely this is conservative but all the years I have been flying, unless something goes totally stupid, an hour of use has worked fine.

The use of a volt meter and load tester is a good idea just to make sure but be careful of them too. A NIMH responds to a load the same as a NICAD. They start at a voltage, do step drop to a load voltage and then maintain that voltage until they are discharged. Basically start out high and then good, good, good........dead. If you really want to know how long it will last borrow or purchase a digipace or something like it. They are great at determining the load life of a battery.

-pkh-

My Feedback: (2)

NEVER assume you can get a certain number of flights out of a battery pack. ALWAYS check the pack before each flight to be sure it's still got enough charge in it.

Install a battery monitor on every aircraft, and check it before and after every flight. A loaded meter is good too, but then you have to remember to use it. I've never had a RX battery related failure yet using the battery monitors. I know of a couple guys at my club that have had RX batt failures due to not checking the batt pack every time with their loaded meter. The Hobbico VoltWatch meters are about $10, and I've seen some clones for about $4:

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

Hmmm.. sounds familiar.

There are lots of 'never do's' in this hobby. One is to never assume. Especially with batteries. Running out of fuel is a no-no, but trying to fly on an unknown battery is a disaster waiting to happen.

Again, this ain't rocket science, folks. Check-em, and be safe.

frenchie79

Ditto-Everyone should have a volt meter to load the Batts (in your flight box) period. Get into the habit of checking your batts every flight. With todays fast chargers, switch jacks, ectt.. their is no good reason not to do this.....

opjose

Yup, not only what he said is right on the money, but if you test the servos under load you may be quite surprised.

I tested a high torque 150-180oz/in servo the other day under full load and at stall torque it was drawing about 2100mA!!

That's on one servo!

Under no load and full deflection ( no binding what-so-ever ) it only pulled about 30mA.

The larger the control surface the more battery draw. 3D planes need BIG batteries for their servos...

For this reason I have a 4300mAh 6v pack in my Giant UCD3D just for the servos.

I went over an older issue of RC Flyer, where they listed typical "holding" draw on standard servos around 200-300mA during semi-hard flight maneouvers. This is the energy required to keep the control surface from moving while performing moves in the air.

So even the at rest the non deflected servos use current to keep the surfaces in place.

That is why some people can seem to fly all day on a 800mAh pack, and others barely can make it through 2-3 flights.

It depends upon your plane, setup, linkages, and pilot.