Hello, this is my first post here. I fly an alpha about once per week so the batteries never run dry. Should I recharge them a little before each session and will this develop memory, or should I figure out a way to completely run them down every so often?

I don't know what a alpha is, but how you charge, how often, etc depends upon the battery chemistry. Same goes for discharge.

I'm going to assume you are using a NiCd or NiMH battery. But this may not be the case so double check your battery.

Typically, todays NiCd and NiMH don't suffer from memory issues. An abused battery might, but in general, the battery manufactures had resolved most memory issues in NiCd/NiMH. You can find a lot of good info in the battery forum, but I'll list what I see as some key items.

Never over charge or over discharge the battery. This is very hard on the cells. Feel free to use most of the battery, but when you can tell the battery is going to die, don't force one more lap. Same on charging. Topping off a battery that has sat for a week is fine, but if you charged it to full yesterday, there is no need to top off the battery and doing so can be hard on the battery if you over charge the pack.

After you use the pack, simply fully charge the pack. A peak detection charge is best, but if all you have is a low current charger, that is fine. Just follow the instructions for charging that came with your charger.

The only good reason to cycle a battery is to verify the battery condition. A total discharge between every charge cycle is a waste of time. In the "old days" this was to prevent memory issues with the cells. This really isn't required anymore and I typically only cycle my packs once or twice a year.

Cheers

Plotboy,

Everything Monkeyboy said is correct. To simplify; just charge them overnight before each weekly flight.

Tom

Invest in a ESV and make sure that your pack is sufficiently charged before each flight. Invest in a field charger and charge when necessary.

Plowboy,
You're making me nervous here. Are you saying you fly once a week and DON'T recharge before each time out? You're really pushing your luck.

You should absolutely charge them before you fly, and not "just a little". Give them an overnight charge on that walwart that came with the radio. It's low charge rate won't hurt the packs (Tx & Rx), and you might save your plane.

A battery pack is not a 'gas tank' that will still have 3/4 of a tank a week later. Packs lose some of their charge every day (NiCD's about 3 to 5% IIRC), which means your Rx pack, fully charged, will lose 20 to 35% of it's charge in a week.

Be wise, energize.
Dennis-

I put over 20 flights during a month with my plane and don't charge my batteries. I do have two 1800maH packs in a 1/4 scale extra and check the capacity before each flight. You just need to make sure that your backs have sufficient charge. You don't need a full charge.

Geistware,
You have the record for most posts and most flights without recharging. I'm not trying to break either one.

Tom

Thanks a lot for all your help. I haven't been recharging before every flight because I thought that running the batteries down slightly and then recharging again and again would cause memory problems. I will start topping off before each session.

Thanks again.