No fancy battery cycler
 

So what do you do? Do you leave your tx and rx on until the battery dies, then charge it? I fly when I get time. I usually just plug in the Tx and plane overnight, and take it to the field. Do I have to worry about memory, or poor charging? By the way I run both Nimh and Nicd batteries. Thanks in advance for any input.

RE: No fancy battery cycler
 

No do not leave them on and contrary to popular opinion you will do just fine without a "fancy battery cycler".

Simply charge the Tx and Rx overnight before you go flying and fly. Then charge them up with your wall charger agine overnight before you go flying. Even if you did not fly on an outing and its been over a day later then charge agine. This method has been used by the majority since the begining and will work just fine for you.

One item you do need without fail is either a loaded digital or expanded scale volt meter so you can keep track of your batteries between flights and this is preferable to those volt watch things. Hobbico ESV's can be had at tower for as low as ten bucks.

John

RE: No fancy battery cycler
 

Whoops sorry I was wrong - Seven Bucks:D


http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXNK82&P=7

RE: No fancy battery cycler
 

John is right on the money. You don't want to just leave it on to run down the batteries. One big reason for this is that when a battery cell depletes down to empty, or near empty, it is at risk of going in to cell reversal. When this happens the cell is shot and is no good any longer. But the real risk of this is that you may not know the cell is bad until it's too late. A pack with a bad cell will appear to recharge as normal, and may appear to be fully charged. But when it's put into use that bad cell will cause the pack to fail, and more than likely resulting in the loss of the plane.

If you want to cycle the batteries please purchase a battery cycler. However, you can get along without one just fine. With the state of battery chemistry today packs do not need to be cycled in order to be maintained, and they do not develop "memory". The biggest reason you need a cycler for is to monitor the health of a battery pack. When a pack is new you can check the capacity of the pack. Then periodically as you use the pack it should be cycled to check it's capacity. When that capacity drops to approximately 80% of the initial capacity the pack should be taken out of use and be replaced.

Ken

RE: No fancy battery cycler
 

Like Ken said the main thing a good cycling charger will do is check your battery capacity. I just went through checking every rec pack I had in service and found two bad packs one would take a charge but had a bad cell and would drop voltage right away. The other was a 2000 mah pack that would only discharge 400 mah. I am glad to have found it now instead of only being able to make one flight with it or worst half a flight. As your fleet grows its a good way to track your batterys and predict failures before a crash.

RE: No fancy battery cycler
 

Thanks for feedback, it was very helpful.

RE: No fancy battery cycler
 

I use a cycler for piece of mind. I use it check my batteries 1-2 times per year for loss of capacity. So far, I've only caught one fairly old pack dropping off. I like knowing this information but that's just me.

So yes, the cycler is nice but you definitely can get by just fine without it if you make sure you allow the batteries to fully charge before heading to the field and use the ESV that was recommended to check them between flights. If you have a pack that's getting old and you are concerned about it, no big deal. just replace it, they aren't that expensive these days.

RE: No fancy battery cycler
 

If you have a pack that's getting old and you are concerned about it, no big deal. just replace it, they aren't that expensive these days.

What would be considered old?

RE: No fancy battery cycler
 

Tough to say really. I have a couple packs that are almost 4 years old and still hold very close to their rated capacity. One that recently failed is just under 3 years old. time is one factor but so is the number of cycles the battery has been through, whether it has been used in any extreme conditions, been through any trauma, etc. My basic point is that, if you have doubts, receiver packs for typical sport planes aren't very expensive to replace.

RE: No fancy battery cycler
 

Thanks for the info. Sounds like it might be a good idea to get a cycler then just for extra insurance.
This will be my third season on the battery packs. I don't fly in these cold New England winters - it's just not enjoyable.
What I do is charge up my RX/TX batteries weekly - just as I do during the normal flying season. I can only get to the field about once a week.

RE: No fancy battery cycler
 

I used to turn on my planes and move the controls around until they quit working then charge everything back up, it worked but this was years ago. I have a good cycler now and I use it to test my batteries. I do use it when I get a new pack. I have found that a new pack may not discharge or hold it's full capacity until it has been cycled about four times then they are good to go. It seems to help out older packs too. A good volt meter like John mentioned is a must have item!!!

RE: No fancy battery cycler
 

Man you must have a lot of time on your hands;):D