2Sunny

I have to share my excitement on getting some of the new Power Unlimited packs in my hand. First off I saw them being tested several weeks ago and asked C. Moon, the owner of F3AUnlimited.com : "Hey why is Larry flying so much faster this time?" and that was before I knew what was going on. Well, today I got my own set and worked on putting them through a couple initial cycles. I have a standard procedure where I run 12 amps for 6 minutes 3 times before using them "in the field". I have done a total of 7 packs with this process including Thunder Power, Rhinos, and another test pack from F3AUnlimited.com. All 7 prior packs ran between 39.3 and 39.8 volts during the test and finished right at 39.2 +- .1 volts after 6 minutes. This new pack held 40.9 to 40.4 for the whole run and finished at 40.4 volts. I am incredibly excited to test the pack next week and get some data on RPM inflight. Sadly I have to work the next 3 days so, it'll have to wait until Tuesday. Good performance or not they sure look good!


Joe

2Sunny

How could I possibly have over looked a lack of a link!?!


[link=http://www.f3aunlimited.com/power_unlimited.html]Power Unlimited Batteries[/link]

Chris Moon

My Feedback: (8)

Honest, Joe does not get any commission for saying nice things about these. He also paid full price if you are wondering.

woodie

Details on any warranty? Info on expected cycle life or history of IR changes over many cycles?

Thx Woodie

2Sunny

Hey Woodie,

Talking to Chris Yesterday after I got my packs, he said his most heavily used test pack has about 60 cycles on it and has all the IR numbers in the 2's still. My packs started at low 2's for the initial charge and after three 6 minute cycles on the bench they are now showing low 1's. Chris also mentioned that his latest set which has 5 or 6 flights on it is now showing IR numbers all under 1.0 with one cell being 0.3. (All data coming off of Chris' CellPro I assume). I asked Chris what he expects for cycle life, and he doesn't honestly know since these batteries are as new to him as they are to us.


The warrant is an excellent question. We'll have to wait to hear from F3AUnlimited.

Let's hope for 300+ !!




Joe

Chris Moon

My Feedback: (8)

Here are our thoughts on battery warranties:

Any manufacturer defect like an internal wring problem, or abnormally high IR number or abnormally low cell voltage after breaking in the packs clearly makes them eligible for replacement at no charge of course.

Extended warranties are usually only offered on the highest priced batteries since in effect you are pre-purchasing a partial replacement pack at time of original purchase. We would prefer to keep the prices lower and not build in a potential replacement pack into the price. Of course, we will stand behind our batteries 100% but don't feel it's in the customers' best interest to have them pay more and buy a warranty that they may never need.

We really spent a lot of time and money having these batteries made to our specifications and testing them for many months with the high end F3A pilot in mind and feel certain that anyone buying these will be completely satisfied with them.


edited to be less verbose

woodie

Thanks Chris,

sounds reasonable to me. Nice to have alternatives.

Woodie
Team Acme LG

2Sunny

Did a 15 second full throttle static run today with my Castle 80 HV re-installed on my Delro and recorded a 3300 watt 6092 RPM peak which is the highest static reading I have seen on this motor/esc combination. Sadly I did not think to save the data and will have to recreate my test later to post the actual graph. Actually now that I think about it that's a good test for tomorrow while the winds are howling at 30 mph I can run some static tests on TP, Rhino, and P.U. from F.U. batteries . . . (little joke there, heh?)


Anyways, it's all very exciting!

mups53

My Feedback: (41)

I like my PUXFU packs.
I have a 5000 and a 4900 pack. They are extremely strong.
By the way the CC80HV Ice is a great unit and the data collecting is informative.
I'm running the new Himax motor with a Rasa 1 piece 20x15 on my new Onas
With really strong performance I'm only showing a peak of 2500 Watts and an RPM at peak of 7000. That's what it showing but the performance in the air is where it stands out. Extremly quiet too. Mike

mups53

My Feedback: (41)

opps

Chris Moon

My Feedback: (8)

Eagle Tree data from cycle #5. This was the first full flight flying the Masters sequence. Air temp was 59 degrees and motor is Plettenberg 30-10 EVO with RASA 20.5-14 prop. Top end throttle limited to 90% via throttle curve. After the flight the batteries were recharged and showed the following IR numbers:

1.8
1.9
2.0
1.6
1.6
1.3
1.3
1.3
.9
.6

Cellpro put 3528 mah back into the pack


The batteries are probably not fully broken in yet.


Edited to add charge data and correct data. Posted charge info from wrong pack the first time

Jason Arnold

G'day Chris,

How much charge did you have to put back into the packs?

Cheers
Jason.

Chris Moon

My Feedback: (8)

My bad. Edited post to include that info.

(3528mah)

edited to correct info. posted data from wrong pack the first time

2Sunny

I took Castle data today. I'll spare everybody the normal graphs and simply state that my 60 cycle TP 5300s had a low voltage of 32.3, my Rhinos had a low voltage of 34.4, and the new Power Unlimited pack with 4 break-in cycles and two full power cycles had a min voltage of 34.7. All IR numbers less than 2.3 today. So far looks like an awesome pack! Can't wait to see what I get after a dozen or so cycles.

Jason Arnold

Hey Joe,

Wish I had a job like yours.... You seem to be flying almost every day![]

How did the new pack feel in the air?

Cheers
Jason.

2Sunny

Hey Jason,

Truth be told, I'm not sure I can "feel" any difference from the Rhinos although there is a marked difference between these new packs and my two TP ProLite V2 packs as well as my TrueRC packs.



As for work, I hesitate to admit that the big 'ole Icelandic volcano is actually benefiting me since as a pilot who flies international European routes, I have had 3 of my flights canceled in the last two months and been forced to stay home. I know . . . I know its a tough job . . . but . . . heh . . . . somebody's gotta do it



Joe

mups53

My Feedback: (41)

Joe FWIW I'd struggle being an airline pilot. The schedules you guys have to work is brutal. Enjoy your time off you deserve it.
Mike

2Sunny

Thanks Mike!

Not often folks are sympathetic to pilot schedules. When I was 20 something traveling was exciting; now that I'm 40 something with kids I really hate being gone from home half of my life, but the view from the office is pretty spectacular so I can't complain.


Joe

Chris Moon

My Feedback: (8)

Cycle 6 data. Outside air temp 75 degrees. Min voltage 35.07V

Chris Moon

My Feedback: (8)

Received several messages asking for data from an older pack. This is cycle 62 on packs that began service in Dec.
Min voltage 35.2 which leads me to believe that the new packs above (cycle 6) are still not completely broken in. I expect it to usually take 5-10 cycles to break in a pack.

2Sunny

More geeky data


First graph is a Rhino showing min voltage of 36.0; second graph is the new Power Unlimited battery on its 3rd run after breakin. showing a min voltage of 36.3. Both data sets off my Castle ICE 80, and both taken during an Intermediate Sequence practice session.

wingster

My Feedback: (26)

2Sunny

Do you have the current data to go with the voltage graphs? It would give a more complete picture.

2Sunny

But of course


Rhino first then Power Unlimited.

KeithB

My Feedback: (1)

Today I made my first pattern practice flights with my new PU packs. Prior to these flights Ibench ran the packs at 6.5 amps down 38.5 volts (unloaded). Ithen flew a break-in flight with each pack for about 7.5 minutes keeping amps fairly low. After these flights only one needed to be charged back to the storage voltage of 38.5 volts.

In today's practice flightsIflew the Master's pattern and attemptednot to go to full throttle, though I may have acouple of times on the third flight (Pack 15). Ialso kept flights shorter than typical practice flights. Unlike2Sunny my voltage did drop below36 volts, but still looks pretty good.

Keith B

Chris Moon

My Feedback: (8)

Hi Keith,

Expect it to take at last 5 and up to 10 easy cycles before they start to "come in". The IR numbers should go from the mid 2s to the mid 1s during that time as well.