I will be using a Spin99 Opto controller on my AXI5330, and want to connect a BEC to it.
There are two leads with JR plugs on them, one for the reciever, (the long one) and a shorter one with a sticker showing it not to be used in the reciever.
There is no info in the manual on this lead, I'm guessing that it is to attach the programing box? I want to know if this lead can be used to run the BEC from, does anyone know if it can be used for this?

yep, it is for the read out of the controller with the program box.

why do you want to use a BEC? I like the safety of a seperate battery. It actually saved a plane once.

Volkert

Thanks for the reply Volkert,
The use of BEC is a debated topic, they do operate reliably but if the speedy dies then you do face a total loss.
For me to do well in Pattern (read ok), I need to maximise every chance that I get to duck out to the flying field to get in a few practice flights without neglecting the home life too much. That means grabbing the model and some flight packs and going, it is just easier if you don't have the extra reciever battery. One of the most experienced pattern fliers in our area has been flying this way for years without any issues, but having a good setup is the key to his succeces. Yes the sacrific is redundency!

Use a small 2s Li-po for Rx-pack, and charge it when you get home after flying. Put it together with your flight packs. That way it is fully charged and ready for next time you go out, whether this is the following day or a month later. Replace after a couple of years.

Regards,
Magne

This is a good way to puff your RX pack. LiPo's should never be stored in a fully charged state. It only takes 15 minutes at 1C to charge an RX pack so why worry...

Cheers,
Jason.

Thanks for the comments guys, I'm just a lazy modeller sometimes.

I know not to keep my lipo's fully charged, and my Rhino 6s packs that I use in my current practice model only see a store charge when I'm away for work, they have to survive my bad treatment of keeping them full charged for weeks on end.

I'm sure the price I will pay is a shorter life, the 5 current packs in use are all around 50 cycles old and still going strong.

If get a small window of oppertunity to go for a quick fly, I just go, charging them straight away on return, but I do try to keep them from going below 20%.

For me this is what currently works with the flying field less than 10minutes drive away, I need all the practice I can get

I had a couple of TP receiver packs puff and then rupture so I'm speaking from experience....

They didn't catch on fire but they were discharged and disposed of promptly.

Cheers,
Jason.

Did the puffing happen quickly, or over a few charge cycles?

I have had one where one cell puffed and split at the seam, but I was monitoring it's decay over 5 flights before withdrawing it from service(yes I was flying with a BEC).

It happened over a few charges and yes it spilt at the seams on the side. I noticed the pack puff a little but wasn't too worried about it. Charged it the night before flying and when going to install it into the model the next morning I noticed the seam split and electrolyte coming out under the shrink wrap. It was also bulging around the split. The pack was stuffed. [&:]

When I see something like this in a LiPo it's goneski! Not worth loosing a model over a $15 battery...

Cheers,
Jason.

Hey Matt,

Getting back to your first question, NO you can not attach the BEC to the Spin Programming lead to power the RX. In addition you might consider this setup that I use in my E-Motion. It has the best of all worlds 1) a BEC for continuous RX power 2) a backup battery as a failsafe.

Good-luck either way!

Joe

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Matt13: I had the unfortunate incident that should never happen but happened still. My 10S pack slipped out of the velcro bands. On a downline they slipped forward, releasing themselves and on the next upline got disconnected altogether with the leads so no more power. Without a receiver pack the plane would be lost.

I only use 30-35 mAh per flight so on a 800 mAh pack even after 10 flights it is only half empty. So the receiver battery is never an issue, always full enough for a few flights.

volkert

Thanks for the insight Joe, that looks like a sound set-up, I need to do a bit more thinking.
The new Wind S is almost ready and I'm hoping to fly it as much as I have with my practice model.

In which case your battery failure had nothing to do with long time storage fully charged. (Long time starage is months/years, not overnight.)

I know that storing li-po batteries fully charged has an effect on battery life, this applies to all lithium based batteries. That's why I wrote "replace after a couple of years".
On the other hand, virtually all lithium batteries that are used around the world are stored fully charged. Do you only re-charge your mobile phone battery when yo are going to make a call?
Storing batteries fully charged does not lead to sudden failure (e.g. rupture, split seams etc.) but it does have a small effect on cell life.

Magne

No problem Magne,

Leave your packs fully charged. I for one, will no longer do it because I've seen the results after a week or two left fully charged.. Your choice.
FWIW I only charge my receiver packs to 95% now as an extra precaution. If I don't fly due to weather etc, I will discharge the pack down to 3.8V/Cell.

Your mobile phone analogy is mute because a mobile is still drawing current even while switched off.

At the end of the day RTFM (Read the friggen manual) for your batteries. Follow those instructions and you should be fine.

Cheers,
Jason.