I'm at the end of my rope. I haven't had a good flight from my Easy Star for two weeks, about 10 tries. It seems to be low on power so I put in a 400 7.2v motor and 8 cell 1800mAH pack. Had one good flight but only for 5 minutes, if that, before the motor cut off and I had to glide down. Now I'm back to the same, can only get about 20' elevation. Do I need a better ESC? BEC?

In addition, my HiTech Neon that came with the ARF initially, had power for a couple of weeks before the Duracell alkaline batteries drained. I may have left it on in my tool box or bumped the switch on because it was on when I took it out one day. THEN I put 8 more alkalines in and they lasted about two days. THEN I put 8 more Titanium alkalines in and after 5 minutes, before I even got to the field from my car the low battery amber light came on and shortly switched to red. That was the same day I put in the 7.2v motor so I was too impatient and wanted to fly. Like I said, I was able to get a good flight but only for about 5 minutes. After I got home I tested the 8 titanium batteries and they all came up with 1.5v! I still had the previous 8 batteries and they all tested 1.2v.

Chapter 3:
I spent the last 2 and a half hours in the garage trying to measure current and voltage difference between 400 6v, 400 7.2v and a 400BB. Guess I don't know how to measure current (Amps) but I was able to get voltage by connecting to each solder point with a multimeter while adjusting the speed. NOTE: All this time I was turning the Neon on and off and the red light and alarm were blinking. When I shut it off the last time I heard a gurgling sound coming from it. Fearing the worst I carefully opened up the Noen Tx and found a leaking battery inside, it was really leaking all over the place so I cleaned it best I could and shut the garage.

I know this has been a windy post but I want to fly...bad...and my wife is fed up with my comsumption and not getting other things done. Therefore I am pleading for some help/advice so I don't have to spend more time working fixing and testing. Should I start over? Can I salvage my new hobbie? All input is welcome!

Thanks much in advance,
Frank

Frank, it sounds like you have more than one issue here, first on the TX it sounds as if there is a short on it, it should not drain the batteries that fast and the leaking batt may be due to that
on the plane with 5 min flights, if your running nimh batts that is prob all your going to get with the 7V motor, they take more power to run than the 6V. Did you cycle your new batt, if not it will improve after a few cycles. I would go back with the 6V motor and call Hitech about the TX, you may can send it to them to repair. Don't give up and Good luck

Thank you AJ. It looks like I was misled by HobbyPeople who told me the 7.2v would perform better than the 6v. I have the specs and it looks like the opposite is true although I don't understand why a lower voltage motor would outperform a higher voltage.

Thing is with the Neon, the remaining batteries all measure 1.5v which tells me they are not drained. There still could be a short causing the low power to activate and for whatever reason stressing the batteries. What causes a battery to leak, too much v? Just a short somewhere?

Hard to say about the leak, but if all your batts test good maybe your TX is just reading wrong, either way I would look at getting it fixed or replaced. A 7V motor will perform better but it needs more batt to bring the RPM's up and thus uses more power, I think 7V motors are for when you go beyond 10 V batts, once you go beyond that the 6V motors can't take much before they fry

First, it sounds like you might have accidentally put a battery backwards inside your Neon (happens all the time). That'd account for the leakage/gurgling sound.
Secondly, transmitters EAT batteries. A full charge on a Futabe 6EXA lasts around 3-4 hours max. You really want to stick a Nicad set into there - get some of the 1250 nicads for sale at Wal-Mart and you'll be very happy!
Now, for your motor. You'll want to get a more powerful motor than a standard "can" 400. They're inexpensive, yes, but they wear out quickly and without the right voltage can simply "poof" into non-existence.
I have a small fleet of EasyStars. The one I use most (I use it for aerial photography) is fitted with an Astroflight Brushless MightyMite 010 DD motor. I run a 3 cell, 1500 mah Lipo battery for a total of around 60 minutes flight time. This motor will make your EasyStar head skywards FAST, and it only draws 7.5 amps compared to the +/- 15 the 400 does.
Take a look at Tower Hobbies. This motor is used for the Trick "Zagi" series of planes. It's set up for reverse rotation (which you want), and should drop right into your EasyStar with no modification at all. It'll provide a very good performance increase.
I know you're looking to keeping costs down, but for future purchases consider investing in a good LiPo battery. They're almost literally worth their weight in gold.
Flyer

What a great reply. Glad someone has experience with the same plane. As soon as I get my allowance next month I will put it towards the motor/Lipo battery combo you mentioned. Sounds like just what I want, loooong fly time with power to climb and I want to also put a camera on.

I'll try the NiCd's for the Tx too. I guess it is possible I put one in backward, would never have thought of that.

Thank's to all for youe help.

Frank

Yep, just make sure everything's ok and wired right, and try, try again. Your EasyStar SHOULD be able to get so high you literally can't see it with no trouble at all! I suspect you may have a problem with your speed control (ESC). That could account for most all your plane-related symptoms. Why not take your speed control to a local hobby shop and have them give it a once-over with several motors?
Also, next time you work with your plane, check to be sure the ESC channel (channel 3 on the transmitter) isn't set to "Reverse". Not very likely, but not impossible either.
Don't let any of this sour you on the EasyStar! It is absolutely one of the BEST designed RC aircraft ever designed - I would place it in the top 5 without hesitation.
Flyer

Very encouraging, but then it doesn't take much. I really love to build these things and I have enough for another Easy Star soon as I can get this one going so I have something to fly. It should be great to look at and perform as well as your aerial, mabey with the same setup. I'll show it off here for sure.