Wingspam

I have an SPE 43cc engine, with a Melody ignition, on the ignition I am using a Hydramax 6 volt 2000 mah nimh battery, I am only able to get (3) 10 to 12 minute flights before I have to recharge the ignition battery. Is this normal??
The receiver battery is the exact same battery and after 3 flights it has barely moved off a full charge and this is using all digital servos.

Do I need to start using a larger battery for the ignition? or change to a different type of battery?

Thanks

jetmech05

I'm going to ask some real stupid questions. please bare with me as I can't see your airplane....Do you have a seperate ignition switch?....Do you use a optic kill switch? after you sit for a while is the ignition battery warm?........

andrew66

I have heard that the melody ignition systems drain alot of power compared to other brands.
So it could be just the "nature of the beast"

Wingspam

Jetmech05
Yes I have a seperate switch for the ignition, and I just installed an opti kill before this last set of flights. I have not checked the battery on the ifnition to see if it is warm after it sits.

ChuckW

I use a 4-cell, 1400 mAh for my MLD-28 with the same ignition and I can easilly get 3-4 good flights ond only take 600-1000 mAh to fully recharge it dependign on whether I leave a switch on accidentally, etc.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

Me too, my ignitions all call for 4.8 volts and some of them call for Nicad due to the different discharge rates. Different ignitions do tend to draw more juice too. Tghe ignition that comes with the Zenoah 20cc gasser is a battery killer.

pkoury

My Feedback: (7)

Is the ignition battery new? If so did you condition it? Is the pack made up of cells that have a low internal resistance? I ask this because a fellow club member just got into gas engines and he ha the same problems. He bought a brand new 6V nickle metal pack for his ignition, only fast charged it with a peak charger, and it would only last for 2 flights. After conditioning the pack and ensuring it had a full charge the next problem was the nickle metal cells could not supply the needed power to the ignition because of there high internal resistance. In fact the manual for his engine even stated to use nicads instead of nickle metal. He has switched to a LiPo with regulator and the engine runs fine now.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

Good point, I have found my new Nicad packs need to cycle about four times before they will come up all the way.

cloudwalker

Hi guys, I had to use a halve brick to power my zen 20, ive now changed to a C.H. ignition from the states. Its a plug and play thing, and the guys at C.H. are a great help. I now use a 4 cell bat and it goes nearly all day. Bill.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

There has been a lot writen about changing over to the CH and how well they work. Zenoah knew they had a problem and even came out with the new ignition for them but it still didn't work as well as the CH. I wonder how I would feel paying the extra money on that little engine for the EI then having to buy another ignition for it.
I feel that Zenoah should just go with the good CH and save buyers the time, money and trouble, it would be worth the bit of extra money it would cost to do it.

cloudwalker

Hi Grey beard, Because of the crap zen ign , it wasnt hard to make the change. Think of it thia way, I spend almost the same amount of money buying the Sunday papers each week for a year. It give a stronger spark, the tick over is a lot better and a few extra revs . Sure Im a bit brassed off, but at the end of the day it just had to be done. Bill

Ralph White

Wingspam, I have a MLD-28 that uses a Melody ignition. For the ignition I use a 4.8 volt 600 nicad pack (NR4J) that came with my new radio and have flown five 8 minute flights without any problem. I'm using a seperate 2200 6 volt battery pack for the reciever. I simply charge both packs overnight before flying.
Ralph White, Neoga, IL