I am trying to find out how long I need to charge my TX and RX?

I have a Macgregor charger which will charge both at the same time, but as I have no instruction for either the Batteries. or the charger I have not idea how long to cook then for?


Any clues?


Cheers

Neil

What is the output of the charger (McGreggor (JR) do two types)
What batteries are we charging (capacity)

General rule if you are using the charger that came with the radio is 14 - 16 hrs and it sounds like its a trickle charger so you cant fry them but I would stop at 16hrs.
They should also be 'freshly charged' eg not last week. A battery checker and a monitor is a good investment for you RX batteries.

Nick

The TX has a 9.6 V Ni-Cad and the RX has ??? Hum Not sure, Its the regular AA sizes batteries!

Your battery will be marked with a 'capacity' this will be shown in 'mah' (Mili Amp Hour) typically, if it came with the radio it will probbaly be 1000mah or may be less if it is an airplane set.
JR airplane sets are equipped with 600mah batteries. You need to check this before you fly (I'm guessing that you havn't yet) because a 600mah is a bit small for a heli.
I fly with a 2600mah battery, so I can comfortably fly several flights, even so I still charge the battery after a couple of flights, and I use an on-board battery monitor
I just checked my JR 3810 manual and it says
'First charge of new Transmitter and Flight packs 20 - 24 hours'
Subsequent charges 16 hours.
McGregger supply two chargers the TX out put is the same 50ma and the RX output is either 50ma (airplane sets) or 120ma (helisets)

Send me some details of the radio gear that you have and I will try and help. The battery capacity should be on the battery pack itself

Nick

As nickwap mentioned, the capacity of the pack should be on the batteries themselves. The charger should also be labeled for its rated output. Once you have these numbers, some simple math will tell you how long you need to charge.

For instance, if you have a 1000mAh battery pack, and a 70mA charger, you just need to divide 1000 by 70. (1000/70=14.29) This would mean you'd need to charge 14.29 hours, or just round it up to 15 hours. It's not terribly critical at these low charge rates to nail the time right on the money -- a few hours overcharge at 70mA won't hurt anything. But don't just leave it on there for days -- you'll definately cook the pack.

Also keep in mind that the 15 hour charge stated above assumes the battery is flat when beginning the charge. If all of this worries you about damaging your batteries, invest in a decent peak charger and you'll never have to worry about this again. Peak chargers shut down once the battery has taken all it can, and there's no possibility of damaging your pack. Another side benfit is you can charge at 1C (maybe more, depending on the pack), and your 1000mAh battery could be charged at 1000mA. Charging at 1C would charge the battery in one hour (really handy for those short notice flying trips).

Hope this helps.

Yes your right!! Its a 600 MAh ! Looks like I should invest is a better battery ! ? !

The charger is a 50 mA unit which has an output of 5v & 10v. (I guess for the two different charging leads)

I have managed to get a glimpse of one of the heli batteries it’s well packed in there) and it says 16 hour charge on it!

Thanks for all the help,


Neil

ps. You don’t know how to get spray paint off the canopy do you? I have see the method using lacquer thinner, but I just cant find where to buy it here in the UK and if I did what type would I need to buy?

I've never tried this with Helli Canopies but I use the method constantly for other small models that I paint. Oven-Off is about the most caustic cleaner you can legally buy, just test on a small piece of canopy material to make sure it's compatible with the plastic. It's extremely caustic and you should use precautions when handling (Mask and gloves designed for caustics as well as safety glasses) But cleans about as good as a cleaner possibly can, we use slightly modified versions of this stuff at my work to clean just about anything off steel parts. I do stress to be careful with it though, it dissolves fat/oils in skin causing chemical burns pretty easily.