questions fer chris

[mongo]

..

[ChrisS]

Hi Mongo

There will be two sizes of batteries sold by MinAir. These are the same batteries Jason has been flying, generation 2 Thunder Power batteries. They are both 5S (useing two packs you get to 10S), one is a 3P configuration and the other is 4P. The capacities are working out to right at 7600mAHr for the 4P and 5700mAHr for the 3P.

For sport and milder 3D flying, the 3P packs will work just fine. For all out 3D or longer duration flying, the 4P is clearly the way to go. You might even want to increase the gear ratio a little and slow the head down for longer flights, we have a variety of gearing options to do this.

We have tested both 8S and 9S configurations in the heli and they also work well. Specifically, I found the Actro 24-4 and 32-3 motors on 8S are very good geared 8.18 to 8.45:1.

Eric' motor suffered from a manufacturing defect. It was one of the earlier C50 prototype motors that we were sent to test. The motors that are being supplied in the kits are a little different and are test run up to 100K rpm for a few minutes to screen for this defect.

Chris

[trickydicky]

I hope to get my Ion soon too! Still, not being familiar with electric flight,
I have a few questions.
1) I use 2 different head speeds on my Furies: idle-up/hovering & mild 3d(1500rpm) and Rock'n Roll(1750rpm).
Can I have similar settings for the Ion, do I have to stay within certain rpm to have enough torque, are there recommended headspeed/max.pitch combinations?
2) I decided to have two pairs of 4P packs, what equipment do I need for charging(at home and field equipment). How long do I fly, how long do I charge... Are there any chargers which can charge 2 packs simultaniously,
also when I am on the field.
3) Isn't all this more hassle then simple nitro handling?

[misskimo]

hey ,

you asked (I use 2 different head speeds on my Furies: idle-up/hovering & mild 3d(1500rpm) and Rock'n Roll(1750rpm). )

yes you can have that kind of settings , the controlles or esc that comes with the heli , hacker has a gov . you can set idle up 1 like this , 85 85 85 85 85 , idle up 2 , could be set like this , 95 95 95 95 95
or you can disable the gov and use a throttle curve to suite your needs .
I reccomend if useing the gov that dont go below 85% on idle up 1 and 2
the lower you go the more amps you will use , which will cause heat in the system

you asked
I decided to have two pairs of 4P packs, what equipment do I need for charging(at home and field equipment). How long do I fly, how long do I charge... Are there any chargers which can charge 2 packs simultaniously,

at the field all you need is a charger that can charge lipos and a good 12 volt battery , I thing you will drain a car battery down on one charge schulze 636 or the orbit or the astro 109 . I wouldnt charge both packs as one , charge each pack seperate . after a flight the voltage of each discharge pack will be different , and for you to charge both it is required to match the voltage with in .01 of a volt before chargeing , thats kinda a pain to go through this.
the schulze is what I have and once you plug the batteries in the charger will quit when charged
at home , you will need to get a 12 power supply that is rated for at least 25 amps , you will be able to charge the batteries at about 6 amps with 25 amp power supply ,

you asked
Isn't all this more hassle then simple nitro handling?

at first it sounds hard , but thats what causes a new spark at trying to understand electrics , its a blast , you will see


Tony

[ChrisS]

Tony is correct. You will find though that you cannot get much more than a few hundred rpm difference between say 80% of max throttle and 100% of throttle. If you go below 80%, do not do anything more than gentle flying around or you may overheat the speed control and thermal it off.

If you really want to run the head speed down a lot, what you need to do is change the gear ratio.

As it comes, the heli will make a little better than 1800 rpm wide open, depending on the blades you choose.

Electrics are much smoother and quieter than liquid helis though, you will find that 1600 to 1800 rpm does not seem nearly as intimidating as it does on a gas heli...be carefull here, the power is the same.

Electrics are easy to set up. much more so than liquid pawered ones.

There are many good chargers available. Do not make it a habit to charge both packs in series. Charge them separately. There are really good chargers available now in the $120 range. A couple of these will have you recharged in under 1.5 hours from dead. Augustos charger, when it becomes available will have from one to four charging ports.

I would recommend that you not make it a point to fully discharge or charge at the field, there is little need. At about an hour, the battery will have close to 90% of it's final charge (if charging at 1c) and this a good place to fly from.

When flying, you should get timers set up in your TX early on to tell you when to finish up. Depending on your flying style and exact setup, you should have no problem getting well over 12 minutes of flight and not exceed the limits of the battery...this is most likely quite conservative.

Keeping the battery away from it's maximums is a good way to ensure that you will get a long service life from it.

Care is required and good habits reguarding charging and handling should be of utmost concern.

Nothing difficult here, just need to be careful. We have outlined all this carefully in the Ion-X instructions and I urge anyone to call us with any questions they may have.

Chris

[Russ McC]

Hi Chris,

I under stand not running the battery down to its max low voltage but is there a problem with giving it a full charge each time or more often then not? How does this create a problem? I don’t have a problem with flying from 90%, just curious :)

[misskimo]

Hey , Russ ,
the last 500 ma takes about 30 m to 1 hour to top off , lets say that the charger takes 2 hours to fully charge the pack at 6amps , after about 90% the 6amps will start getting lower and lower , and most of us unplug the batteries once they get down to 1 amp thats showing on the charger , that last little bit of ma takes forever it seams , so that means you have to baby sit the batteries when it gets down to 1 amp to unplug , it dont hurt the batteries none to wait it out but it dont hurt it none to unplug at 1 amp either so you can fly.

Tony

[trickydicky]

Thank you, Tony and Chris, for your quick replies.

If I understand this rightly I can make three flights when I arrive on the field with two full battery-packs:
- fly pack 1
- charge pack 1 for approx. 1 hr, in the meantime fly pack 2
- fly freshly charged pack 1

I think three flights in about 1-1.5 hr is OK (I still have my other Furies when I want more)
But: then I can't leave because my car-battery is empty???

And how do I actually know after a few times of not completely emptying and not completely charging in what condition my batteries are and how full they are???

To be sure I think I'll have at least to fully charge them when I leave home.

[ChrisS]

Hi

I'd say three flights in 1 to 2 hours, starting with two full packs is acceptable. Especially if you have other models to fly. You need to give the model time to cool anyway. You may find that you only really need 10 minute flights anyway (afterall, how long do you get from a glow model?) and depending on your flying style, this most likely will only partially discharge the battery.

Most of the better chargers available now have an input threshold voltage alarm that you can set to go off when the source battery (your car battery) gets too low. When a charger sounds an alarm, disconnect it, start your car and let it run for a few minutes to re-charge.

The 5s packs are fully charged at 21 volts and fully discharged at 15 volts, this is unloaded. Use a voltmeter to measure them.

Chris

[trickydicky]

Thanks Chris!
Sounds good, can't wait to try.
Dick.