First EagleTree log!

[Cralis]

Hiya guys!

Here's my first EagleTree logged hover in the garden. :bananaLook OK? Z20-980kv, 2*2200 25C Aplus packs... 13T gear, 550mm CF blades. All the rest standard CF Pro kit. Hover was around 3 minutes, pretty stable... A bit dodgy at the end though...

Looks like I used 900 out of the 2200 right?

[mjdee14]

Looks good...and I read 900 mah also...I usually throw in pack volts so I can see how the pack is holding up..

[Cralis]

Thanks!
Advice taken. Same graph, with volts. Look OK?

[Graeme67]

Cralis, there fun little gadgets aren't they!

Hey what does your TC look like? Just interested to see the difference the 13t makes & whether the HS could go higher.

Cheers
Graeme

[mjdee14]

you might want to change colors for each parameter....unless it just comes out that way when posted....the lines kind of run together.

[Cralis]

Did another hover today.. I may have an issue though.. Towards the end of the flight, after a land and check of the packs, I took off and notice the power dropping...

Landed, and download the data..

Does the amps look like my packs are not so great? Should it drop off like this?

PS: mjdee, how do you change the colours??

Graham, my TC is 0, 35, 80, 90, 100

[Graeme67]

Hi Cralis, yea it looks like your pack is not 100%. You were only up to 1400mah. I have a set that are doing the same thing. They have been through 120 cycles though. What usage have your packs had?

Try clicking the reset defaults button - lower left of 2D graph window. If this doesn't restore the graph colours click the chart settings button then the series tab. This lets you assign colours to the data.

I find minutes easier to look at too rather than seconds. You can change that under the X axix options top left corner.

Interestingly I am pulling a similar amperage hovering with 100rpm more HS. Those 550's must take a bit extra to swing.

Cheers
Graeme

[Cralis]

Thanks Greame.

The packs are some dodgy packs, I think. APlus 2200mah packs.. 25C... I got them free with my Hurricane. Not a lot of useage.. I'd be suprised if it was even 50 cycles.. I blew up my balance charger last week... so am charging with a normal charger... Could this be the issue? Would a balance help? I have a Kong Power charger and the 2 2200 packs (from ReditHeli.com) or order. Well, when they stock up.

I'll try the colour selection - and the change to Minutes. Pity you can't edit the graph. As in, it took me 1 minute 30 or so just to start the flight.. so I have logged a lot of . . . nothing.

[Graeme67]

Pity you can't edit the graph. As in, it took me 1 minute 30 or so just to start the flight.. so I have logged a lot of . . . nothing.

Well actually you can.....

If you go into the chart settings again, you'll see that there is 3 rows of tabbed buttons. On the top row select the Chart tab, then select the Axix on the 2nd row. You can change minimum & Maximum values for each axis.

If you want more detail you can click & drag a box around what you want a closer look at and it will zoom in on the selection.

Yes a balance charge will be better. Some cells may not be fully charged.

Cheers
Graeme

BTW where do you fly? I was down at Dakabin on Sunday. Do you fly there?

[Cralis]

I've been to Dakabin, but never flown. I'm new to Australia... and pretty much a novice in flying. I've seen some of those guys with their Trex600's doing some pretty funky stuff - so I would feel a bit spare doing my extreme hovering... :)

[Graeme67]

Don't worry mate, they are a great bunch & they had to start somewhere! There was a guy there on training legs last week. Might see you some time.

Cheers
Graeme

[Cralis]

Whats your TC like, and do you have any graphed flights yet to upload? We're running close to the same setup - except, I have junk servos. :) I'm actually speaking to ReadyHeli about getting 1 6s 3200 pack.. in which case, we'd be close to identical.

I've modified my TC slightly, so gonna find a nearby field and fly those packs again. I have been charging them on the CellPro balance charger for a while now... Only the last 2 charges have been on the non-balance charger... I hope they're not dead...

As for Dakabin, do you know Simon? He flys about there - as well as a place he refers to as 'The Jungle', but I think that's Gold Coast... He's also got a Hurricane..

[Graeme67]

Yep I've uploaded a few graphs here: http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=63001&page=4

I have the 14t pinion 19t OWB and the rest is all standard.
I have my normal TC set to 0-inh-75-inh-100 This gives me approx 1850 RPM HS
Idleup1 TC set to 0-75-85-inh-100 This gives more performance - 2000 RPM HS
Idleup 2 TC Flat 100% don't use this yet. 2100 RPM HS

Mate be careful with a 6s 1p 3200 pack. I'm not sure how you would mount it. It's far easier to mount 2 X 3s1p 3200mah packs. You just need to make a bracket to hold the bottom battery. She's a bit nose heavy. A little lead on the tail fixes the COG.

Yep I've met Simon. He came up to the heli fun fly at Coolum earlier this year. I have spoken quite a bit with him on the forums. Us Hurri flyers tend to stick together!!:YeaBaby: Have you checked Archeli.com.au? It's a great local forum. There is a Dakabin thread under clubs & events that will keep you up to date with the goings on.

Cheers
Graeme

[Cralis]

Thanks for the warning on the 6S packs... I'll keep my eye on the 2 X 3s packs then..

I'm going to find a football field or something to go and fly mine again soon... Want to see what's up with those batteries. Quite upset that they might be dead. I was connecting one, and my (now dead) charger make a crack sound and a spark. Since then, the charger is dead... I'm wondering though if it damaged the pack as well...

[mysticmead]

6s mounts fine on a CF frame.. if you don't have a CF frame, then get this http://www.readyheli.com/Custom_Heli_Parts_Hurricane_550_Carbon_Fiber_Batte _p/chp-g071.htm and mount on top.. or bottom.. or make it easier to mount 3s on top and bottom

[Cralis]

Thanks for that... I have the CF.. so might be in luck... Any photos, maybe?

[Graeme67]

I don't think your packs are dead yet Cralis. They held a very stable voltage for most of the flight. They are only 2200 packs, so maybe 4 - 5 mins is all your going to get. I think I'd be pretty happy with that. Charge & balance them then test again. Set your timer so that you bring her in before the voltage drop kicks in. I like to have 3.7v plus on each cell at the end of a flight. If cell voltage is below 3.7 you have gone to far.

Cheers
Graeme

[mysticmead]

Thanks for that... I have the CF.. so might be in luck... Any photos, maybe?
it's not a 6s but 2*3s side by side with Velcro in between... making it wider than just about every 6s out there..
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h119/mysticmead/Hurricane%20550/100_0351.jpg
if that fits on top and the canopy fits, then 6s is no problem.

[xodarap1]

Yup, that's how i run the Kongs with velcro in between and they are even wider than those packs. The canopy fits no problem.

[mysticmead]

yeah.. my HXT packs are wider than the aplus packs.. still fits.. going to start saving my pennies so I can get a couple 6s packs and a nicer charger to go along with them..

[Cralis]

Thanks guys. 6S looks OK.. Will get dimentions of the Kong Power 6S's, and check.

Just flew my APlus 25C 2200 packs.. first time flying my hurricane with the 550mm blades, longer (Trex600e) flybar and the EagleTree in an open area. Did some slow figure 8's... Quite fun! Best flight ever.. Was great!

Anyway, thought I felt a slight loss of power after only a few minutes - so landed, and checked the mah. All looked fine... Took off again, and noticedm, man, this bird don't wanna fly anymore... Landed, tried to go again, but this time there wasn't enough power to lift off!!

Anyway, check my graph. Check those amps drop off, then pick up after I land, then just drop crazy... Man, they look like they are dying big time...

[mjdee14]

As they would say south of the border...those lipos look like they are

"Morto" :puke

[Graeme67]

Yep they sure look buggered!

[Cralis]

OK, the seller has kindly taken the packs back to test, and maybe send me new ones. I'll name the supplier once it's all sorted, but for now, I put in my 18C :confused: 2100mAh packs for a quick hover to see what happens. After the 4 minutes, the packs were warmer than the 2200 25C (Knackered) packs.

Downloaded the flight, and here it is. Still an Amps drop... is this normal? Safe?

PS: Any way to record the throttle? Do you need an add-on? I have set it to record, but... nothing being displayed, and it reports Max: 0.

[Graeme67]

OK mate, no this is not normal & certainly not the way to run your packs. Bottom line - your packs are simply not up to the task. 18C is just not good enough for the Hurricane power demand. There may not be anything wrong with your 18C packs, used in the application that they are intended they may be fine. A smaller heli doesn't pull the amperage - this is were the all important "C" rating comes into it. Your other packs may not be capable of there rated output. This is quite often the case with cheaper packs.
I have attached 4 graphs from todays flights for you to compare with. I have now got 3 sets of battery packs. Pack A & B are my original packs & have over 120 cycles each. Pack C is brand new. I cycled it on the charger yesterday & maidened them today.

The A pack graph shows a voltage drop off towards the end of the flight. I actually brought her in because the HS was falling off quickly. This packs capacity has fallen off a bit from new. I really need to drop 1min from the flight time for this pack. Interestingly the pack voltage bounces back once the load is removed. So I don't think the actually capacity has diminished, but it's "C" rating certainly has dropped. It can no longer put out the amperage & maintain the voltage for as long as it used to. This pack has been in all my major crashes, so that may have weakened it a bit.

The B pack has been cycled the same as A but has had no crashes. When you are comparing these graphs to yours Cralis note the difference in HS. I am running 2000 avg but that last graph of yours the HS was 1750.... big difference. The ability to get HS is directly related to pack voltage. As voltage falls, HS follows. 1/3 of the way into this graph you will see a large amperage spike. I had a near earth moment here but recovered by giving her all she had. You'll notice the amps peaked at just under 53A and watts hit 1060w.

The next graph is the B pack graph with the amps & watts removed to show the voltage. Even with this huge demand the Volts only saged to 19.9V.

The last graph shows the C pack, The brand new pack. Really, there is not a lot of difference between it & the B pack. Maybe volts stayed higher for a little bit longer. Not bad considering 1 is new & the other has had 120 flights.

I'm very pleased with my KP's worth the money I reckon.

What ever you buy make sure they are 25C or higher. Better quality = better performance for longer.

Cheers
Graeme

The C