CoronaL
07-07-2008, 08:37 AM
Not sure how much anyone here has heard about Eneloop cells. They are a newer NiMH type cell, that supposidly has a very low self dicharge rate. My main "concern" with the stock 1500mah pack in my x9303 is that if I leave it set for a week or so fully charged, I still feel like I need to charge it when I want to use it again, as I'll be down to 10.6v or less. If I fly for a day I could see it going low. Maybe I'm paranoid I dunno. I have flown a freshly charged Radio for 14-16 flights one day, then another 6-8 the next and still have 10-10.2v. So it's not so much capacity that I fee I'm lacking, it's the promise of less frequent charging that is so often hyped in converting to LiPo's for the TX. My buddy has a 1350mah LiPo in his 10X that he charged 1-2x a year :roll:. That seems insane to me. He must not have flown much though. Anyway, I'm figuring about 150-180mah draw on the radio, which is JUST A GUESS based on some random figures I pulled off the net from other radios, not this one. If I'm incorrect please let me know!!!!
So why use these cells instead of a LiPo? Well first, they shouldn't void the warranty. I'm not really sure how or if Horizon/JR can tell if a LiPo was used or not, but I'd be the guy that has issues and then by some bad luck they find out I used a LiPo and voided my warranty. These cells are supposed to retain 90% of their charge after 6-12mos. In practice I don't think they are quite that good, but I do believe that they are much improved over standard NiMh. Plus, these are 2000mah capacity compared to 1500mah stock capacity. 33% improvement right there :). I'll put up some pics later of my home made pack. No real earth shattering build secrets. I soldered a smaller gauge wire between positive and negative. Made 4 - 2 stick pieces. Used goop between cells after soldering so that there woulnd't be alot of risk of the batteries moving, and sometime down the road the solder or wire breaking. Then I made a square pack out of the 4-2 cells, seriesed them all, covered each end with a bit of cardboard, and used a bigger heatshrink tube for batteries I had. Doesn't look 100% factory, but not too shabby and fits well in the X9303. Waiting on a JR radio lead, as I don't want to fubar my stock pack. I'll make some comparisons and observations compared to my stock pack in the coming weeks/months. I ordered a LiPo pack the other day, but think I'll just sell it as this seems to make the most sense. Provided it works as advertised with the low self discharge.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51hiyexQ6ML._SL500_AA280_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B000IV2WAW/sr=8-1/qid=1215433459/ref=dp_image_z_0?ie=UTF8&n=172282&s=electronics&qid=1215433459&sr=8-1)
http://www.amazon.com/SANYO-eneloop-Pre-Charged-Rechargeable-Batteries/dp/B000IV2WAW/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1215433459&sr=8-1
So why use these cells instead of a LiPo? Well first, they shouldn't void the warranty. I'm not really sure how or if Horizon/JR can tell if a LiPo was used or not, but I'd be the guy that has issues and then by some bad luck they find out I used a LiPo and voided my warranty. These cells are supposed to retain 90% of their charge after 6-12mos. In practice I don't think they are quite that good, but I do believe that they are much improved over standard NiMh. Plus, these are 2000mah capacity compared to 1500mah stock capacity. 33% improvement right there :). I'll put up some pics later of my home made pack. No real earth shattering build secrets. I soldered a smaller gauge wire between positive and negative. Made 4 - 2 stick pieces. Used goop between cells after soldering so that there woulnd't be alot of risk of the batteries moving, and sometime down the road the solder or wire breaking. Then I made a square pack out of the 4-2 cells, seriesed them all, covered each end with a bit of cardboard, and used a bigger heatshrink tube for batteries I had. Doesn't look 100% factory, but not too shabby and fits well in the X9303. Waiting on a JR radio lead, as I don't want to fubar my stock pack. I'll make some comparisons and observations compared to my stock pack in the coming weeks/months. I ordered a LiPo pack the other day, but think I'll just sell it as this seems to make the most sense. Provided it works as advertised with the low self discharge.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51hiyexQ6ML._SL500_AA280_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B000IV2WAW/sr=8-1/qid=1215433459/ref=dp_image_z_0?ie=UTF8&n=172282&s=electronics&qid=1215433459&sr=8-1)
http://www.amazon.com/SANYO-eneloop-Pre-Charged-Rechargeable-Batteries/dp/B000IV2WAW/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1215433459&sr=8-1