3 Batterys Tested and Evaluated

[Tim Smith]

Wow thank you .I bet bettween You and I and Every one esle .That's a Big Pile of Broken
Eveready Bunnies! Can you imagine how much money these compnies have made off just LIpo'S .....And thank you for the heads up on all this.I found with the Equinox .That the first few flight on all these other Batteries I helped it kill,that they were pretty much FIne as far as I caould tell (Being a Newbie ) UNTIL I started using the stand alone Quick Balance Mode. Once I started doing that the Flight Times ,and I was barely able to hover for long were drasticly becoming shorter and shorter.
But get this>>>>> The batteries would go to full charge on the charger ,but in shorter time.the mha charge capacity value would indicate only small inputs and then the charge would end .unlit they were completly life less .........The degradation process would only take three or four charge ,Balance and discharge cycles before death.
I now will use my flight log and my charge detail with great attention.
I am also realizing that this hobby is exactly like Real life Aviation in nearly all aspects.
just because these things are small and come in a box don't mean they are TOYzzzzz
They require the same great attention to Detail to keep them Flying Safe and with out Either Human or mechanical disaster cause loss death,any one or the Model........
I find that I am growing leaps and Bounds in many things about my self and Hobby as well....I am amazed at what all this hobby is doing in my life for me in the Very Very short time I have been invovled in it. I am Recovering from 3 Full On major Back surgeries over the past 2 years .I broke my back at work.Now I have lots of Titanium and stuff in my lower back ,( AT least I can walk again) Last Surgery was in August 07.
I was depressed and a friend said Get a Lief Get a Hobby.SO I went in search of a RC Car and saw a Heli and fell in love......3 helis later here I am and now I want to go get my A Real Helicopter Rotary Lic..Endorsement.

Oh God I am a frea aren't I

[Tim Smith]

SO Today I made 3 flight s 3 mi each with all 3 helis and logged all the charge data for the 3 new Evo 25c flight power batteries,,As Follows

1st discharge from full charge Full is 2170 mha 12.60v 25c 3s for this bat.
I took 204 mha from bat. 3 min hover
2nd discharge from full charge
I took 185 mha from bat. 3 min hover
3 rd discharge from full
I took 142 mha from batt. 3 min hover
This was with battery #1. all on heli #1

So far the second and thrid Flight power batt.s have same nearly to the last digit discharge values after 3 > 3 min hover each battery.....
They seemed to use less mha for the same amount of flight time .
Is This Good ? It sure seems that way according to the Number s
Right Bob??? If I am flying for the same amount for time ( Only a Tail in hover on a windLess day,)and using less voltage from my battery to do so .Is Good?

And One last Question for you Mr Modificator Finnman >>>>>>>>
Okay CLass Can any one tell me What the C after 25c or 20 c is for?
and can you tell me what he value will be on your charger if I ask you to charge a battery at Say 1 c will read?
a> 1.0a
b> 0.1a
c> 1.1a.............................................. ..This is my Question Bob.
Mr Sadler at FLight power told me to charge these babies at
1 c and I thought I knew what he meant but now I am sure that I don't know about 1 c .I know Amps ,Volts ,Ohms and MEGA WATTS but not C ....is this current rate
wich is represented by the A = Amps being Sent into the battery.OR is it the setting that is the maximum
Charge rate wich would be the same Thing now that I said it.

[th3tick]

Your mAh seem really low. At that rate, you should be able to get ~24 minutes of hover to hit 80%, which is a tad absurd. How are you measuring that?

1C is a multiplier based on the mAh of the pack. That's the same for the 20C and 25C.

So, for a 1C charge, that means you should be able to charge it in 1 hour, as you'd be charging it at 2170mA = 2.17A. Balancing the pack will vary that 1 hour a bit...

The 20C and 25C are continuous drain rate, and again work the same. For a 25C 2170mAh pack, you should be able to drain them at 25 * 2.17A = 54.25A without causing harm. They also likely have a climbouts and max burst ratings on the pack of 35C and 50C, which works the same.

HTH,
John

[Tim Smith]

wow thank you.Well in the RCC-6sx window it shows a reading wich begins with all zero's
and that is what I called the amount of charge I used from the battery What a Dumb hik I am I thought the mha reading there was telling me how much juice it put back in the pack. Dho So how exactly do I tell how much energy I have drained from my pack.Is it just something you trust your ESC to cutoff and handle at the propper voltage? Oh and my set ups all three are very very tame I Only Hover around right in front of me uslly walking behimd or some where close about four to ten feet and practice landing gently .This still has a lot of Pucker factor for me..And I am not ever in Idle 1 or 2 yet so my head speeds are not as high as even say 75% from the amount of input I use at this point the just hover . I Guess I should quite screwing around and just flip the switch
The last time I touched that switch my heli beat the living piss out my right the in my own front room and brook my first set of rotors.ANd left me with nasty nasty welts and a gash near my wrist good thing I just reach down and grabed the battery and un plugged it.......The was with the 3dx450se.Came with no manual and a generic radio with NO Instructions .I Knew absolutly nothing about what the heck I was doing then This was Day after Turky day last year. So as you can see I have been bite by these things in more ways than one so far . I a, Learning at any rate.so then I found BoB and his videos .. Bob really got my going

[shamen222]

"how exactly do I tell how much energy I have drained from my pack."

I would like to know this as well. ::super green::

[th3tick]

Originally Posted by Tim Smith

wow thank you.Well in the RCC-6sx window it shows a reading wich begins with all zero's
and that is what I called the amount of charge I used from the battery What a Dumb hik I am I thought the mha reading there was telling me how much juice it put back in the pack.

I don't specifically know much about that charger. Is there any chance you have it set to 50% charge or something? mAh charged should always be a little more than drained, so it's not a bad indicator at all.

The way I've watched my mAh drain is to put an Eagle Tree eLogger on my heli. That's about the only way to be sure. Once you learn your drain rate, you can use that to just use timer in the future.

I wouldn't trust the ESC cutoff, as I've found the Align one to be quite annoying. In the middle of something, possibly low already, I'm suddenly losing power - NOT good!

John

[michael503]

Originally Posted by shamen222

"how exactly do I tell how much energy I have drained from my pack."

I would like to know this as well. ::super green::

One of the easiest ways is to get a charger that tells you.

The Cellpro Charger from FMADirect tells you what percent the pack is at when charging as well as how many Mah have been put back into it.

[shamen222]

Sure, thanks. Is there a way to tell from the volt drop. I would think so.
Boys, get me a slide rule, pencil and a roll of one inch wide masking tape. I'm going to figure this out, see.

[th3tick]

Originally Posted by shamen222

Sure, thanks. Is there a way to tell from the volt drop. I would think so.

Yes, there is, and Efliernz's alarms work that way. I have one on each of my helis for that purpose. PM him if you want one.

I set mine to 3.3-3.4V/cell and watch for the lights. They're best used as a backup to the timer if you forget to turn it on, or accidentally fly already-drained packs. At that setting, you'll see it come on during high-draw maneuvers, and full-on when it's time to land.

John

[Tim Smith]

I have been on the phone all day with a Gentel man from Flight Powrer .
As well as I made five test flights today and tested the batteries with a fluke multi meter.
Total voltage for the Pack and Per each Cell .
Logged and recorded all FLight times and Battery Charger Info.

I dose appesr that countting the total amount of mah put back into the pack is a fairly accurate count on the amount of mah that you drained during your flight.
Keep in mind also that I have ONLY Hover with the packs so far and no long than 4 min.
In order to break them in propperly.I have also found if you charge your packs the day you fly and leave them set all night.That in the morning when you go to fly if you re Peak the pack you can squeez a few more mah into the pack.And only charge at 1c
so if you have a 2100 mah pack the maximum charge rate should be 2.1A
if it a 3000 it would be 3.0A 2200 mah would be 2.2 A So on.
The Peak voltage that you have drained from the pack is only readable IF you test the
pack with a good meter(Being carful not to short the battery or your meter)
Or a Eagle tree flight recording system or such Avionic s.STay tuned for more
of Smiths flight data

[Newinflight]

Originally Posted by Tim Smith

I have been on the phone all day with a Gentel man from Flight Powrer .
As well as I made five test flights today and tested the batteries with a fluke multi meter.
Total voltage for the Pack and Per each Cell .
Logged and recorded all FLight times and Battery Charger Info.

I dose appesr that countting the total amount of mah put back into the pack is a fairly accurate count on the amount of mah that you drained during your flight.
Keep in mind also that I have ONLY Hover with the packs so far and no long than 4 min.
In order to break them in propperly.I have also found if you charge your packs the day you fly and leave them set all night.That in the morning when you go to fly if you re Peak the pack you can squeez a few more mah into the pack.And only charge at 1c
so if you have a 2100 mah pack the maximum charge rate should be 2.1A
if it a 3000 it would be 3.0A 2200 mah would be 2.2 A So on.
The Peak voltage that you have drained from the pack is only readable IF you test the
pack with a good meter(Being carful not to short the battery or your meter)
Or a Eagle tree flight recording system or such Avionic s.STay tuned for more
of Smiths flight data

Just a note to help you test a battery!!! You will not get anyting from just putting a meter on the leads of the battery! The DMM will just read the no-load voltage of the battery! Instead you have to perform a load test with the proper size resister for a load...I suggest not doing it if your not too sure about electronics...etc...I am saying this as an electrcian and engineer!!! You can really damage your battery as well as give off harmfull gases!!! Yes leaving your battery overnight un-toucehd will have a little more juice...ONLY because of the chemical reaction in your battery! This also will cause damage by drying up the cells if left too often! They then will form crystals inside which then will never reach full capacity again! Hope this helps you in your quest for battery power...Your best option is to spend the money and get a very good charging system...

[Tom Burgess]

Originally Posted by th3tick

At that setting, you'll see it come on during high-draw maneuvers, and full-on when it's time to land.

John

You just saved me a new thread Thanks! I was about to ask why mine keeps popping on during high load manouvers!

Tom

[th3tick]

Originally Posted by brgsstm

You just saved me a new thread Thanks! I was about to ask why mine keeps popping on during high load manouvers!

Actually, now that I think about it, I do about 3.5V/cell to use the logic of "land when full on". It's just more cushion, so it's up to you

Glad to be of assistance,
John

[Finless]

Folks..... Based on this weekend's awesome fun flying I am going to go to the 100 flight mark! I have now have 72 flights on all three packs! So far I am NOT seeing any difference flight wise.....
I am pretty sure if I did my hover Eagle tree test it would not be much different than the first set... I might as well go for 100 at this point!

Bob

[forjer]

Go for it. Just get to 100 before I need new batteries!!!

[rdespins]

I'll be surprised if you see much of a difference in graphs in a hover. Hovering doesn't tax a 20-25C battery enough to show weakness (IMHO). But I have been known to be wrong before. Either way the results will be interesting as they are true field results.

Ron

[dct]

I hate to say this,, but my newer TP 2200 extreme and my TP 2070 extreme batteries are not holding up well. I 'm guessing on the numbers of flights I have so don't go by this number,but with about 35 flights on them, they have gone from 7 minutes of very good head speed to about only 6 minutes and can't carry the head speed even at that! I'm not even taking out 70 to 75 % for mAh out of them from day one. And have babied them on break in from day one. Looks like I will have to look at the newer V2 batteries?
As you should be able to tell from my flight times, I don't fly very hard at all.
I don't think these batteries are going to be able to make 100 flights on my Trex 450. That's just sad .

[th3tick]

Originally Posted by dct

I hate to say this,, but my newer TP 2200 extreme and my TP 2070 extreme batteries are not holding up well. I 'm guessing on the numbers of flights I have so don't go by this number,but with about 35 flights on them, they have gone from 7 minutes of very good head speed to about only 6 minutes and can't carry the head speed even at that! I'm not even taking out 70 to 75 % for mAh out of them from day one. And have babied them on break in from day one. Looks like I will have to look at the newer V2 batteries?
As you should be able to tell from my flight times, I don't fly very hard at all.
I don't think these batteries are going to be able to make 100 flights on my Trex 450. That's just sad .

That's pretty similar to my experience with the TP packs. Thus, I'm on FP packs. I ended up getting the TP packs replaced, then selling them.

I haven't tried the v2, as the v1 took me to the FP which have been doing fine.

I can't wait to hear about the KP/AT packs' longevity!

[Biggles]

What kinda flight time are all you guys getting just in hover? and how can you tell what C or mah a battery is if its not written on it without the use of expensive test gear?

thanks in advance

John
Sunny England (i wish!!)

[dct]

I don't know? But if they don't even tell you what they are,,,IMO there not good enough for a helicopter .Helicopters are VERY HARD on batteries!
Oh,, and hovering is very hard on batteries also. Why you ask? Because it's just hanging on the prop. When in forward flight is the easiest .