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120 SR Blade (eFlite) 120 SR Helicopters Information and Help |
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02-28-2012, 11:34 AM | #1 (permalink) |
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Newbie 5-in-1 light question and time
I'm using stock batteries. I have "flown" 4 battery charges in my living room. Never flown helis before. I'm just trying to learn to hover and hold her steady right now. So there is a lot of getting off the couch, putting it back in the center of the room, and trying again.
From reading on here, it would seem the "safe" time to fly these stock batteries is 5 minutes. Although, I was thinking that was more like when you guys actually fly them around and not like me, a lot of stops, starts, and retries. So I have not been paying any attention to the time. Then I notice the red light on the back of the 5-in-1 will flash and the power drops considerably. At that point I shut her down and go for another charged battery. My questions: I take it the flashing light means the battery is spent? Should I limit my "Stop and Go" hover attempt sessions to 5 minutes too? Am I ruining my batteries because I ran them until the light flashed? Thanks guys - I appreciate your help, |
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02-28-2012, 12:41 PM | #2 (permalink) |
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Join Date: Feb 2012
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I'm pretty sure you are running them too long. I believe the "rule" is 20%. You want to leave 20% of your batt left in order to extend the life of the battery. Somebody correct me if I am wrong.
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02-28-2012, 01:14 PM | #3 (permalink) |
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Join Date: Feb 2012
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5 or 6 minutes is good though...
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Harm 120SR - 130X - nCPX Lovin' this hobby! |
02-28-2012, 02:30 PM | #4 (permalink) |
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Join Date: Dec 2011
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Try to shut the heli down before the LVC * Low Voltage Cutoff* starts to blink. Your batts will last longer. As said before 5 or 6 mins.. I got a cheap egg timer and it works good. Also after market batts seem to be better than the stock ones. I've been using Hyperion 550s and have been working very well.
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120 SR / MCPX V2 / MCPX BL / 180CFX / DX7s
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02-28-2012, 05:20 PM | #5 (permalink) |
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Join Date: Oct 2011
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So am I hurting my batteries by as soon as LVC hits drop the throttle and unhook? It seems like they should put LVC there so you would not hurt you batteries
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120 SR UM T-28 DX5e Pheonix v3 |
02-28-2012, 06:07 PM | #6 (permalink) |
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Sorry, Crob56, but that would simply make too much sense. The battery manufacturers would object, you'd put hardworking Chinese in whatever they have for an unemployment line, dogs and cats would be sleeping together . . . we can't have that now, can we?
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02-28-2012, 06:19 PM | #7 (permalink) | |
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Join Date: Jan 2012
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Quote:
http://tmkarc1hobby.com/hyperion-g3-...ade-120sr-heli Its just not worth worrying about until you get into the larger multi cell packs that cost $$$$. At least thats my 2 cents... Oh no... |
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02-28-2012, 07:14 PM | #8 (permalink) |
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Join Date: Dec 2011
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Another good reason for timing your flight time is, You don't want to be aggressively flying and have it the low limit.
I've had a few VERY hard crashes when I forgot to set the timer. And, good habits are hard to break.
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120 SR / MCPX V2 / MCPX BL / 180CFX / DX7s
Life's too Short, Live Tall,and Dream Big |
02-28-2012, 08:05 PM | #10 (permalink) |
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Thanks everyone. I plan to buy the non-stock batteries the next time around. And WD, I need to get me a cheap timer too! The good news is I am close to being able to hover somewhat!
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02-28-2012, 08:57 PM | #11 (permalink) |
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Join Date: Feb 2012
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Don't worry so much if you're flying until LVC.
At rest the voltage on my batteries from my 120 SR are still showing about 3.5v, which is still WELL above any type of voltage that will cause the batteries any type of premature demise, and I fly until LVC on every heli I have with every battery I have. When I'm running batteries in my cars, I have the LVC set to 3.2v, and sometimes 3.0v even, and I've yet to have a battery have any types of issues. I've been really surprised to see the suggestions of not flying until LVC for the safety and longevity of the battery. I understand the concept of not flying until LVC to make sure the heli doesn't crash to earth with a lack of power after the LVC kicks in, but the notion that a LiPo that has a resting voltage of 3.4-3.5v at LVC will die more quickly than one that you shut off before the LVC is probably a bit off. Sure, you might get three more charges on the pack, but for the price of them, the extra flight time is probably worth more than those three more flights.
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In Life, Try to be the Kind of Person Your Dog Thinks You Are... Blade: mCX2, mCP X V2, 450 3D DX6i |
02-28-2012, 11:31 PM | #12 (permalink) |
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If you are stopping and starting a lot, then an egg timer won't really give you a very good idea of how long you are flying. I agree with gimpdiggity about the lifetime of the battery. At $5 a pop, who cares if you get 50 cycles or 60. I have 4 stock batteries that I got used with my used heli, and I have put probably 20 cycles on each. Still going strong after flying to LVC every time. I fly 3s 1200 and 1800 ma/h lipos in my planes, and have always flown to where power was noticably diminished. No problems there that I can see. Now if I were flying $50 or $75 lipos, I might be more inclined to land a bit quicker. Just on the off chance that everybody is right about the LVC thing.
John
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Esky llama v4, Blade 120SR, Blade SR, Tarot 450 pro |
02-29-2012, 06:50 AM | #13 (permalink) |
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Thanks guys. I set a timer for 5 minutes for my "Hover attempts" and it goes off way before the LVC light comes on. With my stop an go practice, I get at least another 10-15 minutes of time before the LVC light comes on. And I'm indoors trying to do a 3 foot hover so I'm not doing any high speed crashing.
So I think I'll forget about the timer until I actually learn how to fly this thing. Thanks to all for the input! |
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