Have I killed my AA's battery?

[quar]

Hi all,

For the last several days, I've not been able to get my Aero Ace to charge. Green light flickers when it's plugged in and then nothing. I've tried a couple of battery changes, so I know that the Tx is OK. I've left the plane on a couple of times, thinking that the LiPo might have been killed because of this. Any thing else to try?

Mike

[bEbOp ¿?]

Try new alkaline Batts for the TX.
Or TRY THIS !!
I've never seen this on any of the AA threads but its worked for me twice on 2 different planes, and got them to charge as they should!! Just last week I left an AA on for 3+ days, turned it off and tried to charge it but got nothing. After trying this hard boot power on sequence I got my plane to fully charge as normal. It now works like brand new.

Cant remember the exact sequence but you'll get the Idea. Turn everything OFF , and connect the Charge jack. Turn on PLANE then TX and throttle UP until motors kick in. Turn off TX then Plane, Disconect Charge Jack then reconnect.

Thats just one try different ways also until you get a steady green charge light. I.E= Everything off, Plug in jack, everything on throttle up for motors. Diconect Jack, THEN TURN OFF Plane and TX, reconnect Jack. OR Plane ON, TX OFF, plug in Jack Turn ON TX and throttle up, Turn off TX, disconect jack, turn off Plane, Reconect charge jack. ETC. ETC ∞

Take care that you DO NOT discharge the Batt to low. Like I said I've had planes in the past that didn't want to charge after the Low Voltage cut off kicked in, and I left them on for more then a day. After this Hard Boot TX jump start I got my planes to charge as normal. :)

I always charge in a CrockPot with Fire Extinguisher 20 feet away and suggest you do the same.

[UAVPilot]

I have tapped into my AA battery with some small wire to charge it with a separate charger before. Gets a better charge and flies longer seems to me.

[Hotflyer]

I have lights that are hardwired into the batttery and bypass the low voltage cutoff (which, by the way, should make it near impossible to ruin the battery by just leaving the plane on) and I had my plane fly into the top of a tall tree. stayed there overnight with the lights draining the battery ALL THE WAY down. Next day, went and found the plane after it had beem blown down and just slapped it onto the charger. Half an hour later, flew it with a friend and outlasted him in duration. Go figgure. It sure seems to me that these little lipos are a lot stronger than ones aI have used in the past. Kinda makes me want to try the full river packs of diff sizes.

[Looooeeee!]

I've drained a Kokam 145 2S pack below 2.3 volts per cell and had it come back. I don't recommend it as a steady treatment, but I believe these cells can take some one time abuses. I've also had some Batteries America 150 Lipolies singles that arrived from the retailer slightly puffed. Go figure...

[anestho]

Once the current drain stops, the voltage usually recovers. As long as it recovers beyond 2.9V per cell, its okay and it will charge. If the voltage does'nt recover, the cell will usually swell and will not hold a charge any more. (don't ask me how I know) ;)

LED's generally don't use that much current and so don't pose a great drain on a battery.

1 Lipo I discharged accidently to 1.8 V, once I disconnected the circuit, it slowly increased to 2.5V. Most good LIPO chargers will trickle charge to 2.9V, then start the regular charging cycle.

[Speedee]

Try new alkaline Batts for the TX.
Or TRY THIS !!
I've never seen this on any of the AA threads but its worked for me twice on 2 different planes, and got them to charge as they should!! Just last week I left an AA on for 3+ days, turned it off and tried to charge it but got nothing. After trying this hard boot power on sequence I got my plane to fully charge as normal. It now works like brand new.

Cant remember the exact sequence but you'll get the Idea. Turn everything OFF , and connect the Charge jack. Turn on PLANE then TX and throttle UP until motors kick in. Turn off TX then Plane, Disconect Charge Jack then reconnect.

Thats just one try different ways also until you get a steady green charge light. I.E= Everything off, Plug in jack, everything on throttle up for motors. Diconect Jack, THEN TURN OFF Plane and TX, reconnect Jack. OR Plane ON, TX OFF, plug in Jack Turn ON TX and throttle up, Turn off TX, disconect jack, turn off Plane, Reconect charge jack. ETC. ETC ∞

Take care that you DO NOT discharge the Batt to low. Like I said I've had planes in the past that didn't want to charge after the Low Voltage cut off kicked in, and I left them on for more then a day. After this Hard Boot TX jump start I got my planes to charge as normal. :)

I always charge in a CrockPot with Fire Extinguisher 20 feet away and suggest you do the same.

This sort of thing has worked for me in the past too. :)

[Jetlag]

Not been able to get my x-twin lipo to come back to life. It just decided to not charge up anymore today. One thing I would like to know is, is there a warning buzzer system sort of thing built in because I left my x-twin switched on a week back and only realised this when I heard some kind of buzzing noise from it.
I could take the plane back for a refund but as it was on special offer- half price, it may be better to keep it for parts to build something else and pay for a new lipo, what do you think?
Thanks,
David

[anestho]

There is no warning buzzer, but you can add one if you like. Moneywise, I'd exchange it. If you are ethical however.. :)

[Barry2]

My first AA had a similar problem where the battery would only charge for a couple of minutes and then only fly for a minute. I thought the battery was dying. I finally lost it due to the motors dying at altitude and it got blown away. Later I bought a new one that worked fine, but wouldn't charge on my old remote either. My original Lipo may have been fine and it may have just been the charger that was acting up.

Try charging it on another AA remote or regular Lipo charger if you can.

[Jetlag]

Try charging it on another AA remote or regular Lipo charger if you can.

I tried that on another one I have but it does the same thing, lights up for a couple of minutes only. It was a really hot day when this happened, perhaps that was the final straw for the battery. Anyways, they are out of stock and will not be at the half price special offer again. I think I will get another lipo for it. I hope I have better luck next time.

[al_wa]

I have had good luck with the MAXAMPS 160mA-Hr battery in the Aero Ace.

It fits in the same space and weighs a little more ~0.7 grams. The price is right. www.maxamps.com

[plue]

Doesn't have a warning buzzer, but i've seen my aa engage when the tx was off, some radio near you probably interfering and turning it on for a second.