Originally Posted by 1Pilgrim

How much fossil fuel does it take to make a battery? Any mechanical engineer will tell you that a minimum of 70% of the energy is lost each time you convert it from one form to another. There's no such thing as a free lunch. The long-term answer is still the same - nuclear power.

I can't wait for the Blade 120 SR-N, nuclear powered. I hope they figure out how to make better skids by then.

Originally Posted by Saxguy1000

Nope. I have charged my batteries 6 at a time for 9 months now and it works every time. I suggest using no more than 1C charge rate, though--just IMHO. You combine the total amps of all the batteries and divide by 100 to get the 1C.

And, if you are new, read how I burnt up my hand and almost burnt down my house with a 550mah lipo battery.

That picture of your blistered hand was burned into my brain when you posted it - might be time to put it up again for the noobs.

EDIT: Never mind - followed the links back and shuddered all over again.

Originally Posted by Saxguy1000

I can't wait for the Blade 120 SR-N, nuclear powered. I hope they figure out how to make better skids by then.

That eerie glow will look really cool when we go night flying!

Originally Posted by 1Pilgrim

That eerie glow will look really cool when we go night flying!

Yeah, that would be nice. When you are done flying, you could plug the heli into the power grid and furnish electricity for the whole neighborhood.

Originally Posted by 1Pilgrim

I installed an Astroid Designs battery mount in order to carry virtually any size battery that will fit inside the canopy - found out about it on this thread.

I have one of those as well but you still have to fight with the canopy and I did not want to cut the canopy. That is why I like my mount under center of my bird. WS

Originally Posted by 1Pilgrim

Bring the women and children inside and bar the doors! WHAT IS that thing???

Well it will be an Airboat or maybe a horizontal heli, not sure yet.WS

Originally Posted by Wind Spirit

I have one of those as well but you still have to fight with the canopy and I did not want to cut the canopy. That is why I like my mount under center of my bird. WS

Yes, I remember now - that's why I still have those RKH skids and undercarriage battery mounts laying around.

Cutting out the bottom of the canopy only partially solved the problem anyway. It was still a pain to fish out even the 550's, and as I recall the 1300's wouldn't fit inside the canopy forward of the frame.

I don't bother cutting away the canopy for the 550's any more. It's easy enough to just pull the canopy off to change batts and leave it off during the cooldowns between flights.

So where will you "fly" your airboat? Are you anywhere near Alligator Alley?

Originally Posted by Heli Pad

I know that people mod their helicopters for different reasons. What would be the motivation of doing a "huge battery" mod, I wonder? If it were up to me, I'll look into the opposite direction. I'd rather fly with a smaller battery, as long as that battery will give me good punch and a 4-5 minutes flight. It would be lighter and livelier and it won't be too taxing on the motor(s).

When I first bought my Champ this summer, I was mentioning to an experienced flyer I had just met that I was considering doing a larger battery mod for more flight time... and he asked me why don't I just carry a handful of stock batts like he does. His reasoning was...

1. He knew from our discussion that I like my birds to fly as scale as possible. A heavier plane is going to require higher airspeed to keep it in the air... fine if I don't mind my Champ looking like it's flying 3x faster than the real one can
This point applied more to planes than helis though.

2. He knew from our discussion that my favorite part of flying is landing and practicing doing so... if I'm bringing it in several times during a flight anyway, why not just use one of those opportunities to do a battery swap since it only takes a few seconds. Still probably applies more to planes.

3. We both agreed that battery swaps would be a good opportunity to give the motor a brief rest. Good practice for all my RCs... planes, helis and cars... this is what I practice with all 3 of those and I take this into account when making battery purchase decisions. For example, I'm slowly stocking up on 3S 1300mah lipos for my new HZ Super Cub (stock capacity) when I know guys are flying up to almost double that capacity (and size and weight) in this bird... for the reasons I mentioned above. I have even considered going smaller

Originally Posted by 1Pilgrim

I tried flying the 1300mAh batts but the brick fried after just a couple of flights and I was too chicken to try them again. Was that just a coincidence? Or could I have overheated the brick by flying too long with the extra poundage (129g all up weight)? I'm using the Xtreme bb motor.

You didn't by chance go up to a 2S to get a 1300mah? I probably know the answer to that... but, I recently observed in another thread that sometimes the obvious can be overlooked... so, just askin'

Originally Posted by North_of_49

You didn't by chance go up to a 2S to get a 1300mah? I probably know the answer to that... but, I recently observed in another thread that sometimes the obvious can be overlooked... so, just askin'

Thanks for askin' but no, they're 1S. I also bought a Champ this summer and continue to fly it in the gym where low and slow is not only more realistic but necessary to stay out of the bleachers! Besides, I easily get 10 minute flights out of a 160mAh battery without screwing up the cg.

I'd almost forgotten some of the things I did to have fun indoors with the 120 last winter... maybe it's time for some more lights, camera, action!

Originally Posted by North_of_49

You didn't by chance go up to a 2S to get a 1300mah? I probably know the answer to that... but, I recently observed in another thread that sometimes the obvious can be overlooked... so, just askin'

RAIDEN 3.7V 1300mAh 20C Li-Polymer Battery. This is what I have.

Originally Posted by grampi

You're using a 1300mah battery? Did you have to install a new mounting slot for that battery or does it fit in the stock location? Also, does that battery give you more duration, more power, or both?

1300mah?? I don't know if that would be good for the board. Don't know

Originally Posted by Saxguy1000

Grampi: You have to do a mod to use anything but the 550mah batteries. It's not difficult to do and there are several choices you can make. Just search this forum for battery mods.

Here is the battery mod Sax was talking about. Unfortunately there could be a wait. email him and get on a list I love mine
http://astroid-designs.myshopify.com...-battery-mount

Good luck,
Mike.

I don't know any reason why a larger mah battery would be bad for the board. As long as it is a 1s battery it could be a 5,000mah. Wouldnt fly of course, but would not hurt the board. Unless you mean that the increased runtime might overheat the board. That is the only thing I can think of. No matter the capacity of the battery the voltage output is the same. It may be capable of putting out considerably more current, but only if the components demanded it.

Originally Posted by Saxguy1000

Nope. I have charged my batteries 6 at a time for 9 months now and it works every time. I suggest using no more than 1C charge rate, though--just IMHO. You combine the total amps of all the batteries and divide by 100 to get the 1C.

And, if you are new, read how I burnt up my hand and almost burnt down my house with a 550mah lipo battery.

The charging method/math I use is from here:
https://sites.google.com/site/tjingu...arging-how-tos

Very simple. Here I have 3 550mah batteries charging in parallel (note the amp setting).

3X550=1650. Move decimal over 3. = 1.6A

3X750= 2250. Move decimal over 3. = 2.2A

This is for 1C charge rate for parallel charging. Although I admit, I crank it up just a tad at times. For instance, instead of 2.2A on my Rhino's, I may crank it to 2.8A

Mike.

Sorry, had to make another post of my 3 750mah Rhino's charging. Dang!