Originally Posted by Brush Hog

2 minutes of max throttle on the ground with no air flowing over your components isn't a terribly good idea...

Originally Posted by everydayflyer

Depends on the setup.

Some power system setups can be smoked if ran 15 seconds WOT static.as they are designed to be ran WOT in flight for not more than 3 seconds at a time. Some others are only ran for less than 10 seconds WOT , one run per charge. On the other had some can be ran WOT the whole 30 min. flight or static without warming up much above ambient temperature.

Charles

You guys are right, i didn't stop to think about this before posting my 'do it yourself and hope your rig doesn't catch on fire' advice.

I always have larger than necessary ESCs so got a little too comfortable with sloppy practices i suppose.

same chemistry diffrent manufacture/dealer

Originally Posted by boingk

Casual flyer? No, not worth it.

I fly Turnigy packs alsmost exclusively, with some Rhino and Flightmax packs in there for 'variety' - pretty sure they're the same in reality.

I've had zero problems, except with a few Turnigy and Rhino packs that I flew to the absolute limit of their power output, regularly. These three or four packs are now exhibiting bad cells and have been taken apart and disposed of after a saltwater discharge.

If you're a competition flyer or want sustained high-amp draw then I think spending a bit more is justified.

Cheers - boingk

You dont have to be a comp flyer to appreciate quality, the pro fliers arent the only ones that is flying a lot, the extra € spend for an honest rated good quality and long lasting batterie makes it worth it. If i buy a batterie i want to know what i am buying, capacity and discharge performance, i havent found any HK liPo battery that dont have a false rating. If you test and messure the performance of there packs and also open it up to see how bad they are made, then one understands how/ why they are so cheap.

Originally Posted by Jocke

You dont have to be a comp flyer to appreciate quality, the pro fliers arent the only ones that is flying a lot, the extra € spend for an honest rated good quality and long lasting batterie makes it worth it. If i buy a batterie i want to know what i am buying, capacity and discharge performance, i havent found any HK liPo battery that dont have a false rating. If you test and messure the performance of there packs and also open it up to see how bad they are made, then one understands how/ why they are so cheap.

Fair enough, but notice I also said people who want a sustained high discharge pack - not just competition flyers.

For me I have found the Turnigy NanoTech range to be good in this regard, and they do NOT cost a fortune. All my other models get Zippy/Flightmax/Compact lipos from HK without problems.

Personally I tend to use packs way below their rated max output, and totally ignore any claims on 'burst' outputs or similar 'temporary max discharge' rating. At the end of the day I'd rather use a slightly larger pack where I can, then a small one with a high 'C' rating.

The fact that I have my original generation of lithium polymer batteries still going strong after almost 2 years of use should back up my claim that almost any pack that is looked after should last the distance.

Cheers - boingk

How about close to 4 years and well over 300 flights?

Note TP PP45

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...15&postcount=1

Originally Posted by boingk

The fact that I have my original generation of lithium polymer batteries still going strong after almost 2 years of use should back up my claim that almost any pack that is looked after should last the distance.

Keywords there. Almost any pack will last if well cared for. For some reason it seems like the tiny ones don't. I have 4 of these Turnigy 1600mAh 1S:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...mpatible_.html

They worked fine last winter, never been ran to LVC, always kept at storage charge. When they were not in use they were in the foam lined case with the micro heli's in a closet in the basement so temp was cool and pretty consistent. They sat for I would guess 7 months unused in that state. Now that we have snow on the ground I pulled them out last weekend and charged all 4 up. Only 1 out of the 4 was good, the other 3 hit LVC right after takeoff. These all worked perfectly last winter and now after 7 months of storage all but 1 are trash.

I can say that I have had much longer life out of Thunder Power batteries. My first batteries were Thunder Power and I have one with a cell date (TP used to print cell dates on the pack) of 2005. It probably has 150 flight and is nearing the end of life with only about 75% of original capacity and still is not swelling.

I do buy cheaper packs for combat and experimental planes were they may be damaged. If have been impressed with the Hobby People batteries for the price. They have good output when new but after two years they still have about 85% capacity but they are starting to get soft.

The other cheap battery that I am impressed with is the Zippy Flightmax. It seems good so far but I only have it about a year.

Originally Posted by grimbeaver

Keywords there. Almost any pack will last if well cared for. For some reason it seems like the tiny ones don't. I have 4 of these Turnigy 1600mAh 1S:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...mpatible_.html

Now that we have snow on the ground I pulled them out last weekend and charged all 4 up. Only 1 out of the 4 was good, the other 3 hit LVC right after takeoff. These all worked perfectly last winter and now after 7 months of storage all but 1 are trash.

Grimbeaver,

Are you sure that this is not just a function of lower temperatures?
Lots if flyers find that they take off in winter and the ESC hits LV after a few seconds. On the second attempt the flight is apparently successful, but that is only because the high IR has heated the pack on the first flight and reduced the IR.
I believe that this excess heating of the lipo causes damage which damages the cell and leads to "winter failure syndrome"
Could it be this is what you are seeing?
Wayne

I believe that this excess heating of the lipo causes damage which damages the cell and leads to "winter failure syndrome

Which is why when it is 50F my LiPolys get warmed at home to 85 to 90F and they stay in my 12volt warmer until ready to be flown. If it is below 50F I stay inside as the cold hurts more each trip around the Sun.

Charles

Hey guys I'm wondering if either my thunderpower g6 prolite 3s 3300mah batteries are going bad or if my dragon OSD current sensor is way off. Everytime I fly my zephyr with 2 of the batteries listed above. I use 5500 of the available 6600 mah's and when I put my batteries back on the charger it only puts around 2400 mah back in each pack. I balance charge every single time and I always put batteries back on storage charge after a flight I never leave charged over night. And one of my batteries for some reason will not balance charge fast anymore. It takes over an hr n half and still isn't done. But the other is done in 20 minutes. I don't get what's going on but I've slowly been regretting paying $80 per battery. That's why I'm thinking about trying another cheaper brand like zippy or maybe gens ace. What do you guys think is going on with my batteries. My flight time has dropped by a 1/2 I'm only able to fly for about 15-17 minutes and when they were new I was flying for 20-30. Do you think it's my current sensor giving false readings?

Originally Posted by flohio117

Hey guys I'm wondering if either my thunderpower g6 prolite 3s 3300mah batteries are going bad or if my dragon OSD current sensor is way off.
And one of my batteries for some reason will not balance charge fast anymore. It takes over an hr n half and still isn't done. But the other is done in 20 minutes.
Do you think it's my current sensor giving false readings?

The most likely cause is a dying cell in the pack which will not balance charge.
Does your charger read cell IR values and if so have you checked them?

Wayne

tiny 160mAh lipos

Helicopters and small lipos are an interesting mix, personally I'd be trying the 300mAh units also available from HobbyKing. I have found that small lipos in helis fry particularly quickly as they tend to be right on the limit for safe, reliable current draw and also have no airflow.

If you are not warming them in your inside jacket pocket for at least 5 minutes before you fly in cold temps then, yes, you will most likely experience an early LVC due to the batteries chemical inability to provide current at the temperatures its being exposed to.

As an aside, I have a few of those 130 and 160mAh NanoTech lipos for my micro Parkzone models and have found them to be great. I've gotten a 16 minute powered flight from a HobbyZone Champ with a 130mAh NanoTech, and reliably get 10 minute flights. A 160mAh cell will generally give you longer than you will want to stay up. I particularly like the small NanoTech 1s packs and have found them to be brilliant performers.

Cheers - boingk

Originally Posted by Wayne Giles

The most likely cause is a dying cell in the pack which will not balance charge.
Does your charger read cell IR values and if so have you checked them?

Wayne

I'm not sure if my charger reads iR values what is ir like infra-red?

Originally Posted by flohio117

I'm not sure if my charger reads iR values what is ir like infra-red?

I believe he's referring to internal resistance value, if I am correct in my thinking.

Quick question, have you encountered this disparity between OSD stated usage and charger values on any other batteries? or are you stuck with just the batteries you got?

Originally Posted by Wayne Giles

Grimbeaver,

Are you sure that this is not just a function of lower temperatures?
Lots if flyers find that they take off in winter and the ESC hits LV after a few seconds. On the second attempt the flight is apparently successful, but that is only because the high IR has heated the pack on the first flight and reduced the IR.
I believe that this excess heating of the lipo causes damage which damages the cell and leads to "winter failure syndrome"
Could it be this is what you are seeing?
Wayne

I didn't think the batteries were cold yet when I was using them. I was flying indoors but it was a cold indoors (golf dome). The batteries had not been in the cold that long so I didn't really think of that. Later in the night I warmed some of my mCPX batteries with my hands because I knew they were cold. Also someone handed me a battery out of their pile right after mine failed, and his had been exposed to the cold for just as long as my batteries and his worked fine.

So I just went and retried the batteries. One of them hit LVC in about half the time it should have, the other though it made it a full flight but didn't have anywhere near the punch of my new ThunderPower cells. Either way I think I'll keep using the ThunderPower for my micro helicopters and the old cells might get downgraded to the less demanding micro t-28.