Li-Ion packs > battery check

[Wade & Barbara Akle]

Here's the best flight battery check I found after trying nearly all of them. It's a lo-cost, direct, no-brainer. I have not used it with with Li-Ion (need to reset regulator) but with NiCd and NiMh. Get a lo-cost multiple light battery indicator (Hobbico volt-watch or equivalent for $12). With a 5-cell pack I recharge if the max indicator light drops with all servos fully deflected; no need to be so conservative, but I get over 6 flights anyway and the Sirius fast charger is in the car, and I also get a constant/steady voltage at the servos. With a 4-cell pack you again deflect all the servos and watch how much drop in the lights there is. For the 1st few times only, measure the battery voltage and correlate at which indicator you want to recharge. Every time you turn on the plane, you are checking the battery voltage with your actual servo setup at full static load. Any abnormality in the pack or plane, servo drag, or unusual condition will stand out.
There is no fancy 'gizmo' that will do all this so clearly using your actual servos. Anybody can beat this for simplicity and safety?
Wade

----- Original Message -----
From: Henderson,Eric
Sent: Saturday, September 07, 2002 7:27 PM
To: discussion at nsrca.org
Subject: RE: Li-Ion packs

I stop flying at 7.2 V with a .5 amp load. They start out at 8.4 v and drop
about 0.2 v per flight. Usually get about seven flights on the 2000 two cell
pack in a 5 digital servo set up. I Strongly advise fitting a C-Volt digital
read out from I4c.  They look cool and give great peace of mind.

Eric.
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