Best battery choice? + Current Draw used per flight

[Bob Kane]

Hmmmmm, that seems high. I did some quick math, my typical battery consumption of 100mAH per flight works out to an average current draw of 750mAH for 8 minutes of flight time. That being said, your test appears valid. Looks like those digital servos are working real hard to hold their position.  My servo extensions are 22 gauge wire. Some quick checking of wire current capacity shows a 22 gauge vinyl jacketed wire can carry 8 amps continuously without melting the insulation, so 3 amps should not get it hot.  Brian Young <b4598070 at yahoo.com> wrote:I found I wasnt getting the capacity I thought I
should w/ my 1800 mah 6 cell flight pack. After two
masters sequences I recharged and put back in 600mah
(triton charger), pack was topped up prior to flight. 

So back home, I put a current meter between the
battery and receiver. I draw about 90 mA with all
servos connected, each servo unplugged the total drops
by 15 mA, except for the throttle which drops 10 mA.
Wiggle the sticks and I can occasionally get over 300
mah. This didnt seem unusual to me, anyone disagree? 

So I left the meter in place and started the plane, at
idle the meter was reading 3 Amps, yep 3. Has anyone
else done this? 

I move the trottle off idle a little and the current
drops to about 2-2.5 Amps, so my throttle servo is
bottoming a bit.

3 Amps in this gauge wire seems like it should be
getting something hot, but I hooked the multimeter up
in series with my battery just like I learned in
school.

The servos are all digital JRs with over one season
use, except I did replace the Aileron servos w/ new
yesterday but havent had a chance to repeat my test.
All thoughts on what could be causing this are
appreciated. Otherwise a 4000 mah flight pack is
looking good to me. Is there any reason a worn servo
would draw more current? 


Thanks.,

--- Dean Pappas wrote:
> There are plenty of us nicad stalwarts!
> Mark, I agree with your reliability/convenience
> assessment.
> My 5-cell SR 1000 mAH is good for better than 5
> flights, as I have
> repeatedly measured the consumption of a
> all-digitals practice flight at 145 mAH.
> I'm considering going to a 500 pack and after every
> flight top-ups with the Sirius.
> That gets the weight to the point where any
> disadvantage to the nicad is, in my opinion,
> greatly outweighed by their reliability.
> 
> Dean pappas 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Atwood, Mark [mailto:atwoodm at paragon-inc.com]
> Sent: Friday, April 11, 2003 10:22 AM
> To: discussion at nsrca.org
> Subject: RE: Best battery choice?
> 
> 
> Lol....ok Anthony...then there's two of us flying
> Nicads. I use some of the newer technologies for my
> electrics, but with regard to Pattern, the new
> batteries appear to fix problems I don't have. I
> run a 5cell 6v 1400mah nicad pack. I personally
> haven't heard an argument that even comes close to
> making me want to change. 
> Cost/reliability/convenience all seem to favor
> Nicads. The only one against it is weight. And
> from my perspective, if I need that ounce...I have
> bigger problems. Just my .02...I'd love to hear
> others opinions on the subject...
> 
> mark
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: AAbdu at aol.com [mailto:AAbdu at aol.com] 
> Sent: Friday, April 11, 2003 10:00 AM
> To: discussion at nsrca.org
> Subject: Best battery choice?
> 
> It seems like every month a new battery technology
> is introduced. NiMh, Lithium ion, NiCad etc. Each
> one claiming to be better than the last. It seems
> like I am the last pattern flyer still using old
> familiar, heavy, memory burdoned NiCads. I am
> considering investing in updated batteries and all
> of the other things needed to maintain them. I have
> accepted that I will need not only the battery, but
> a new charger, regulator, and all the other fixins.
> Given that condition, what is the latest info pro
> and con on the new battery technology. I know there
> was an availability issue with the duralites that
> has seemed to be resolved, then I remembered hearing
> something about them overheating or blowing up or
> spontaneously combusting or something. My point is,
> there is a lot of misinformation out there and I am
> trying to find out what works best from those who
> use it. 
> In order of importance of features:
> 1. Reliability
> 2. Weight (lighter is better)
> 3. Capacity, can I get 5 flights on them, can they
> be quick charged?
> 4. Durability / margin of error / expected life
> span. If I leave the RX on do I have to replace
> them?
> 5. Price
> 6. Availibility 
> 
> I appreciate any information you guys can provide.
> Thank you.
> Anthony
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=====
Brian Young
Tulsa
b4598070 at yahoo.com
918-745-6046h
918-838-0900w

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Bob Kane
getterflash at yahoo.com


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