Electrics - Cost is not as bad as it appears

[Daniel Dupont]

Rick....

Look at it my way...not unless the price drop dramatically......and on top 
of the charger you now have add a homemade battery cooler....??

I don't think that charging from your car battery is the recommended 
method...unless you want to walk or use your cell phone, so I guess now you 
also need a full size battery....thing are never that simple, I have 
accumulated a lots of gear specifically for nitro power flight before I 
make that gear obsolete the technology will have to more affordable.  Again 
I'm in favor to electric but they haven't meet my expectation just 
yet.  Still love my 3 OS 140RX.

When I race indoor car...I used a Cooler full of Ice, the battery's (in 
plastic bag) stayed in there until they were used and then return to it for 
cool down, sometime I would recharge my best pack of the day for the final 
race inside the cooler, at home I had a 12 x 12 surface full of hole with 4 
fans under.....to cool the battery's during charge...

I would not run both type since that would not be neither a saving or 
simple to manage, I'm not retired so time is often a rare thing in my life, 
I'm also very often away from home :)

Cheers Daniel D.

At 13:15 8/12/2003 -0400, you wrote:
>Dan,
>Look at it this way. With your current IC powered planes, you drag along a
>few items of field equipment and fuel and such, right? When you take your IC
>powered plane to the field, AND an electric powered one, the ONLY additional
>piece of field equipment needed to tag along is your charger. One extra
>piece of support equipment with two types of planes isn't that bad, is it?
>And, that piece can stay in the parking lot by your vehicle, out of the way,
>to charge packs. Doesn't seem like such a huge hassle to me.  :-)
>As for hot recharging, e-flyers generally have devices to cool spent packs
>to a reasonable temp before recharging, e.g. a piece of PVC drain pipe with
>a 12v computer PSU fan mounted in one end or similar. I've seen some car
>guys throw spent packs into their drink coolers between races, although I
>don't know for sure how effective that really is. These big LiPos are
>discharging at 50-60 amps, so I doubt charging at 5-8 amps is going to hurt
>them a lot, heat-wise I wouldn't go from landing/taxi straight to the
>charger, though.. The smaller LiPo packs don't even get that warm after
>discharging.
>Here's a forum that covers everything you ever wanted to know about
>batteries for e-flight:
>http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=129
>Rick
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Daniel Dupont" <dansy at av.eastlink.ca>
>To: <discussion at nsrca.org>
>Sent: Tuesday, August 12, 2003 11:38 AM
>Subject: Re: Electrics - Cost is not as bad as it appears
>
>
> > Don't get me wrong, if the price come down for the battery I will give it
>a
> > try for sure.  But I would hate to have only one plane on
> > Electric.....since I would still have to carry all that gear in case I
>need
> > the fuel plane...:)
> >
> > But my understanding at this point says...you cannot recharge at the field
> > since the battery will already warn from the discharge cycle and I like to
> > fly at least 6 flights, often more....
> >
> > I always a spare fully charge pack for my radio, good for about 12 flights
> > altogether.
> >
> > I carry all king of spare parts including complete a engine / spinner
> > /starter / glow driver / ect.ect......since I often fly well away from
>home
> > about 100 miles, and I fly there because since it the most concentrated
> > Pattern in the Atlantic Canada.
> >
> > Cheers Daniel D. 2693
> >
> > At 10:58 8/12/2003 -0400, you wrote:
> > >It's hard to imagine a flying scenario in which I'd need 4 LiPo battery
> > >packs at the field with me for one day's flying, with one airplane,
> > >considering that you can get 2 to 3 flights per battery, per charge. One
>can
> > >always recharge at the field. Fly your first pack out, toss it on the
> > >charger, and fly on the second pack while #1 recharges. Unless your
>routine
> > >is to fly 8 to12 flights a day with one airplane, one right after the
>other,
> > >anything over 2 packs would be overkill IMO. And then, transmitter
>battery
> > >duration would begin to come into the picture.
> > >Obviously, at the WC, one needs to be "overprepared" for any contingency,
> > >especially with largely new technology/equipment. In that unique case,
> > >multiple spares would be a good idea. I imagine JS likely has a spare
>motor
> > >and gearbox on hand, too. Necessary? Probably/hopefully not. But good to
> > >have if you toast a motor or something a long way from home.
> > >Just my pair o' pennies' worth.
> > >
> > >Rick
> > >----- Original Message -----
> > >From: "Daniel Dupont" <dansy at av.eastlink.ca>
> > >To: <discussion at nsrca.org>
> > >Sent: Monday, August 11, 2003 4:36 PM
> > >Subject: Re: Electrics - Cost is not as bad as it appears
> > >
> > >
> > > > Hey Lee that is for one battery pack....let add 4 more for good
>measure
> > > > another 3000.00....if Jason has let say 7 pack with him at 750.00 that
> > > > would be another $5250.00 of Battery's, pretty bad as far I'm concern,
>the
> > > > price of Batteries would have to come down significantly.  Also what
>the
> > > > manufacturer say about life expectancy could be different then what
> > > > actually happen to the packs, having race indoor cars for quite a few
> > >years
> > > > one learn that battery's are also not made equal.
> > > >
> > > > Cheers Daniel D.
> > > >
> > > > At 11:09 8/11/2003 -0400, you wrote:
> > > > >I did a little quick and dirty math and while Jason's 3 batteries, at
>a
> > > > >total cost of approximately $2000, seem prohibitively expensive, when
>you
> > > > >compare them to glow fuel expense, they're competitive.
> > > > >
> > > > >While the electricity used to charge the batteries isn't exactly
>free,
> > >it's
> > > > >such a miniscule expense I'm calling it free.
> > > > >
> > > > >The 3 batteries are good for 500-1000 charge/discharge cycles giving
>a
> > >total
> > > > >of 1500-3000 flights, so the cost/flight is $.66-$1.33/flight.
>Compare
> > >to
> > > > >glow fuel for a 2 stroke @ $10-$15/gal costs around $1.50-$2+/flight.
> > > > >
> > > > >The C50 motor plus with gear reduction plus speed controller sells
>for
> > > > >around $600.  'Pretty much the same that we're paying for a 2 stroke
>plus
> > > > >exhaust system.
> > > > >
> > > > >The only thing extra is a charger.  Say, $200 for a nice one.  Not
>that
> > >bad
> > > > >though, because I've seen some that charge everything, including
>RX/TX,
> > >so
> > > > >it's more like replacing one charger with another.
> > > > >
> > > > >Lee Davis
> > > > >Piedmont Models
> > > > >http://www.piedmontmodels.com/
> > > > >
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