[NSRCA-discussion] Scary night of flying

Sun Aug 22 09:05:48 AKDT 2010

Oops!  I missed the "first charge".  Jon is right.

False peaks are a problem with new cells.  I always do an overnight  
charge on new cells.

Ron

On Aug 22, 2010, at 11:56 AM, Jon Lowe wrote:

> Ron,
> I the question was " if NiCad can be quick charged on a first  
> charging or do they have to be slow charged like NiMh?". The key  
> word is FIRST. Answer is no, they shouldn't be.  Two or three  
> cycles at c/10 are recommended to form the cells.  Radical RC has  
> some good info on their website about forming charging, and will  
> not warranty cells that are ruined by fast charging on the first  
> cycle, whether they be nicads or NiMh.   Some cells should never be  
> fast charged, ie ultra high capacity NiMh's.
>
> http://www.radicalrc.com/category/Tx-Packs-NiMH-&-NiCd-20
>
> Nicads and NiMh's can also "false peak" early in the charge cycle  
> when they are pretty well drained, making you think they are fully  
> charged, when they don't have much charge at all.  If I am peak  
> charging well formed packs, I always turn off the charger and turn  
> it oon again when it indicates they have peaked to make sure.
>
> This whole business is why I use Li Ion (not lipo) cells with a  
> regulator for my receiver and servos.  Lighter, no memory, very  
> high capacity, durable.  Fromeco or Central sell good 2600 mah packs.
>
> Jon Lowe
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ron Van Putte <vanputte at cox.net>
> To: General pattern discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
> Sent: Sun, Aug 22, 2010 11:41 am
> Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] Scary night of flying
>
> Nicads can be fast charged. The best charger for nicads that I've  
> used is the FMA Super Nova. It has an algorithm which looks at the  
> rate of change of voltage in the "automatic" mode. If the rate of  
> change of battery voltage is positive, the charger ramps up the  
> charge rate; if the rate of change of voltage is negative, it  
> reduces the charge current. It was kind of scary at first to watch  
> it do its thing, because the charge current can get pretty high.  
> However, that's the sign of a healthy battery. When the charge rate  
> doesn't go up much, or not at all, it's time to put the battery in  
> the trash. Too bad Fred Marks' sons, who took over the business  
> from Fred, are such bozos, or I'd still be doing business with them  
> and selling the Super Nova charger.
>
> Ron
>
> On Aug 22, 2010, at 10:37 AM, Paul LaChance wrote:
>
> > Hi all,
> >
> > Thanks for all the advice. I have to admit I did not cycle the >  
> batteries before flying this time. They were cycled when purchased  
> > and were new for the 2008 NATS. I already bought a new battery  
> but > wanted to know if NiCad can be quick charged on a first  
> charging or > do they have to be slow charged like NiMh? Thanks in  
> advance.
> >
> > Paul
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lightfoot" <lightfoot at sc.rr.com>
> > To: "'General pattern discussion'" <nsrca- 
> discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
> > Sent: Sunday, August 22, 2010 11:13 AM
> > Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] Scary night of flying
> >
> >
> >> Might well have been a case of NiCad "memory". I wouldn't have  
> >> thrown them
> >> away unless after cycling them twice they showed to be weak.  
> Periodic
> >> cycling is a must!
> >>
> >> Jay Marshall
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: nsrca-discussion-bounces at lists.nsrca.org
> >> [mailto:nsrca-discussion-bounces at lists.nsrca.org] On Behalf Of  
> >> Paul LaChance
> >> Sent: Saturday, August 21, 2010 10:57 PM
> >> To: General pattern discussion
> >> Subject: [NSRCA-discussion] Scary night of flying
> >>
> >> Hi all,
> >>
> >> I finally flew my Prestige tonight after not flying it since the  
> >> NATS 2008.
> >> I have not flown it or ANY planes for 2 full years. I charged >>  
> everything up
> >>
> >> and all seemed well. Flew my first flight and landed without >>  
> incident. I
> >> checked the plane over and checked all my batteries and all  
> looked >> well.
> >>
> >> Flew flight 2, all was going well. Flew the Advanced pattern >>  
> twice and
> >> landed. Checked my batteries again and they still read over 6  
> volts.
> >> Engine was running great and all was well.
> >>
> >> Flew flight 3 and that is where things got scary. I flew the >>  
> sequence once
> >> and everything was going well. When I started my second sequence  
> >> the plane
> >> got sluggish and was not feeling right. I landed ASAP and as  
> soon >> as the
> >> wheels tounched down, I went to add rudder to stear towards the  
> >> pits and had
> >>
> >> no rudder, no elevator, and only one aileron was working but it  
> >> barely moved
> >>
> >> and was very sluggish. I shut the plane off and checked the >>  
> batteries and
> >> they were barely reading 4.5 volts. This was a 5 cell nicad >>  
> pack. I guess
> >> I had a cell short and kill the pack. I was just amazed and am  
> >> very lucky
> >> to have been able to get the plane back on the ground before the  
> >> battery
> >> completely failed.
> >>
> >> Has anyone had this happen before? What would cause this? I am  
> >> going to
> >> get a new pack in the morning and try to fly again tomorrow  
> evening.
> >>
> >> Thanks in advance for the help,
> >>
> >> Paul
> >>
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