<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">Ron</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">See the reply to Vicente...new pack
cycled on Robbe with NiMh soft peak detector...The Robbe also has a continuous
250Mah rate charger...sounds like I need to use that first. In all my years
of flying...I have never had a battery failure.<br>
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<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif"><br>
<br>
<br>
Gray Fowler<br>
Senior Principal Chemical Engineer<br>
Radomes and Specialty Apertures<br>
Technical Staff Composites Engineering<br>
Raytheon</font>
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<td width=40%><font size=1 face="sans-serif"><b>Ron Van Putte <vanputte@cox.net></b>
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<br><font size=1 face="sans-serif">Sent by: nsrca-discussion-bounces@lists.nsrca.org</font>
<p><font size=1 face="sans-serif">09/03/2008 09:57 AM</font>
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<div align=center><font size=1 face="sans-serif">Please respond to<br>
General pattern discussion <nsrca-discussion@lists.nsrca.org></font></div></table>
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<div align=right><font size=1 face="sans-serif">To</font></div>
<td><font size=1 face="sans-serif">General pattern discussion <nsrca-discussion@lists.nsrca.org></font>
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<div align=right><font size=1 face="sans-serif">cc</font></div>
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<div align=right><font size=1 face="sans-serif">Subject</font></div>
<td><font size=1 face="sans-serif">Re: [NSRCA-discussion] Part 2-Its a
miracle!!!</font></table>
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<br><tt><font size=2>Since I have a small hobby shop, I sell a lot of battery
packs. I <br>
try to remember to remind customers that a peak detection charger is <br>
just that; it looks for a peak and ramps back to a trickle charge. A
<br>
new four-cell or five-cell receiver pack will normally achieve four <br>
or five peaks, respectively. If the customer thinks that his new
<br>
battery pack is charged after the first peak, he will be lucky to get <br>
through a flight or two. I recommend that customers use a 'wall <br>
wart' to charge their new battery packs overnight for the first few <br>
times. That way, all cells come up to full charge before the pack
is <br>
used. However, to be fair, I doubt Gray had a new pack in his <br>
airplane that he'd just taken off his peak detector charger, but his <br>
crash gives me an opportunity to get on my 'how to charge new battery <br>
packs' soapbox.<br>
<br>
Ron VP<br>
<br>
On Sep 3, 2008, at 9:41 AM, vicenterc@comcast.net wrote:<br>
<br>
> Gray,<br>
><br>
> Yes, that is good news. Clearly the battery was the problem.
I <br>
> had heard that some chargers get a "false peak" and stop
charging <br>
> when the battery is not really fully charged. I wonder if this
was <br>
> the problem.<br>
><br>
> --<br>
> Vicente "Vince" Bortone<br>
><br>
> -------------- Original message --------------<br>
> From: Gray E Fowler <gfowler@raytheon.com><br>
><br>
> Lance and I went out and found the plane right where it was <br>
> supposed to be. Do not know how I missed it the first day, so I am
<br>
> going to say that someone went into the woods Monday night and <br>
> moved it .<br>
><br>
> What is amazing in the minimal damage the plane has considering
it <br>
> went straight in from 200 feet, albeit at a slow speed. The <br>
> horrible reverbed cracking sound Keith and I heard was the carbon
<br>
> fiber wing tube breaking. Both wings have limited leading edge <br>
> damage, the stab has a golfball size divot on the R LE, an easy to
<br>
> repair crack in the fuse (buckle failure) behind one wing and a <br>
> little nose ring area damage. That is all.<br>
><br>
> The battery pack had broken the 3/8 bals a stic ks on impact that
<br>
> were bonded into place (my battery packs are not "removeable"
per <br>
> say) and the battey pack was on the ground at the nose of the <br>
> plane. The plane was standing vertical on the undamage spinner
<br>
> being held up by the tree branches. Once we got home we hooked
<br>
> eveything up and of course it all worked fine. Knowing that the <br>
> battery pack essentially had the same charge as when the plane went
<br>
> in, Lance took the battery pack home for diagnostics. Using
the <br>
> Robbe charger he cycled the1450 mah pack down....it read 80
mah. <br>
> He then charged it and it read 1000 mah. Anthony described a NiMH
<br>
> "brown out" and that is starting to make alot of sense.
6 volt <br>
> packNiMH , drained does not just die like a 4.8 volt NiCad. Also an
<br>
> important note is I now think the plane was going in and out of PCM
<br>
> lock. When I tested PCM lock the throttle did cut, but not to low
<br>
> idle. It cut to about 20% throttle (programming error), hence the
<br>
> pulsing of the throttle that I exper ienced. If this diagnosis is
<br>
> correct then it is a testament to using PCM as I was able to fly <br>
> the plane for 45 seconds before impact...had I been closer when the
<br>
> problem started I may have even been able to score a "10"
FAI <br>
> landing (not really-I would have gone for the grass instead of the
<br>
> runway).<br>
><br>
> Anyway I am sending the entire radio off for examination, try to <br>
> see why the battery was so low, and fix the plane for spring.<br>
><br>
> Thanks for the ideas<br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> Gray Fowler<br>
> Senior Principal Chemical Engineer<br>
> Radomes and Specialty Apertures<br>
> Technical Staff Composites Engineering<br>
> Raytheon<br>
> _______________________________________________<br>
> NSRCA-discussion mailing list<br>
> NSRCA-discussion@lists.nsrca.org<br>
> http://lists.nsrca.org/mailman/listinfo/nsrca-discussion<br>
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