R/C dumb. Could use some help

**Cribbs74** Sat Dec 09, 2017 12:03 pm

Hey so my FIL has informed me he has a $90 credit with Venom batteries that he has no use for. I don’t mess with RC all that much and I have no idea what to get.

I guess what I am after is Lipo batteries that will power 2-4 servos and a receiver for the length of a standard flight. And a basic charger to charge them.

I don’t know what “S” rating I need 1S, 2S, 3S etc. mAh etc.

Any help would be appreciated. If I didn’t provide enough info let me know.

Thanks!

Ron

Jason_WI Sat Dec 09, 2017 12:28 pm

S is the number of cells in series. 1S is one cell or 3.7 Volts nominal. Cells can also be in parallel for a 2S2P its 7.4V with 2 cells in parallel. For servos you can use a single cell with a boost converter or 2 cells with buck converter.

Most newer chargers use the multi wire tap to charge each cell individually. This ensures each cell is balanced.

Jason_WI Sat Dec 09, 2017 12:45 pm

Sorry I got cut short my sump pump alarm went off. My discharge hose was frozen solid.

I have a Hitec X4 that requires a 12V DC power supply. It can charge or discharge 4 battery packs at a time. Not necessary if just doing one RX pack.

I only ever used NiMh cells for a RX pack. My experience with using lopo's on a RX pack is limited.

NEW222 Sat Dec 09, 2017 1:12 pm

I am not that big into rd either but can tell you a couple of things. I fly 36" and under foamies. The power varies but they all use 2-3 9 gram servos. My batteries of preference are 500 - 1100 mAh 2 cell lipos. They all last from 7 minutes to around 15 minutes of flight. As well, with modeŕn radio gear you can directly plug a 2 cell Lipo in as your battery pack. I use Spektrum and it is ok. Also to note that the times I have given also include the motor running. If you are using an ic engine, your times will definitely be higher as you are just powering servos.

NEW222 Sat Dec 09, 2017 1:14 pm

Just another thing to watch for if using lipos in an airplane. If it was previously built for an ic engine and flown with older battery packs, your balance will be out to lunch due to the lipos being much lighter. Something else to consider.

rsv1cox Sat Dec 09, 2017 2:23 pm

LiPo's used in R/C are generally safe but still I keep a close watch on them while charging and sometimes remove them while doing so. Also, when not in use I generally store them outside the aircraft in/on a non flammable surface.

I often wonder if a LiPo R/C foamie has ever ignited like one of those LiPo powered Hover boards etc.. It would be rather exciting if it ever happened in flight. As kids, my buddy and I would douse the tails of our balsa models with lighter fluid and set them off flying, but not for long.

Mom used to say "One boy is a boy, two boys are half a boy, and three boys are no boys at all." We were half a boy. Smile

Bob

roddie Sat Dec 09, 2017 3:28 pm

You must be careful in the handling/charging of lithium-polymer batteries Ron. Before you charge a LiPo pack, purchase a fire-proof bag to contain them during their charging. These bags are made for this purpose. Place the bag with charging-batteries in an area free of combustibles. Charge your pack(s) when you're at home.. and can periodically monitor their state-of-charge. If at the field; don't charge your batteries inside your motor-vehicle.

Generally; LiPo packs are stable.. unless a short-circuit develops.. or the pack is "physically-damaged". Any "swelling" in the pack is an indication that it is damaged.. and should be discarded by immediately placing it OUTDOORS in a fire-resistant container.. such as a tin-can. Lithium burns in the presence of oxygen.. therefor if a LiPo cell swells and "ruptures" there will be a fire.

A "balancing-charger" is needed.. so plan on sourcing one. The "Thunder AC6" programmable-charger will safely charge any types of model-related batteries/packs that you have. I bought mine about five years ago.. but I believe that they're still being produced. Mine cost me $39.70 through XHELI.com at that time. The instructions are VERY helpful with familiarizing the user with the product and the proper charging of various battery types/configurations.

NEW222 Sat Dec 09, 2017 4:11 pm

Just to add a bit more to the above. Yes, they do sell bags to charge the Lipo batteries in, and I do have one. I know it is the smart thing to do, but I rarely do use it, however. 99% of the time when using my batteries, I am outside so I just lay them on teh ground beside my charger outdoors. As well, if you do not have a bag, I have also used a surplus military ammo can to charge in as well, and have heard of people using an old pot and lid, etc. I personally do not feel any one is better than the other as they all contain teh fire, should one occur. And as for chargers, well, that is another ball of worms. Ultimately, a balance charger is best, but you can get around this using another couple methods. If you can find a cheap charger without balancing, you can buy an Astro Blinky balancing board ( http://www.astroflight.com/106 ) this balances 2 - 6 cell lipo batteries. You can plug this into the balancing lead on the battery during charging or after charging. Second option is the Great Planes Equinox Balancer ( https://www.amainhobbies.com/great-planes-electrifly-equinox-lipo-cell-balancer-gpmm3160/p23940 ). Thic balances 2-3 cell lipo batteries as it comes and can buy adapters to balance 4 and 5 cell batteries. This one can be used stand alone as like the Blinky, or can plug into your charger and balance charge at the same time. I have 3 balance chargers, 2 non balance chargers, and both the Blinky and the Equinox. At the end of the day they all work the same. As the Blinky is an older idea, they can be found used cheap if you look around on the rc forums as most now buy only balance chargers, and the Equinox as well has been selling cheaper due to the same reasons. I have all my chargers as I have them all over so I don't have to worry about being somewhere without one, and the non balancing ones were initially for my Nimh rc car batteries.

If you do however plan on staying with the 2 and 3 cell batteries, I would look on Craigslist, as many e-flite planes and helicopters come with a cheap 2-3 cell balancing charger that most sell cheap (I have seen them here for $10). That would be all you would need to do what you need. And lastly, don't let all this stuff scare you, it just sounds like a lot to understand if you are new, and in very short order, you will know all you need to.

NEW222 Sat Dec 09, 2017 4:15 pm

In the end, I saw the price roddie paid for his charger he posted, and you cannot beat the price on that one. All you will ever need there. I just picked up a Sky RC iMax B6AC last week, which is similar. The AC/DC charging capability is truly wort it alone.

Just checked out XHeli.com, and the one he listed is $49 now. Still a good price for what you need. The cheaper ones listed that would do the job there are teh following:

$12 http://www.xheli.com/26p-e3-3s-ac-lipo-charger.html

$20 http://www.xheli.com/26p-e4-charger-ii.html

This is the V2 of what I just bought.
$44 https://hobbyking.com/en_us/imax-b6ac-v2-professional-balance-charger-discharger.html?___store=en_us

$49 http://www.xheli.com/thunder-ac6-charger-power.html

**Cribbs74** Sat Dec 09, 2017 6:10 pm

Yeah,

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the feedback, still majorly confused.

I won’t do electric power so I just need a 2S 3.7V? And that should run the servos and receiver for 20 mins or so?

The charger needs to be a balancing unit if I do more than one cell?

I liked RC better in the 80’s servo’s, receiver’s, 4 battery’s and a switch.

roddie Sat Dec 09, 2017 7:20 pm

Cribbs74 wrote:Yeah,

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the feedback, still majorly confused.

I won’t do electric power so I just need a 2S 3.7V? And that should run the servos and receiver for 20 mins or so?

The charger needs to be a balancing unit if I do more than one cell?

I liked RC better in the 80’s servo’s, receiver’s, 4 battery’s and a switch.

No.. The receiver (which powers the servos) runs off 4.8V to 6.0V DC. This is because NICD/NIMH batteries (rechargeable) are 1.2V/cell (x4=4.8V) and alkaline cells are 1.5V/cell (x4= 6.0V) A standard receiver battery pack consists of x4 AA cells.. whether they're rechargeable or alkaline.

Most better radio-sets come with rechargeable packs for both the transmitter and receiver and also a charger which charges both. The cheaper radio-sets use separate AA Alkaline batteries.. which gets expensive when the batteries need to be replaced.

Either battery-option should provide several hours of operation before requiring charging or replacement.

When you opened the thread mentioning "LiPo" batteries; we figured that you were running a brushless (electric) motor. Electric motors use a speed-controller that acts like a servo and plugs into the receiver. The LiPo (motor-battery) plugs into the speed-controller. That system still requires the use of a separate receiver battery. You won't be using a speed-controller.. but rather a "servo" for your RC engine's throttle. This servo is nothing special.. and is usually the same type used on the control-surfaces.

This will be a LOT easier for you. All you need is a standard (age-old) x4 AA receiver pack to power your receiver.

NEW222 Sat Dec 09, 2017 8:29 pm

Cribbs74 wrote:Yeah,

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the feedback, still majorly confused.

I won’t do electric power so I just need a 2S 3.7V? And that should run the servos and receiver for 20 mins or so?

2s is correct, but that would be 7.4V. Size is dictated in the mAH (ie. 800mAh, 500mAh, 1100mAh, etc) As for time the battery will last, it depends on the number and size of your servos, as well as battery pack size. I run an electric motor and three 9 gram servos for 7-15 minutes on an 800 mAh 2s battery.

The charger needs to be a balancing unit if I do more than one cell?

No it does not. If you do not have a balance charger, you can use either the Blinky or Equinox I mentioned earlier. However, now-a-days, a balance charger can be had cheap enough though not to worry about one that does not ( I still love my Triton Jr. with Equinox balancer though). I do not know what batteries you will be buying, but I have some early Lipo batteries that do not have balance charge leads on them, and they are still good after all these years. Proper care and proper storage is key!

I liked RC better in the 80’s servo’s, receiver’s, 4 battery’s and a switch.

Once you step into this Lipo world, you wont find it all that difficult. It is just change, and I know how much we all hate change. I was the same way when I got into the new-aged battery world.

NEW222 Sat Dec 09, 2017 8:42 pm

Ok. Let me ask another question. Are you asking this looking for answers to use this as strictly a receiver pack? If so, please look at the following link I copied from Venom. Specifically, the three in the top row. They are all the same, but get cheaper with the more you buy.

https://www.venompower.com/search?type=product&q=life+battery

If receiver power is all you want, consider LiFe battery packs. I have not used them ( I have too many Lipo batteries still), but they are better for what you want, and chemically safer battery to charge and such. This will probably take your headache down a notch. Wink

These batteries as well, can be plugged directly into your receiver, or switch harness for battery power to your radio.

NEW222 Sat Dec 09, 2017 9:28 pm

@ roddie - Does your AC6 have a Lipo storage charge on it? The reason for me buying my iMax B6AC is that it has a storage function, and I have many batteries so I had them all mixed up on where there charges were at. So I bought it, charged them all, then put them all in storage mode, with the exception of the few I have without balance leads.

**Cribbs74** Sat Dec 09, 2017 9:38 pm

What a pain in the posterior.

I like the fact that servos are smaller and batteries are lighter. Nothing else. I could run everything off of 4 AA batteries. Now you are saying I need to have seperate batteries for servos and receiver? Dumb.

Thanks for putting up with my stupidity.

Maybe I am not asking the right question. I want to be able to run my receiver and servos off of one battery. Maybe Lipo is not the answer? Nimh or whatever maybe?

fit90 Sat Dec 09, 2017 9:51 pm

NEW222 wrote:Ok. Let me ask another question. Are you asking this looking for answers to use this as strictly a receiver pack? If so, please look at the following link I copied from Venom. Specifically, the three in the top row. They are all the same, but get cheaper with the more you buy.

https://www.venompower.com/search?type=product&q=life+battery

If receiver power is all you want, consider LiFe battery packs. I have not used them ( I have too many Lipo batteries still), but they are better for what you want, and chemically safer battery to charge and such. This will probably take your headache down a notch. These batteries as well, can be plugged directly into your receiver, or switch harness for battery power to your radio.

I agree whole heartedly with the idea of using LiFe batteries to power your air born radio equipment in an IC plane. It is plug in simple for use in the plane. You will still have to use a LiFe compatible charger. You should be able to find them (the chargers) on ebay at relatively low prices. I switched all my 1/2 a r/c planes to LiFe a couple years ago with zero problems so far.

NEW222 Sat Dec 09, 2017 9:55 pm

Nope, not a pain in the posterior as you say Ron, Not at all. Just a good reason to exercise my brain a little to help others out as has been done for me several times in the past.

Either Lipo or LiFe as I just suggested. One battery for everything as was before with the standard NiCd battery. Just a different and modern battery chemistry.

Just as an example. I have an airboat powered with a .40 nitro engine, and two standard Futaba servos. I use a 500 mAh 2s LiPo for it. I plug the battery directly into the battery port in the receiver. No switch harness or such. Directly plug it in and you have power. Only thing with this is you have to make sure of your polarity.... Reason is the small batteries usually have a mini JST connector. Lastly, the little 500 mAh battery has powered this airboat in excess of 15 minutes.

The Venom LiFe batteries I posted for you in my second last post have the standard battery connector for your receiver or switch harness. If you are unsure of the lipo batteries, I would definately go with the LiFe. Personally, I would go this route for your application.

**Cribbs74** Sat Dec 09, 2017 11:17 pm

Thanks. The Life battery makes sense then. I’ll grab a couple of those and a charger. Thanks for the education!

Mark Boesen Sat Dec 09, 2017 11:24 pm

Jason_WI wrote:Sorry I got cut short my sump pump alarm went off. My discharge hose was frozen solid.

I have a Hitec X4 that requires a 12V DC power supply. It can charge or discharge 4 battery packs at a time. Not necessary if just doing one RX pack.

I only ever used NiMh cells for a RX pack. My experience with using lopo's on a RX pack is limited.

Lol, opinions and elbows, usually everybody's got a couple! I'm with Jason, for powering servos NiMh are a great upgrade to Nicads and u can use same charger and if you need a charger the one i've listed below is probably the most common and best bang for buck, i've had mine and older version for 10 years now..

https://www.ebay.com/itm/iMAX-B6-Lipo-NiMh-Li-ion-Ni-Cd-RC-Battery-Balance-Digital-Charger-Discharger/262442674824?epid=1853011391&hash=item3d1acd6a88:g:L4kAAOSwfC9XPAQy

NEW222 Sat Dec 09, 2017 11:40 pm

Thanks for that Mark. That is just what I needed to hear about the charger. I am assuming mine is the same with the exception of mine being AC/DC. I have the iMax B6AC. I have never had a dual input charger and this one came up so I grabbed it. The main reason I bought it was not that it was AC/DC, however, as mentioned earlier was its capability to put a storage charge on my LiPo batteries for long term storage.

NEW222 Sat Dec 09, 2017 11:42 pm

With Marks good word on the iMax B6, at the price it shows is a great bargain, however as being in Canada, I cannot see the shipping costs though.

Mark Boesen Mon Dec 11, 2017 10:27 am

free shipping....from Malaysia. If i had my choice of AC or DC only, i'd rather have AC as almost all my charging is at home.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/iMAX-B6-Lipo-NiMh-Li-ion-Ni-Cd-RC-Battery-Balance-Digital-Charger-Discharger-L3/112184598449?hash=item1a1eb91fb1:g:KIMAAOSwqv9V7QCk

NEW222 Mon Dec 11, 2017 6:16 pm

Mark Boesen wrote:free shipping....from Malaysia. If i had my choice of AC or DC only, i'd rather have AC as almost all my charging is at home.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/iMAX-B6-Lipo-NiMh-Li-ion-Ni-Cd-RC-Battery-Balance-Digital-Charger-Discharger-L3/112184598449?hash=item1a1eb91fb1:g:KIMAAOSwqv9V7QCk

Thank you. All of mine is done with power near, but at the cottage, I use whatever battery is laying on the floor in the garage (sitting on a piece of wood to keep it from physically touching the ground). It is just easier, otherwise I have to bring out my power supply too, and that is just another thing to haul in and out....

**Cribbs74** Mon Dec 11, 2017 7:51 pm

I decided on these.

https://www.venompower.com/products/venom-10c-2s-850mah-6-6v-life-tx-rx-transmitter-and-receiver-battery-2-packs-1

Now can someone tell me what charger I can get to charge them? From the same website... I have been looking for the last 40 mins

**Cribbs74** Mon Dec 11, 2017 8:33 pm

https://www.venompower.com/products/venom-2-4-cell-ac-dc-dual-lipo-battery-balance-charger

Does this one look right?

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