Jamie sawyer Posted August 30, 2014 Share Posted August 30, 2014 Hi everyone, I have removed a battery from my old Sky sport 4 transmitter which I use primerally for my gliders and the battery - wire (black) is showing signs of the dreaded black wire creep. Can I and how easy is it to just replace this wires. I know that a new battery is only £17 posted to me roughly but I'd like to try this first. The battery is fine and holds a charge ok its just the wires. Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuban8 Posted August 30, 2014 Share Posted August 30, 2014 I've seen 'black wire syndrome' affect all the wiring from the battery itself up to the switch and beyond, so check fully and replace any wires that are in the least bit discoloured. Plenty of theories have been put forward over the last 30 years as to the cause, but as far as I know nothing has ever been totally proved. The problem does seem to affect Nicads rather than other chemistry batteries, so I'm guessing your old Skysport has those fitted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plummet Posted August 30, 2014 Share Posted August 30, 2014 I think that the theory is that there is slight leakage from the cells which wicks along the corrosion. If this is true then the cells are a gonner anyway. Of course you cannot buy nicads any more due to the cadmium, so you would need NiMH cells. Be aware that many of these are very poor at holding charge for a longer period of time. Plummet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie sawyer Posted August 30, 2014 Author Share Posted August 30, 2014 Hi thanks for the reply's, yes it is a Nicad battery. I'll maybe take the shrink material of of it to expose the cells and post a picture. If there is leakage of the cells I assume I will be able to see this and trace it back. There was a plug that plugs to the battery plug and it was showing signs of corrosion ( Green residue ) there is then a small white plug that plugs to the back of the PCB on the transmitter. I'll post some pictures shortly of all this. Pictures talk a 100 words Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie sawyer Posted August 30, 2014 Author Share Posted August 30, 2014 OH DEAR !!! Battery is definitely spent...... Here is the plug that was between the battery plug. The white end connects to the transmitter PCB. Picture below shows the negative hole is all discolored which concerns me some what .. Any suggestions.....my transmitter might be problimatic now to. It hasn't shown any signs of trouble at all yet.... I was just purely following maintenance and found all of this.....sighhhhhhhh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Beeney Posted August 30, 2014 Share Posted August 30, 2014 Jamie, If you can drive a soldering iron then it’s a doddle to change the wiring. You can buy a new complete cable, make sure it’s long enough, the positive wire is the battery length longer than the neg. I just slit the plastic cover, unsolder the wires, check the inter cell connections as well, put everything back as it was with a small smear of vaseline over any bare metal parts that you can see, the plastic cover back on and them some insulating tape over the top. I’ve done more than a few of these in the past for club members, and I just put a couple of layers of masking tape and them one of insulation tape. Sometimes the room in the battery compartment is a bit sparse. Then a plain label stuck on, a test discharge and you can put the date and capacity on for future reference. As you say, more often than not the battery itself is perfectly ok. I don’t wear a green hat that much, but for many years where cells are concerned I don’t throw them away until I’ve proved them to be be totally expired. I’m sure that just lobbing cell in the bin willy nilly in the past has in part lead to some of the restrictions we see today. I’d also agree entirely with Cuban8 too, it’s imperative to check any other wiring as well. Ultimately this corrosion will go everywhere, and it will take everything metal with it. One of the worst cases I’ve seen was a remote glow system in a model that had been hanging in a model shop for some while. The single cell was back in the fuselage, now mostly just a pile of dust, and all the other metal parts were completely gone. Plummet, It’s still possible to buy nicads, at least in a few sizes, tagged AA for instance, and black wire blues also occurs to Ni-MH cells, although I suspect this has perhaps been largely in the later slow self discharge rate types, could it’s actually this feature that prevents it. PB Edit. Sorry, I was a bit too late again, as usual. Is it just me, or is this site again taking forever just add a posting? Or even just refresh the page? I’m not having any problems elsewhere. Edited By Peter Beeney on 30/08/2014 14:14:32 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Christy Posted August 30, 2014 Share Posted August 30, 2014 Check carefully that the corrosion hasn't "jumped" that white connector onto the transmitter board. If you are lucky, and it hasn't, its just a matter of installing a new battery. However, if the other half of the connector is showing signs of corrosion, then you have a problem, as its very difficult to get rid of, once its taken hold! Plummet's comment about NiMhs not holding their charge is true as a generalisation, but either Sanyo Eneloop or Vapextech New Technology batteries hold their charge very well. They cannot deliver the peak current that NiCads could, so they are not so good for high current application, but for things like transmitters they are perfect. Another alternative for a transmitter is a 3-cell LiFe pack (9.9 volt), but those require a special charger. Eneloop packs are available with multiple connectors - one of which should suite your application. I'm not sure about Vapextech, but I'm sure if you ask them, they'll tell you. In either case, NiMh batteries should be trickle charged initially, but can then be fast charged, just like NiCads. Bear in mind that modern NiMhs will have a far greater capacity then your original NiCads, so if you are using the original trickle charger, they'll take a lot longer to charge! -- Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie sawyer Posted August 30, 2014 Author Share Posted August 30, 2014 I'm using an accucell turnigy charger 1s to 6s . It charges life batterys to. I'll buy a new pack for the Skysports transmitter and hopefully it'll be ok. It's primerally for the slope any way. Non powered flight.....I have another 2.4 ghz system for all powered flight applications...I might end up binning the Skysports 35 mhz gear and just buying a few more rx Thanks for the reply's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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