Craig Spence Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 Hi all,I have had a Spectrum DX6i for a while now and have decided to invest in some rechargeable batteries and a charger. Well they have been on charge now over night and until present time (along time) and the reading on the display screen reads 5.9 however when I put disposable batteries in it like duracell the display reads 6.9, I dont know if they have reached there chargeing capacity but if they have its pretty weak. The display for the battery power is never full ie there looks like theres room for around 10v.There is also nothing in the instruction manual to clarify the max reading only the lowest. Im at a loss, if anyone can explain or give an explanation I would greatly appreciate it. The batteries are vapex 2900mah and the charger is Futaba mains charger with Spectrum adapter recommended by the shop I bought the TX.Cheers all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Mackey Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 Well assuming that the charger is actually designed for NiMH cells - and some are not -( being designed around the now unpopular Nicd cell instead ) then you are not actually far off the correct levels. Remembering that the DX6i takes only 4 x cells not the more usual 8, then 4 x NiMH cells fresh off the cooker will show around 5.6 - 6.0V. The DX6i meter does indeed seem to show only just past "half full" on the graphic screen, and mine reads only 5.4V with fairly freshly charged Vapex "Instant" 2500 mahr NiMH cells. Sometimes these cells need a few cycles before they hit peak power, but I think you are fine at 5.9V Under the heading “Daily Flight Checks” the manual states, “Do not fly below 4.3V on the transmitter…” Common practice seems to be to consider 4.5V as the low level at which you need to think about re-charging, yet the alarm sounds at around 4.3V, BUT there is a very short period of time after the larm sounds and the Tx shuts down....some folks report this as low as 15 seconds - which is crazy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Spence Posted November 4, 2008 Author Share Posted November 4, 2008 Hi Timbo,thanks for the info its very reassureing, also thanks for warning about the battery low alarm I will take that into account when learning. One thing though, why do non rechargeables show 6.9 and would it be a good idea to take non rechargeables to the field with you for when your rechargeables run out, how much use in general would you get in one day from 5.9 on your tx.Thanks Timbo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Mackey Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 Non Rechargeable ( "dry cells" ) are nominal 1.5V and rechargeable are only 1.2V Multiply 1.5v by 4 and you get 6V....... but 4 x 1.2V is only 4.8V ( nominal ) You are quite lucky to see 6.9V with the Duracell, but then again, the meters on these things are hardly laboratory standard!Yes, you could certainly take some dry cells along to the field as abck up, but the current drain on these DX6i Transmitters is very low, and from a freshly charged set of Vapex 2900 Mahr cells, you would likely get 8 - 10 hours of flying! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Spence Posted November 4, 2008 Author Share Posted November 4, 2008 Thanks again Timbo,a little bit of common sense I suppose but if you dont know, you dont know.Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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