Ron Gray Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 If you run the batteries down until they are dead, I finish mine off with a short circuit plug, then they can be safely disposed of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Jenkins Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 (edited) Toto It really is a simple solution. I went to Halfords and bought 2 x 24 v halogen headlight bulbs and the bulb holders to go with them. I have 5S packs that need to be put to sleep and at max voltage they generate 21 V. For a 3S, a 12 v bulb will do. I've wired the bulbs in parallel to double the current flow and hence discharge. I had to flatten 2 x 5S packs the other evening. From almost fully charged they each took about 90 mins for the bulbs to go out. Quick check with a voltmeter showed 0 volts. Jobs done. They are the safest they will ever be but don't puncture the pouch as the lithium will still cause a fire. Just give them to your waste disposal battery dump. I'll put a photo up once I get home. Edited July 21 by Peter Jenkins 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 I would still short the batteries out, some even solder the +ve and -ve leads together. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Jenkins Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 Good point Ron. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Lewis 3 Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 2 hours ago, Ron Gray said: I would still short the batteries out, some even solder the +ve and -ve leads together. I also connect the two bullet connectors together, as much to show the recycler that it is truly flat as much anything else. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Cripps Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 I just discharge them through a car headlight bulb for a couple of days outside then strip back the insulation and twist the bare ends together. I then take them to the local recycling centre and put them in the battery box or leave them out for the council guys to deal with. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leccyflyer Posted July 22 Share Posted July 22 My bullet connectors are always clipped off the dead lipos, for re-use, as I use a lot of bullets. I do like Nick's idea of twisting the leads together after full discharge though and will incorporate that into my process - worth it for the sake of not saving a couple of inches of wire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Jenkins Posted July 22 Share Posted July 22 Photo showing my two 24 v lorry headlight bulbs in their bulb holders screwed to a piece of wood and wired in parallel. I use 4 mm bullets on all my aerobatic models from 50 size to 2 mtr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leccyflyer Posted July 22 Share Posted July 22 Looks like you are using your 4mm bullets in a non-polarised manner Peter. Not recommended as it is all too easy to connect with reverse polarity. Yes, I know that they are colour coded, but best to make things foolproof with one positive pin and one negative socket on the battery, as has been the convention for decades, originating in the time when we used to charge our NiCds from our negative earth car batteries. No chance of connecting the pack up in reverse then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Jenkins Posted July 22 Share Posted July 22 25 minutes ago, leccyflyer said: Looks like you are using your 4mm bullets in a non-polarised manner Peter. Not recommended as it is all too easy to connect with reverse polarity. Yes, I know that they are colour coded, but best to make things foolproof with one positive pin and one negative socket on the battery, as has been the convention for decades, originating in the time when we used to charge our NiCds from our negative earth car batteries. No chance of connecting the pack up in reverse then. It may look that way Leccy but they are indeed that way. The photo below shows a better view. I use the Hobby King shielded and polarised covers for my batteries and that's why the female connector on the bulb is bare - allows it to slide into the covered pin on the battery. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leccyflyer Posted July 22 Share Posted July 22 Great - potential disaster averted 😉 - it did look as though you had two male pins on those fly leads, but you're using a different design than straight 4mm bullets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toto Posted July 22 Author Share Posted July 22 Ok .... hit then shed tonight mourning the loss of my Supercub. Wondering ..... whose going to be the next victim. I decided it was not the Arrows Husky ....... So ..... dismantled it and gave it a reprieve on the wall of fame ...... and freed up the space it took on my stand ..... kindly supplied by Ron Gray of this parish ..... as you can see .... the cradle fits the stand perfectly. So it had to be ...... The Tasman bush plane ..... because the other potential victims were either the Twin Otter or the Beaver ..... the Tasman it is ....... have a good look .... you may never see it like this again.😄 I fitted some extension leads to the servo wires as they were to tight to make changing the wings in and out to be acceptable for working when at the field. I'm a lot happier about using it now. Not just that ..... I think it may even fit in the car without taking the wings off ..... possibly ..... more on that later when I've tried it out. So ..... the next step will be to check how I left the settings when I originally built it and ensure that I have it set up properly. No reflex or SAFE or any of that nonsense to deal with here. All I can do is programme in some dual rates so should be fine with that. It does have flaps though .... I did have reservations about it being heavy enough to cope with wind ..... but my mate Ron assures me that this is his go to hack that can cope with reasonable conditions so the deal is sealed. More on my settings later. cheers for now toto 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toto Posted July 22 Author Share Posted July 22 By the way ...... it will be flying on 4s 3300 mah batteries ..... loads of them. cheers toto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim Taylor Posted July 22 Share Posted July 22 Hi Toto Regarding the issues with SAFE, I may be teaching you to suck eggs, but be aware that if you have dual rates set as well, this reduces the control response. That is to say, if the roll angle allowed by SAFE is 45°(could be more or less, I'm just pulling a number out of the air), then if you have a rate setting of 70%, then your bank angle will become 70% of 45°. Thus, SAFE is probably best used with 100% rates to provide adequate control. Apologies if you already know the above. Kim 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toto Posted July 22 Author Share Posted July 22 Hi Kim, Thanks for that. I was blissfully unaware of that. I shall try and keep that in mind. The Tasman thankfully does not have it so should be simpler. Toto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted July 22 Share Posted July 22 1 hour ago, toto said: but my mate Ron assures me that this is his go to hack that can cope with reasonable conditions It can also cope with unreasonable conditions too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted July 22 Share Posted July 22 Bush plane eh, my lips are sealed. 😉 Nice model Toto. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted July 22 Share Posted July 22 But even with those wheels it prefers a neatly trimmed strip 😲 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outrunner Posted July 22 Share Posted July 22 Should fly nicely Toto, I've got the Glastar, the smaller version of the Tasman. It's my all weather flyer and it gets flown on really windy days. I do have a rate gyro fitted but I only switch it in for landing when it's blowing a hooley. I don't often fly ARTFs but I do like a foamy for flying in rough weather as they tend to bounce in a hard landing and easy to repair although thankfully no repairs have been needed, yet. Enjoy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toto Posted July 22 Author Share Posted July 22 It's a tarmac runway at my main club facilities but I'm surethese squishy tyres will cope well with that. With a bit of luck we'll find out this weekend. Toto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted July 22 Share Posted July 22 My Tasman has had a hard life being used as both a ‘taster’ model for newbies and also as a trainer. It’s had its nose broken off, it’s U/C ripped out (replaced with far better wire U/C) and damage to both wing tips through numerous ground strikes and ground loops but it still comes back for more. It’s specialty are vertical landings in strong winds. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted July 22 Share Posted July 22 4 minutes ago, toto said: I'm surethese squishy tyres will cope well with that They don’t want to be too soft or you’ll break a wheel or too hard which will make it bounce. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted July 23 Share Posted July 23 10 hours ago, Kim Taylor said: Hi Toto Regarding the issues with SAFE, I may be teaching you to suck eggs, but be aware that if you have dual rates set as well, this reduces the control response. That is to say, if the roll angle allowed by SAFE is 45°(could be more or less, I'm just pulling a number out of the air), then if you have a rate setting of 70%, then your bank angle will become 70% of 45°. Thus, SAFE is probably best used with 100% rates to provide adequate control. Apologies if you already know the above. Kim Ummm....... is that right? Doesn't SAFE simply limit the angle of the model, and the control throws govern how long it takes to get to the attitude where SAFE kicks in? I don't use SAFE so my question is from a purely logical viewpoint..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim Taylor Posted July 23 Share Posted July 23 (edited) 26 minutes ago, GrumpyGnome said: Ummm....... is that right? Doesn't SAFE simply limit the angle of the model, and the control throws govern how long it takes to get to the attitude where SAFE kicks in? I don't use SAFE so my question is from a purely logical viewpoint..... Yes, the angle which SAFE limits the angle of bank (and of course pitch) to is affected by any rate which is commanded. Hence 70% rate = full SAFE bank angle x 70%. I don't use it either, but it's something that I picked up on and wasn't aware of previously, so thought I'd share. I've got an EFlite Commander which has SAFE installed from the factory, so I switched it on to see what it was like, and it felt 'orrible (to me, who can usually wobble around the sky without it). I can, however see the use of it IF you're 'going it alone' as long as the rate thing is understood. Kim Eta SAFE doesn't limit the control throw at all, as I understand it, just the angle of bank or pitch. Witness switching it on if you've deliberately put the plane at an 'extreme ' angle - it doesn't half jump right way up quickly Edited July 23 by Kim Taylor More info 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toto Posted July 23 Author Share Posted July 23 There is quite a lot to get your head around with these things. Definitely worth getting to grips with or could lead to many a misunderstanding and possibly a false sense of security. I've been dithering as to its use but when I tried it for the first time on the AeroScout, it gave me doubts as the flying footprint possible was enormous and I ended up flying way outwith my intended path ..... which ened up me flying behind the pilots stance. It changed everything and I had to re- evaluate the whole positioning of my " flying circuit parameters ". I switched it back off again. Toto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.