Mike, It's easy to know what the best cells are for sailplane rx applications. Just observe what cells are highly regarded by people for motor power. Those are what you want to use. You want cells of low impedance and high capacity on full house planes. If you are putting Energizer 2300 mAh AA cells in full house molded planes with digital servos, then good luck! I would not run them down much past 1/2 capacity before recharging as they will likely start to suffer voltage drop offs at about that level. Of course, on RES planes, I think AA packs are just fine and use them myself, especially with analog servos.
My short list of "high quality" cells are ones like the GP2200s, GP1100s, KAN1050s, Sanyo CP1700s, etc. The new GP2000 4/5A cells is also fast proving itself. Those types of cells will deliver the current and voltage you need right up to capacity. Just look at the discharge curves provided by the manufacturers, or plot them yourself with a Medusa Power Analyzer or similar. I'm pretty good with soldering, but do not have the equipment to do a proper solder joint, especially on something like a AA button cell. I leave that to the pros. I've tried, and can make what looks like a decent joint, but don't trust it... By the time I heat up the contact sufficiently, I get concerned that I am damaging the cell. It's just not my area of expertise. Of course, if the batteries have tabs, it's no problem. --Jim -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, May 22, 2005 7:50 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [RCSE] Buying batteries Jim Laurel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >As to you guys who are buying cheap Wal-Mart batteries to put into your >sailplanes, what are you thinking? Why take a chance on ruining an >expensive sailplane with anything less than the absolute best? And for >what, so you can save a few dollars? That's crazy. Use the very >highest quality batteries you can find, built into the very best packs >by the very best builders, and thus minimize the potential for failure. WalMart sells Energizer 2300+ MAH AA cells, which are what I use in all my sailplanes, although I do avoid buying mine from WalMart. It really makes no difference where you buy them aside from the price and your feelings about the store itself. You'll get the same batteries regardless. As for building a four- or five-cell pack, it's not rocket science. In fact, it's nothing compared to setting up even an ARF model plane. Most of us have the appropriate skills and tools. But here's what I want to know: How do you go about identifying "the very highest quality batteries"? What particular brand of battery do you have in mind that you know to be of higher quality and dependability than the Energizers sold at WalMart, and how do you know this? Mike -- _____ \__________________|__________________/ (O) RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format
