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So I'm sitting here eating some M&Ms while replacing a damaged tail rotor on my Walkera. It occurs to me that since I have a few different battery operated RC toys now, that a universal charger might be in my future. A balancing type is almost a given, and I would like to use it to charge other chemistry batteries besides Li. Any suggestions?
What model/size Walkera heli do you have ? I have an Esky Lama V3 and a Fixed Pitch Honeybee. My next heli is probably coing to be a collective pitch 450 size... prhaps a Trex or a Trex clone.
As far as charging LiPo's goes they are very tempermental. I prefer to use a dedicated balanced charger for Lipo's. The charging charachteristics for LiPo's are different from other types of batteries. Using anything but a dedicated balanced charger runs a greater risk of charging in the wrong mode which can have disastrous results. About a year ago a guy on rcgroups lost his entire house because his charger was on the wrong setting and his LiPo's caught fire.
I've seen some pretty graphic video of what a LiPo is capable of when not handled properly. One of the guys where I used to work was playing around with some LiPo batteries out of a Dell LT and one of them caught fire. Very impressive.
I picked up one of the Walkera 5#10 coaxials to try out. I used to fly fixed wing fuel RC many years ago, and thought it might be fun to try electric flight. Never much cared for cars or boats. Because of where we live, there really aren't many facilities for fixed wing so I thought I might try rotor. It's a hoot and I might get back into it now I have the time. I have about 100 tons of recycled blacktop out back I need to put down when it warms up, and I'm sure there's a runway is in there, too. Maybe I'll get back into fixed wing as well. Thanks for the info. I will follow your suggestions for Li chemistry power.
The coaxial heli's are fun. I fly mine indoors and occasionally outdoors on calm evenings. The thing that is neat about coaxial s is that the same small helicopter that I fly outside 50-100 or more feet off the ground is the same helicopter that can fly through the dining room and land on the breakfast table in between the coffee and tea cups. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by K7SGJ
The coaxial was also very helpful in training me for flying a single rotor. When I got my single rotor Honeybee many of the skills I picked up with the coax helped me out with learning to hover and fly the single rotor helicopter.. Of course there are many differences between coax versus single but all in all the coax helped me a lot.
I also used to fly nitro powered fixed wing of both the control-line variety and the RC variety. I enjoy both immensely but , being in a crowded area there is not much room for flying fixed wing and, in order to fly it requires a relatively long drive to the nearest flying site. Thats what I like about electric helicopters, they are quiet and I can practice hovering and flying in my back yard, my drive way, in front of the house, at a park, or quiet space. Since I can take off and land vertically, fly slow, hover, fly in reverse or sideways it means that I can operate the aircraft in a much smaller space.
Did you ever check out any of the online forums such as http://www.rcgroups.com ? They have several forums devoted entirely to helicopters and several devoted to all types of fixed wing aircraft.
My next step in helicopters is probably going to be a collective pitch model. Maybe this spring or summer if 'm lucky enough to have some extra money to spend... :)
P.S. Right now I am in the process of retrofitting a new pair of micro servos into a Esky Lama V3 Coax. The new servos are slightly larger than the stoick esky servos so, I have to use a Dremel tool to grind away a bit of the servo enclosure so the new servos fit So far so good. Hopefully the new servos will work out better than the stock ones. The stock servos keep failing on me, I've had to replace them on 3 separate occaisions. The new servos are T-Pro's, $3.00 a piece at "helipartz". At that price even if they turn out to be junk it's no great loss. :)
Like any hobby, a good part of rc helicopters is spent on the bench improvising, modifying, and general maintenance and repairs.
BTW... good luck with the Walkera and your future endeavors in RC heli's. And, if you can manage it, definitely get back into fixed wing too. Hopefully one day I'll get back into doing fixed wing flying again.
Been waiting for an RC thread.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9066obTuOk
Never fuck with old men. You never know where they've been, what they've seen, or how dangerous they truly are.:rofl:
Even worst, never mess with old men WHEN THEY'RE PLAYING GOLF !!Quote:
Originally Posted by ki4itv