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battery case study
battery case study
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R320J
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October 22, 2012 - 12:51 am

I got my first S107 a few days ago. I would just like to add to the battery discussion. I have read about Lithium battery care from a well known company, that supplies phones, computers, and handheld devices, that the battery should be fully discharged once a month (or more often if possible) to allow the battery protection circuitry to correctly assess the true capacity of the battery.

 

They say to allow the computer to use up the battery and go to sleep then let it sit until it turns off completely. Then wait five hours before recharging the battery. somehow this is supposed to cause the chip, that protects the battery from under-voltage or over-voltage (i.e. catastrophic failure/rupture/incendiary device/lawsuit), to read the battery voltage more accurately.

These batteries are dangerous, NASA had the technology in the 60's, but no one could release them to the public until they had circuits to monitor the battery voltage.

I think that the LED on the circuit board starts flashing, and the bird won't start, when the battery hits it's lower limit. I will do some experiments to verify, and get back to you on that.

 

UPDATES:

This might be the story of the death of a 107 battery, but it will be worth it to me because I am a scientist. ($3 battery)

Anywho, the battery is not enough to power the heli right now. If I try to take off, the blades stop turning and the LED on the mother board starts flashing. I am letting it sit for now with the nose LED going.

 

20 minutes now the helicopter was on with the nose LED flashing, and the LED on the circuit board started flashing slowly. I have turned off the switch on the helicopter. I am going to wait a few hours and charge it.

30 minutes after turning off the helicopter. I couldn't wait. I decided to charge it. 0.7A  wall charger, 65 minutes charge time. flight time 9 minutes.

I will keep trying and update as to how long my LiPo lasts.

The LED on the circuit board does flash when the battery is low. I don't think that it is possible to drain the battery below its operating capacity (if you pay attention to the LED on the circuit board), nor to overcharge the battery. These things have been suggested by others, but it is just not possible because the battery would explode and catch fire under those circumstances and the circuitry that protects the manufacturer from lawsuits is in there. The only instance that could ruin the battery is from letting it sit and discharge (while turned off), for a long time, after it has been drained, or leaving it on after the LED on the circuit board starts warning of a low battery (flashing). (please correct me if I am wrong). Lithium should be stored at %40 capacity, but they will discharge naturally if left sitting while the device is turned off.

After a second recharge it seems like the heli has more power, it tends to hit the ceiling more easily and dislodges the lower blades from the shaft while flying if I hit the throttle too fast (ascends faster than it did originally).

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Syma Freak
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October 14, 2012 - 7:55 pm
Member Since: November 26, 2010
Forum Posts: 1452
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Just re changed your last post to your first as follows on better,hope you do not mind,great info as well,thanks from all of us...

"Fly like a butterfly sting like a Syma" http://syma107.com

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JamDJ
Lancaster, PA, USA
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October 14, 2012 - 4:12 pm
Member Since: February 14, 2012
Forum Posts: 264
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   I can't believe 3 months have gone by now, and today marked flight # 50 for my case study,

and I was rather impressed with the results! Thanks to all of you whom read my original study,

I hope this helped and provided you with tips and tricks to prolong your battery life. The original

study is still on this chapter, currently on page 6.

                             After 90 days and 50 flights, these were the constants:

  1.) I only charged the heli from my Motorla cable box. I did not want to turn on my computer

       just to charge the heli. My charge time remained constant throughout the study, 45 - 50 mins.

  2.) I only flew oval laps in my rec-room, sometimes changing direction and to have fun 

       during the course of the study.

  3.) I followed the rules I set forth in the original study: e.g: charging before and after

       flights, etc.

                             And the results are in, drumroll please....!!!!

 1.) Flight time has little decrease, flight # 50 did laps around my rec-room for 7 1/2

      minutes before I landed it. (more on that in a sec...)

 2.) Battery charging time remained constant at 45 - 50 minutes as said above. Flight

      # 50 charged in 48 minutes.

                                   Bonus tip I left out in the first thread:

    Once your 107 begins the ground-hover thing towards the end of your flights' battery cycle,

it's best to land and cool-down. I've learned that taxing these batteries is another reason

for pre-mature wear-out.

                                           Final notes.....in no particular order!

    Treat your 107 like the precision flying machine that it is. It irks me to see the words

"toy helicopter" on other websites.

    I did get up enough guts to order a new battery for my original 107 and soldier it in.

It flies for about 5 minutes, not bad considering an after-market battery, and the soldiering

job as not nearly as difficult as I expected.

    The Wii Balance Board makes a GREAT take-off and landing pad, especially if your flight

area has carpeting. Sorry I don't have a model aircraft carrier with an on-deck circle to land in

like the kid in the YouTube video. BTW, that youth should be congratulated for that landing!

    Thanks to Supernova for the great educational videoes about changing batteries, CPD for

his educational words on some other topics around the forum, and to SymaFreak for his

inspiration, dedication, and willingness to keep this forum alive and active!

    If anyone gets a chance, check out the S107 white paint scheme for 2013! White trimmed

in silver looks AWESOME with the chrome structure!!!!

   I welcome your comments!  

                                  Thanks again to all on this forum!

                                                 JamDJ

 

"Wheel in the sky keeps on turnin'..."

                                      Journey

 

 

  

                                                           

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Syma Freak
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July 25, 2012 - 12:27 pm
Member Since: November 26, 2010
Forum Posts: 1452
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Thank you for the post JamDJ. The information is great help to beginners to get the most out of their power source the good old lipo batteries that always need some tender love and care, well done...SF

"Fly like a butterfly sting like a Syma" http://syma107.com

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JamDJ
Lancaster, PA, USA
Admin
July 24, 2012 - 3:04 pm
Member Since: February 14, 2012
Forum Posts: 264
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For all of you whom read this and are concerned about, or just learning about the lifespan and care of the S107 battery,

please take notes: I got my first 107 for Christmas 2011 and joined this forum in Feb, 2012. By then I had about 20 flights in.

Smacked it up a few times, but as a newbie, was proud that nothing got broken or damaged. I did notice, however, that by

March or early April, 2012, it wasn't flying as long as it was when brand-new. By May of this year, it didn't even have the power to lift off. After reading material on this forum and other Syma references, I realised I made a few mistakes and would like to share them here to help keep you all flying as long as possible with your current on-board LiPo battery. In June, I got a new heli for my birthday,

corrected these mistakes, and you'd be AMASED at the results! Follow the directions of those already posted here!

         LESSONS I'VE LEARNED:

 

1.) Do NOT use your cell-phone (or other device) direct to wall USB charger. I've discovered the current is to high and causes

premature "melt-down" in non-scientific terms. I'm not an electrician, but makes sense! (I'm a journeyman plumber,actually)

2.) The 15 minute rule:

    a: allow 15 minutes after charging to fly

    b: allow 15 minutes after landing a flight to recharge

I didn't know this, but apparently the LiPo battery can "swell up" during its' cycle and can damage its' lifespan, and

possibly the helicopter if overcharged. (Check Youtube for this one!)

3.) Use the remote control charger only when necessary. Those 6 AA batteries in the remote control can

only take you on 5 or 6 flights, then you need to replace the AAs in the remote!

4.) The LiPo battery does not build up a "memory" like the old-school NiCad or NMH batteries did.

Therefore it cannot be "retrained" back to its' original lifespan. Once it's spent, better get on AMAZON

for a new one! (I wish this were the case, I have an R/C car from the 1990's that still runs perfect on original battery!)

5.) Get another heli to fly while your favorite 107 is charging and read up on battery maintenance while you are waiting!

 

 TIMELINE:

January-2012 : Charged up the 107 on the USB port on my computer, avg time about 45 to 50 minutes.

                      Flights lasted about 8 minutes.

Feb-Mar 2012: Started using my cell phone direct-to-wall USB charger so I didn't have to turn on my computer.

                    Flights lasted about 7 minutes. Charge time was the same as above.

Mar-April 2012: Still using the cell-phone charger and not heeding the 15 minute rule, flight time reduced to 4 or 5 minutes.

April-May 2012: Battery still took on a charge of 45 minutes or so but would only fly for a minute or so.

May 2012: Still took 45 minutes to charge, but would not fly :(

 

HERE'S THE GOOD NEWS: Follow this if you can!

June: Got new heli, following what I've learned here: Read as above:

1.) If you don't want to turn on your 'puter, use the USB on your satellite or cable box! Same current!

     Even the Nintendo Wii works!

2.) Follow the 15 minute rule. It's tough because we all want to fly our choppers, but it's worth the wait! 

3.) See step 3 above! Carry an extra set of AAs if you are going to a competition or will be somewhere where there is

     no possible way of getting a recharge!

4.) Syma needs to address this. We want to fly our 107s and spend less time soldiering in new batteries.

5.) Get another heli to fly while your favorite 107 is charging !

 

TIMELINE:

    June 2012 - Current:  New heli, following the above steps has produced an avg of 8 1/2 minutes of

                                 flight time! Charge time from my cable box  = avg 40 - 45 mins.

                                 Flight time is still about 8 - 9 minutes. Unheard of after 30 or so flights!

 

Please note: Don't hang me if your results aren't the same. I welcome your comments, positive or negative.

                 If you find different results, please post them here, after all, that's what this forum is all about.

                 Thanks to SymaFreak especially for helping me get started here!

 

                                                    Happy and safe flying!

                                                                JamDJ

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