Syma Forum

Thanks for the response JamDJ!

It sounds as though you got similar times with your battery upgrades as well. To answer your questions, we did not adhere to the 15 minute rule with out original batteries. I only found out about this after looking at your web site. Since then, we are very good about the down time after flying and before charging. The new batteries have never been charged before cooling.

Now, I can not attest to the quality of the source from whom I purchased the batteries. I got them on eBay and they came from China. For all I know they may have sat in a warehouse quite some time. Also, as they came from this low price source I can not attest to the quality of the materials used in their manufacture. Finally, as for my soldering skills... I have been involved in electronics design, troubleshooting and repairs for most of my life. I used my preferred brand of solder on this project which is the Ersin Multicore (5 core) solder. The solder contains it's own flux which comes out while being heated.

I like to use the Ersin solder any low voltage electronics because of the non-corrosive 60/40 alloy content. For soldering wiring larger than 18 SWG, I prefer to go with the resin core Kester product. The only thing I did differently than you (as seen in the video on this site) was rather than cut the wires off the old battery, I simply used an exact-o-knife to cut some of the yellow plastic covering over the old battery terminals and un-solder the helicopter wires from the battery itself. I then used those same wires and correctly soldered them to the new battery. By correctly, I mean that I heated the iron to the 3rd position on my soldering station and placed the heat directly to the new battery posts individually. While heated, I connected the helicopter wires to each terminal and removed heat once I could see the solder absorb thoroughly on the wires. After connecting the new battery, I insulated it with just a dab of 3M industrial grade silicon. I felt this would be better than tape.

So, the next thing I would like to try is a quick replacement battery configuration. I have seen some applications where folks have installed quick disconnect connectors used Velcro on the bottom to affix the battery. I like this idea but i don't know if it's really worth the trouble of re-balancing the helicopter of removing the weight from the nose. My goal is to try to achieve an average 15 minute flight time without changing the look and feel of the helicopter.

I was able to achieve consistent 12 minute flight times by removing several parts. This cause some slight differences in handling however, the helicopter flew quite well. Neither I nor my son (he is 13 years old) cared too much for the look of the helicopter so we put all the parts back on and have lived with the 6.5 minute flight times.

I would consider purchasing a known quality 240 mAh battery from a local reliable source but now that I know you did this and still achieved about the same results as we did, perhaps there are other avenues to explore? 

Thank you again for this wonderful forum! I think I have read and enjoyed everything on here so far. 

Air