Lipo Help

[ksaves2]

Duct tape and zip ties can be helpful here as is securely mounting the hardware. If the fit is tight thrust blocks and zip ties are fine if there is no room for stuff to flop around. Kurt

 

[cerving]

I'm not a fan of the JST-RCY. It comes apart with very little force, low enough that I'd be fine using it as a break-away connection for a staged rocket.

Most of the real JST-RCY connectors I've seen take a fair degree of force to take apart, but the Chinese clones may be the ones you're talking about. When you see them for $1.46 for 100 of them on eBay, they ain't genuine. They're junk... ill-fitting, and the pins fall out too.

 

[ttabbal]

Most of the real JST-RCY connectors I've seen take a fair degree of force to take apart, but the Chinese clones may be the ones you're talking about. When you see them for $1.46 for 100 of them on eBay, they ain't genuine. They're junk... ill-fitting, and the pins fall out too.

The only ones I've seen are the cheap Chinese stuff from hobbyking.com and similar. So you make a good point. I haven't had any quite that bad, but I also paid a little more than that. I should buy some nice real ones next time just to compare. Digikey maybe...

 

[jd2cylman]

Stopped by the local Hobbytown yesterday. Picked up the correct (I hope!) JST adapter to connect my batteries to my charger. So, when I get home Thursday, I'll see if I can charge them to "storage mode"...
Then, maybe I should try assembling my Rtx base unit case. :eyeroll:
I'm about done building a rocket that might need GPS to find.

 

[SoCalChris]

Do the LiPos hold up to the stresses of a rocket launch? I just had one start leaking, smoking and hissing from some minor handling that would be far less stressful than a launch/ejection would be. Is this something to be concerned about, or did I get a bad cell?

 

[Ravenex]

Must be a bad cell. We run them in combat robots that undergo far worse than anything a rocket will see. I've had some still running after many years of competition.

 

[Charles_McG]

I'd like to hear more about storing Lipos. It seems like half of my Venom 2S, 200mAH-ish cells don't survive from season to season.

 

[djs]

I'd like to hear more about storing Lipos. It seems like half of my Venom 2S, 200mAH-ish cells don't survive from season to season.

it's probably the brand.. the ones I use (generic ones from sparkfun) hold their charges great, and never seem to go bad. I only had one die on me, from a flight that ended in a non-optimal interaction with the ground.

 

[ttabbal]

I'd like to hear more about storing Lipos. It seems like half of my Venom 2S, 200mAH-ish cells don't survive from season to season.

Leaving them fully charged or discharged is really hard on them. Are you using a storage charge on them? Most LiPo chargers have a mode for that.

 

[Charles_McG]

Not low, but probably close to full. I'm using the charger that comes with the big Estes RC copters. It checks the cells - but doesn't have a storage option. Looks like I may want to get a better charger.