Basic Questions - Charging / RX Power

[Blue Max]

I am totally new to electric RC flying ( Ex IC Flyer ) and would like to ask the members of the forum a few basic questions, these are very basic however I would like some re assurance before I undertake these issues

1. I have a Poly Pro 1800 XXHD Gold 11.1v 3S1P 20C / 30C Burst Li Po Battery, I also have a Multiplex LN-5014 charger which is 0.1 - 5a, my question is, approximately how long should it take to charge the battery?

2. From my years of IC flying, I always used a RX battery, I have a Castle Creations ESC with a lead that comes from it that I am told plugs into the RX on the throttle channel, with this I will not need a seperate RX battery, is this the case?

3. If point two is correct, when the battery is discharged in flight how long will I have left to get down, ie, how long will the radio operate for after the power has dropped to a point where the motor will not go.

Thank you for your assistance in these "basic" questions, this is the only place that I have found to get good honest answers.

Andy

[slipstick]

1. If you charge it at 1.8A (the fastest that is safe) it will take something over 1 hour.

2. Almost certainly, yes. The feature that does this is called BEC (Battery Elimination Circuit)....it eliminates the need for the additional receiver battery. Not every ESC has BEC but the vast majority do (it's usually just very high current ESCs that don't).

3. No way to tell but no need to panic (typically anywhere from 3 - 30 minutes). But the only sensible thing to do is to head back for a landing straight away. Anyway it's not really a good idea, particularly for lipos, to always run the battery right down until the ESC cuts the motor off. Far more sensible to land with some left in the battery.

Steve

[Blue Max]

Steve,

Many thanks for your advise, it gives me much more confidence to proceed tonight with my first charge and plugging in the RX to the BEC lead

Best Regards,

Andy

[Solid Hit]

Blue Max, welcome to WF.

slipstick is right on with his answers. Let us know how you make out!