albacore

First hello everyone,

I am about as new as it gets as I just finished building my Super Cub last night.

I am so excited to get started!

Well I made a begginer's mistake by not discharing the battery when I got it out of the box. Instead I plugged it directly into the AC adaptor.

I left it overnight and the charge light indicated that there was a full charge, however when I plugged the battery in and turned up the throttle it did not work.

I noticed inadvertantly that if I pressed on the rudder slightly you could hear the motor resisting. So there must have been some charge. But apparently not enough?

So I just plugged it in to the DC adaptor I have to see if that makes a difference.

Okay guys, do I need a new battery. Or can I still get off the ground with this one?

Thanks for reading.

Balil

thats the joy of nimh batteries... yes you can still use that battery. but its going to take a little time and patience.... first plug in the flight pack. let the esc arm. then move the servos until you see them begin to get a little sluggish in their movement... the unplug the pack, LET IT COOL BEFORE CHARGING. plug the pack into either the ac or dc charger charge the batter at 1c, which is 1 times the battery's capacity. which is 8.4v if i remember the battery right.

albacore

Thanks Balil!

I will give it another go.

How do I know when my esc is armed?

And also, on my remote, I have no idea what the button on the top of my remote does. It is on top of the remote to the left of the antenna. It sems like a reset button of some sort.

Olias

That button is for the "Drop Module" if I'm not mistaken. That is if you have one hooked up. It's the little parachute guy (or other various dropable items that HobbyZone offers for the SC).

Bryan

albacore

Oh yeah! Cool! Thanks Olias

FlyWheel

On most (if not all) planes the ESC (Electronic Speed Control) will give a "beep" when it arms. This will usually occur when you power up the plane, either by plugging in the battery pack or flipping the on board switch (NOTE: not all ESCs have these switches).

gzsfrk

I thought only brushless motors could do the beeping thing. Are there brushed motors and ESCs that do the beeping thing too?

yossarian

It's been so long since I had my cub, but I beleive it did beep when the ESC was armed. Either way, it usually take no more than 5 seconds to arm the motor. So if it doesn't work after that, then it's still a dead battery or ESC problem.

cbatters

Brushed motors have been signalling to users using pulses to the motor for a long time. The brushed ESC sends pulses to the motor that are enough to create an audible tone but not enough energy to actually rotate the shaft.


Clint

FlyWheel

Yup. My PZ AeroBird3 beeped when I plugged in the battery pack, and the Berg in my EZ* beeps when I flip the switch. The former had a 360 and the latter has a 400 speed, both brushed. In fact, I can't remember seeing anyone connect or power up his plane without that welcoming beep. It's a sort of "all systems go" from the plane.

MisterNoob

We are suppose to discharge the Ni-MH battery completely before we start charging it? I though that was a Li-Po only rule.

rcers

You should not discharge ANY cell type before charging them...especially LiPoly.

NiMh/NiCd should be slow charged (format charge) at 1/10c (so a 1000 mA pack gets a 100mA charge for 10 hours).

And LiPolys should be voltage checked to see if any cell in the pack is dead and then balance charged.

NiMh - take several forming charges to get up to full potential, so they may take 5-10 charges to charge to full capacity and allow full discharge potential.

NiMh can be charged in any state of discharge (well all batteries can...)...

Some guys used to think it was better on NiCads to discharge completely before charging them... but I never did.

Mike

FlyWheel

That stems from the "memory" myth that has slandered rechargable cells from their conception. the fact is, that you must repetedly recharge yopur battery pack from the exact same point of discharge every time to create a memory. This is almost impossible to do in real life and can be reversed.

bassplayinDude

I flew my Super Cub yesterday and it doesn't so much beep as make a little bit of wine when the battery gets plugged in. It certainly doesn't do the multiple beep thing the ESC in my T-28 does.

gspina79

As Olias Said the button is for the drop module, but you can also get the night flight module or the combat module for it as well.

The night flight module doesnt work as great as I would have liked, and I havent gotten the chance to play with the combat module since I am usually the only one fliying a HZ plane.