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**busta1** · 06-02-2006, 06:42 PM

those are amazing prices, lipo's are getting cheaper but we still get ripped off for them.

You can charge these batteries via the red connector but you can't use the balanced cell charger leed that you have on you bell47 charger and changing that leed from Red to one of the white one's isn't
an easy job. However at that price for the lipo's you could buy 8 and get a cheap charger off ebay (with red connector) and you would still be quids in.
I have seen chargers on ebay for less than 10.(prolux do one for 16 and it chargers' from 1 to 3 lipos and you can adjust the charge rate 250mA- 2A, most model shops sell it and it works great)

Your exsiisting charger does a good job because it balances the cells, that means it makes sure each cell is correctly charged upto its ideal current, this should give you a longer lasting lipo. I have used these chargers on my zoom 400 but to be honest use the standard 'red' connector type now and find it works great. Think I might order some of the 900 mh for my bell 47 as spares , postage is only 2.99!

**Butuz** · 06-02-2006, 07:06 PM

Hi there - i recently discovered euro batteries too its a superb site may god forgive me for forgetting to post it up here.

Eurobatteries buy individual cells in bulk straight from the battery manufacturers. You will find that most of the actual cell's are made in the same old factories in china and taiwan - they just get different badges depending on how well the cell's test out.

I have ordered one of the 7.2v 900mah cells for my twister bell and that seems fine no different to the light green one that came with the twister bell. I have also just ordered two 7.2v 1800mah cells, and two 11.1v 900mah cells they should be delivered tomorrow.

Euro bateries deliver next day and send you an email when they have actually posted them which is superb. I dont reccomend these cheap batteries for high-current use such as large helicopters or advanced 3d helicopters such as trex - but for small coaxials and fixed pitch helis you simply can not beat the value for money.

As for the white connector verses the red connecter - the white connector is the better one as that allows the charger to charge each cell individually thus avoiding the cell's getting out of balance. I find it strange that your twister bell came with a balance charger already - mine did not the charger has the red 2 pin JR connector and does not balance the pack.

I have bought an Align Balance Charger to charge my batteries - it can automatically charge and balance 2, 3, 4 cell lithium packs, and it has no settings to mess up on it you just plug and it charges. Also it can charge and balance two 7.4v packs at the same time! Notice also that ito has the standard red connectors too it is very versitile. How good is that.

Butuz

**busta1** · 06-02-2006, 07:23 PM

Hi butuz,

I was wondering about his white cell balancer leed too, mine came with the red jst connector, I think the Lama 2 comes with a balanced cell leed but having said that I do have the original bell 47 and not the newer version, maybe the charger has changed.

Glad to hear eurobatteries are ok, I am deffinately going to order off them now.

What are you using the higher spec batterires for? I used my Hummingbird battery on the bell 47 a few times that was 1200mh flew fine, (actually more stable) but the weight of the battery puts me off using it too much, don't want to wear motors out too fast, you do get 15min flight times that I don't think do the motors much good heatwise! lol

**Butuz** · 06-02-2006, 07:31 PM

Hi I bought the 7.2v 1800MAH batteries just to see what they were like. They are heavy for the twister bell, if they work ok i will probably rip them apart and re-solder into a 11.1v 1800MAH pack for use in my Ikarus Eco Piccolo. That is what the 11.1v 900MAH ones are also for.

Personally i think balance charging is very important if you want your packs to last more than a handful of charges. What i am going to do - is if i get along really well with the different Eurobatteries LIPOS that i have, i am going to order a bulk load of 2 cell packs and rip them apart in order to make up some custom 3 cell packs. I will also be adding the white balance connectors to all of my packs at the same time. Should last me some time hopefully i will actually be able to do alot of flying

This eurobatteries thing was a bit of an experiment - for 6 a pack you can not argue with anything really. They seem to work. I also ordered NIMH AA 2500MAH batteries for my transmitter and my dads camera and they work great amazing value for money as it is never mind the 20% off because i bought 16

Butuz

**MrRee** · 06-02-2006, 10:57 PM

BUTUZ ... nice charger that!

Sadly it's also 45!! 8O Good grief! Maybe if I progress to a TREX later it may be worth it?

Been flying outside tonight, slight breeze, but great fun!!

MrRee

**MrRee** · 06-02-2006, 11:13 PM

This seems pretty good at 16 ....... I have a spare car battrery in the garage - could simply connect it to that.

http://www.modelhelicopters.co.uk/acatalog/a-1079.jpg

Brings those 6 batteries a step closer!

MrRee

**Butuz** · 06-02-2006, 11:48 PM

Hi. I have to admit if you work out what the charger does out of the box it is a total bargain. But yes it is alot more than 15.

The way i think about it is - the charger kinda dictates how long your batteries last. If you use a cheapest of the cheap one, they may only last a month, if you use a balance charger they may last 6 months. Its going to save me money in the long run i think, especially as its capable of charging AND balancing up to 4 cells which gets you up into expensive T-REX type helicopter territory. Should last me a while!

Just to put where i am coming from into perspective, the ROBBE charger we use in the Design Technology department in my school cost nearly 200 and all it is used for is charging the batteries of power tools such as drills and screwrivers. If someone came to you and said i want a 200 charger to charge 5 batteries you would phone the ambulance for them wouldnt you!

But actualy - now that we've had it for over a year, we are well into saving money simply because each batery pack lasts well over 10x as long compared to how they used to last with the crappy chargers that actually came with the drills.

Food for thought i hope.

Butuz

**chappers** · 06-02-2006, 11:56 PM

you are indeed a man of wisdom Butuz!
success in electric flight is all about the quality of your battery pack so, if the align charger does what it says on the packet? personally i think 45 for a charger that does the buisness is a bargain!

**Butuz** · 07-02-2006, 12:17 AM

Cheers Chappers! You had too much to drink boy? Egads next thing you know you'll be posting how nice my Piccolo is lol !! : :P :lol:

MrRee - Interesting about our chargers - i have to admit i bought my twister bell from a local small model shop because sussex model centre let me down over xmas so i cancelled my order. It could quite concievably been sitting on the guys shelf for a year so its no wonder i got the old style battery charger. Suprised i dont have to wind it up lol!

About the Align Balance charger. Its wierd i have scoured quite a few forums and no one seems at all intersted in it i have only found a few posts and most of them were people saying "is this any good" with no replies.

As soon as i saw the specs i added it to my cart because it seemed almost too good to be true. Ok the charge rate is fixed at 1000mah, but apart from that i dont know what more any micro heli owner could really want! It charges bog standard packs,it balance charges 1-4 cells at 1000mah per cell, it even has a built in fan to keep it cool. And best of all, having charged my battery a good few times, it seems to work fine. You can even see it balancing, the first time i charged my twister bell battery (after about 10 charges it had from the cheap twister bell charger) it actually spent an extra minute charging one cell it was obviously not in balance.

Butuz

**Sao** · 08-02-2006, 12:02 PM

but apart from that i dont know what more any micro heli owner could really want!

The ability to charge more than one pack at a time, adjustable current, adjustable cut off point and something that doesnt look like cheap tat but thats just me :P

**Dedcalm** · 08-02-2006, 02:57 PM

I have bought an Align Balance Charger to charge my batteries - it can automatically charge and balance 2, 3, 4 cell lithium packs, and it has no settings to mess up on it you just plug and it charges. Also it can charge and balance two 7.4v packs at the same time! Notice also that ito has the standard red connectors too it is very versitile. How good is that.

You can charge 2 packs according to the post quoted above. Out of interest why would you want an adjustable cut off ?

Rob

**Butuz** · 08-02-2006, 05:01 PM

Originally posted by Sao

but apart from that i dont know what more any micro heli owner could really want!

The ability to charge more than one pack at a time, adjustable current, adjustable cut off point and something that doesnt look like cheap tat but thats just me :P

Lol - show me a balance charger that does all that for 45? Ok i admit it does look a bit cheap but i think alot of that is the garish semi chinese stickers that they put on it. Maybe i'll make my own stickers up

I have recieved my 2S1P 1800mah and 3S1P 900mah packs from eurobatteries - and i must say i am impressed for the money. They are not overly heavy, they dont look too cheap (look a bit like kokams) and the capacity is great. I did a bit of testing last night, strapped my piccolo FP down and tested the batteries at full throttle with hughest pitch setting. These were the results:

Twister 2S1P 800MAH pack (the luminous green ones) - Gave 8 mins
Eurobatteries 2S1P 1800MAH pack gave a whopping 35 minutes flight time.

That was at full throttle for 35 minutes, none of this hovering or anything - full throttle.

I am very impressed. I am ordering 3 cell thunder power blance connectors and i am going to rewire all my 2 cell packs into 3 cell packs and fit balance connectors. Such value for money.

Butuz

**MrRee** · 10-02-2006, 10:54 PM

35 minutes!!! WOW!! That sounds fantastic ....... but what about my poor motors? thats a long time, they will melt the Bell47!

BTW I have just crashed my Bell47 and bent the flybar! The flybar carrier is broken ... and I cannot even see how I can glue it! :cry:

Oh, well, I have ordered the part from Midland Helis as they are supposed to be good ................ I'm going to forget I ever was tempted by Sussex Model Centre I think!!

MrRee

**Butuz** · 10-02-2006, 11:15 PM

Yes - it will kill the motors on the twister bell if you dont give it a break every 15 mins! - but those times were measured on my Piccolo, not my twister bell so dont worry the twister isnt dead lol.

Damnit i wish you had posted this before, i am stripping my Twister Bell now and you could have had the spares cheap instead of ordering new. Let me know if your still interested in spares.

By the way - i have had my maiden flights tonight on my Piccolo with the Eurobatteries 3 cell 900mah - they seem to be doing good. I am going to wire in balance connectors to them this weekend, i bought balance conectors seperate from flight power website.

I am quite impressed with these batteries. Ok, they WONT support doing 3d flying on a T-REx - BUT they will easily support coaxial and fixed pitch micro helicopters, and you can buy 4 packs for the price of one thunder power pack.

Butuz

Butuz

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Li-Poly Batteries - much cheaper here

Li-Poly Batteries - much cheaper here

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