total newbie

[billywhizz]

First of I'd like to say hi to everyone.

I'm totally new to all this... only had my heli just over a week. I got a couple of those micro things for xmas last year and wanted to go bigger after they suffered horrible death spirals into the side of the fridge (well ok, one battery died and the other became uncontrollable after hitting the wall one too many times but you know what I mean )

I got myself an Easycopter v6 last week and have been practicing every day. Luckily I work in a large workshop so I have a large space to play, err, practice in to save the furniture and blades at home. I've managed to break one of the tie rods to the swash plate already though and have replaced one of the lower blades so I think I'm doing pretty well. I can hover steadily, move around in all directions and land on top of a box, albeit a bit wobbly on approach.

There are a couple of things that I'm a bit confused about...

What's the deal with LiPo batteries? Is there a way to recharge them more quickly? I've been recharging them fully and not letting them go totally flat. As soon as I don't have enough power to get a decent amount of lift I take them out and let them cool before charging them totally. Will I damage them if I don't charge them fully?

I'm using the standard 240v charger that came with the heli and I got a spare battery from Ebay so I get more playing time.

Anyway, thanks for reading my ramblings and I hope I'll find your words and wisdom helpful.

[Russ The Chippy]

sorry i can`t help with your answers as new to this myself but thought it would be nice for you to get one reply and a welcome.

[Butuz]

Yeh welcome to RC Heli Addict!

Really it's your charger that's letting you down - if you end up having several batteries it would be good to get something like a Cellpro 4s charger as this will really look after your batteries and enable you to charge each pack in half an hour.

Butuz

[billywhizz]

thank you both for the welcome, and thanks for the advice about the charger

I've already bought another battery so I get at least 20 mins flying time every 4 hours... lol!!

[Holst]

The only ways to damage lipos is to discharge them too much, or to overcharge them.

If you stop flying once you feel the power reducing then you should be ok. If your not sure then check the voltage with a multimiter, if its more than 3.7v per cell then you are fine, if its less then you need to time your flights so you dont overdischarge.

If you do buy a better charger please buy a really good one.
I bought a "cheap" ballancing charger and it was rubbish and I ended up having to buy a better one (cell pro 4S)

You dont have to fully recharge you batterys if you dont want, but if they are not at 100% when you start to fly you might be more likely to overdischarge them.
If you have a good charger then it will have a display to tell you how much charge has gone into the battery, and how much more is likely to be needed. The last 10% of the charge is the slowest portion, so you could stop at 90% and have a slightly shorter flight but a faster recharge time.

[Hangar-7]

Welcome to this friendly heli forum.
I do not fly Easycopter so could not help you there.... but I think you need to be a bit more specific about Lipo, for example, how many cells? how many milli amp? Did the charger come with the heli?
HIH

[wildc4rd]

Hi mate, welcome and good luck with the hobby. Our club isn't far up the road from you (just your side of Buckfastleigh) when you get something capable of outdoor flight, or just want to pop along and see some bigger stuff. I'm fairly new to the game myself, but being surrounded by people who know what they are doing helps a hell of a lot, lol.