which battery raptor 30?

[heliwilly]

Just built raptor 30 with os 37, i need to clear up a few things, the battery being one of them! do i get nicad, nimh or lipo? and the recommended size/power?
thanks, mike.

[glen_j]

either a subc size nimh pack (nicads are no longer sold) over 2000mah will be fine its what i used when i first started flying, i used a 4200mah tornado nimh pack on my raptor 30, you can use a lipo and regulator if you choose to though the align 2in1 reg with 1900mah lipo combo is a popular choice as it has a built in glow start

[joe.lel]

Have this in my raptor 30

Raptor 30 NiMH Battery Pack 4.8v 4300mAh Twin Connector on eBay (end time 09-Jan-10 09:14:52 GMT)

[Mark_T]

Unless you want to go LiPo and get a regulator as well then NiCad or NiMh are your best choices.

You may not be able to buy NiCad easily now as new stock cannot be obtained any more but NiHm will be fine.

I doubt you are running anything exotic for servos so aim for something alike this :

Fast Lad Performance

[StreetDragster]

Well here's my experiance, may not be ideal for you, but thats up to you

When i bought my helicopter (second hand) it came with a 4.8v 1100mAh Nicad pack, which was ok for a while, but really didn't last long enough for a session out.

I then moved to a Sanyo 2700mAh NiMh pack, which was much better, however once i had started flinging the tail round a bit (still hover training, but i'm now doing left and right hovers) i found its power expired really quickly. It also didn't like cold temperatures at all, and after a cold flight one morning, it only lasted 3-4 tanks worth, and i had to pack up early and go home, really wasn't happy that day.

So then i bought an Align 2-in-1 Regulator, which for me had the benefit of 6v output to the servos (making them faster) and onboard glow heater, so one less battery to charge before a session. It has battery condition monitoring too, but i had one of these before so this wasn't a benefit as much for me.

I bought a £30 Lipo from overlander (Digipower) 3000mAh 7.4v. Its was practically identically sized to my Nimh/Nicad packs, so heli mounting was easy peasy, and it was lighter by about 40g, which when combined with the deleted glow heater extension and onboard battery monitor, almost perfectly offset the regualtors weight.
A inline step down was also used on the gyro/tail line as much servo cannot handle 6v (regulator drops it to 5.1v)

Now the results for me are great, faster servos so better control, significantly longer run times, i've managed a whole weekend flying on a single charge so far in cold weather, and the onboard glow heating is great. I'd certainly recommend it.

Price wise however, its pretty expensive
1100mAh Nicad £8 ish
2700mAh Nimh £17 ish

vs
Lipo £30
Reg £30
Inline Reg £5

And that assumes you have a charger and charging bag for the lipo, which i did have.

So i hope that helps your decision

Some people use A123 packs without regulators at 6v
I found a borrowed Sub-C pack made the CofG quite a bit out, and i didn't like having lots of counter weight on for it

Matt

[glen_j]

Unless you want to go LiPo and get a regulator as well then NiCad or NiMh are your best choices.

You may not be able to buy NiCad easily now as new stock cannot be obtained any more but NiHm will be fine.

I doubt you are running anything exotic for servos so aim for something alike this :

Fast Lad Performance

this pack is a little small not in capacity but being aa size they are not as capable of providing a decent current that might be needed when using helis, best off with the one from ebay or this one

Fast Lad Performance

also get yourself a voltage checker like this to keep an eye on how charged the pack is, small price to pay to prevent a flat battery and crash
Fast Lad Performance

[express]

align 2 in 1 reg woks well glow driver - battery monitor - and you can fast charge the lipo at the feild

[heliwilly]

thank you all for your very helpful suggestions, as i have no lipo charger at the moment, glen_j's advice seems the one to go for, can i use the mains charger i have with dx7 to charge the nimh battery?
thanks, mike.

[trillian]

Have this in my raptor 30

Raptor 30 NiMH Battery Pack 4.8v 4300mAh Twin Connector on eBay (end time 09-Jan-10 09:14:52 GMT)

I have been using similar batteries in mine. I have one or two from Ripmax and some other branded ones. I can easily fly all day on one fully charged and the separate charge leads are very handy (I use a Propeak Sigma charger).

The big NiMh packs are a bit heavy though. I have set the Raptor 30 aside at the moment in favour of other helis but if I take it back out as a .30 heli again I'll go with a Duralite reg and lighter LiPo to save some weight.

[Adrian]

Id go for the align 2 in 1 reg with 1900 lipo about £48 i think all in

[trillian]

thank you all for your very helpful suggestions, as i have no lipo charger at the moment, glen_j's advice seems the one to go for, can i use the mains charger i have with dx7 to charge the nimh battery?
thanks, mike.

Yes, you can use the rx charge lead off the same charger it will just take a bit longer as it prob delivers something like 70Mah. A fully charged 3300mah pack will keep you flying for quite a while (provided you don't have anything drawing more power than it should, ie; no servos binding, control linkage moves freely etc.)

[heliwilly]

forgive my ignorance but looking at the picture of battery on e-bay, the connector seems larger than my spektrum connector? would i need an adaptor too?
thanks again, mike.
also, if i need a more powerful/efficient charger for the nimh battery would i be as well going the lipo/regulator route?
mike.

[joe.lel]

If its the one i posted, it has 2 connectors on the battery, 1 is a Tamiya connector and the other s he one you want which is the normal receiver 3 pin flat thingy. LOL.

[StreetDragster]

Id go for the align 2 in 1 reg with 1900 lipo about £48 i think all in

Don't forget a step down if any of your servo's cannot handle 6v.

Midland Helicopters Ltd RadioAccs_SpeedCont

K10381A : 5.1V Two-Way Voltage Step Down


What servos/gyro are you running?

Thanks

Matt

[glen_j]

the one on ebay has the futaba connector too just not shown in the pic (says it further down) if you don have a charger i'd suggest buying one of these iMAX B6 Lipo NiMH battery Balance Charger + AC Adapter on eBay (end time 07-Jan-10 01:10:55 GMT)

its a reasonable charger that will charge both lipos and nimh batteries as it'll take days to charge a 4300mah nimh with the charger that comes with the spectrum charger, it will also allow you to see how much charge you have put into the battery it will also give you a chioce of batteries you can use for your heli if you choose to go with a lipo and regulator