2 in 1 woes :(

[LipolyGone]

Hi guys I have a major problem with my 2 in 1 in this cold weather.
Ever since I put my new align ds 6?? cyclic servos on my 600 it has been a dream to fly.
That was till I noticed last week on a fully charged pack that all the leds on the 2 in 1 were not lit.
Infact only the red & orange ones were lit
Has anyone else had a similar problem?
I'm using a cellpro 4s to charge the pack & it does this in cold weather mode but even if I use my chameleon to charge I can only get one more led to light.
I'm thinking the RX lipo is possibly stuffed but if so it's happened since the summer when it was working perfectly.
If that is the case is there a better way of doing the rx supply?
I absolutely love the glow drive function of the 2 in 1 which is the only reason it's still on my heli if truth be known.
Martin

[t-rex pedro]

Could be a duff pack. I have found the Align packs good but they do have to be treated gently. I never take more than 60% out of mine i.e amber light on the 2-in-1 as I had one puff on me when I took it down to the red light. Try another lipo.

[xygax]

Can you bear a little extra weight ????
if so i have some 4S packs that convet to 2s2p 4400's here.... Thats wot i have in the chinoook tehy are all basicly new probably 3-4 cycles...

I will convert one if you want

Steve

[waveydavey]

I had exactly the same problem and was worried that it would fail completely so I binned it. The switch had failed and was somehow affecting the led's although the reg was still working fine, I just wasn't prepared to take the chance. I love the onboard glow but not enough to take a chance. I can do that without any help from Align

[Sao]

I absolutely love the glow drive function of the 2 in 1 which is the only reason it's still on my heli if truth be known.
Martin

Get yourself a switchglo or one of the other onboard glo doodars

[helidriver]

ahaa

i lad at our site had 2 do the same thing last week. It turned out to be a bad batch that real raptors had. (dunno where u got it). he sent the first one back and they exchanged it.

then he sent the second back and they said others had had the same problem and just refunded him.

he has replaced them both from another shop and no probs now.

out of the 20 or so at out place over the last year those are the only 2 that have played up and niether caused a crash so we still trust and like them very much.

[Adrian]

Mine was the same on friday afternoon, fully charged but just the orange and green showing.Then it wouldent stay on the glow lights.
Had the heli in house charged the pack up and its normal now,im just putting it down to ths cold weather.

Ill be keeping all my gear in the spare room while its cold and not in the garage.

[moyesboy]

Keep the lipos in the house especially if they are charged!
Yesterday I did three tanks through my 600n, maybe 4, with the 1900 lipo and by then it was down to two lights. The cellpro said 30%, and 1100 went back in.
In the summer this pack was giving 6 flights easy so its all about the temperature.

remember a 450 will barely hover with a really cold lipo, so its not suprising the lights don't all get lit.

I have all my lipos in a foam lined case with a cat warmer in it. works great at getting the lipos to give full power even when its below zero at the field. The cat can find anoher warm place while I go flying

[LipolyGone]

I bought it from the Hobby Hangar sometime last summer.
My models live either in the attic or my sons bedroom so I dont think the colds got to the lipo in anyway.
As for going to 4400mah lipos, the 1900mah lipo is just the right size to go in the frame, it was designed this way so going to a larger pack is going to be a problem with fitment etc.
How can check if it's a dodgy unit?
Maybe it's time to go back to belts & braces with a large 5 cell 6v nimh gp racing 3300mah pack like I used to use & still use in the 90 & the trusty old glowdriver.
Martin

[daren]

Borrowed from mrkevs handy work after he had problems with his (thanks mrkev)

He was having problems with his leds showing different levels each time it was turned on




Here's one naked:

Incedentally, I was suffering from the dodgy switch problem. It's actually pore corrosion due to the nickel barrier in the switch contacts not being thick enough, and that very small current passes through the contact, so it doesn't self clean, not attack from fuel. It's the same problem mobile phone SIMs, battery contacts and charger plugs get. The copper conductor is first plated with a nickel barrier, before plating with gold. If the nickel is not thick enough, the copper can migrate through the pores into the gold, the copper reacts with the air, and stops the contact working in that spot. It can easily be cleaned off to make the thing work again. Normally, a switch carrying a reasonable current generally cleans it's own contacts by the small arc that is created when the contacts open.

I replaced the switch with a better quality one.

The LEDs flickering is an indication that your switch has this problem. If all the LEDs go out, then your regulator may shutdown as it's the voltage that these LEDs are measuring that is the control to turn the regulator on and off. You have been warned.