Author Topic: Lousy Batteries (Read 4158 times)

petermick · « **on:** May 11, 2014, 11:24:29 AM »

Recently I purchased three 4S 2700 mah Zippy Batteries for my ARF Oriental over the internet. The price was $19.00 apiece. Of the three only one would take a charge. When I tested each cell the two bad batteries showed dead cells. I guess the old adage of cheaper is not always better. I have learned my lesson and will purchase a couple of quality batteries at a local hobby shop and test them before I pay for them.

On a positive note the Oriental flies great using the one good battery. The power is exceptional. I need to get it trimmed out and hope to get it ready for the Chicago contest on May 26th.

Peter Mick
AMA 9581

ron young · « **Reply #1 on:** May 11, 2014, 11:41:10 AM »

I have 2 orientals arf's i want to make electric do you have any pictures by chance
Thanks
Ron

55chevr · « **Reply #2 on:** May 11, 2014, 04:06:15 PM »

Son Joe flew his electric Oriental ARF this week ..... He is using Cobra 2820 motor and 2200 4S batteries / Castle Creations Edge Lite 50 / Hubin FM9 10 x 5.5 ARP ER prop. Flew it 4 times on 2 minute flights to trim it but it flies well.

William DeMauro · « **Reply #3 on:** May 11, 2014, 06:19:58 PM »

Maybe you have a bad batch. of batteries. I have 6 of those 4s 2700 zippy compacts and some are over a year old and everyone is still going strong. I always check the cells with a cell checker as soon as they are delivered, no matter what the brand. The hyperion G3 4s 2500 would probably work well and weighs about the same or a little less than the zippy. http://www.rcdude.com/servlet/the-1639/Hyperion-G3-CX--dsh-/Detail

petermick · « **Reply #4 on:** May 12, 2014, 10:14:04 AM »

For Bob Young. Get a copy of the November 2012 issue of Flying Models. It has an excellant article regarding the Oriental Arf electric conversion. Numerous pictures. I used these article to build my plane. My setup is as follows:

E Flite 15
Castle Phoenix Lite 50 ESC
Hubin FM 9 Timer
APC 11 x 5.5 E prop

john e. holliday · « **Reply #5 on:** May 12, 2014, 10:16:33 AM »

Did you contact the person who sold the bad batteries? Might keep someone else from being upset if they get the same thing.

petermick · « **Reply #6 on:** May 12, 2014, 10:35:39 AM »

John

I sent an e-mail to the distributor who shall remain unnamed other than to say they have a warehouse in Seattle but I believe are headquartered somewhere in China.

Darkstar1 · « **Reply #7 on:** May 12, 2014, 11:20:27 AM »

Peter,
Did you try re-soldering the connectors? Sometimes a cold solder joint can cause a battery to seem bad. I had that problem once was about to send the battery back. I un soldered both leads, re soldered using a magnifier. After that
the issue went away.

petermick · « **Reply #8 on:** May 12, 2014, 02:55:41 PM »

Darkstar, The dead cells were found using the balancing lead not the battery connection wires.

Paul Taylor · « **Reply #9 on:** May 12, 2014, 07:00:16 PM »

I have bought 4 batteries from said vendor without issue so far.
The ones i bought came with a warranty. What did the vendor say? They making good on it?
I think its more of a manufacturing issue, not with the distributor. IMHO.

Crist Rigotti · « **Reply #10 on:** May 12, 2014, 07:56:05 PM »

Pete,

How did you check each cell? If you used one of those $3 checkers that plug into the balance plug, then the checker could be your problem. I just recently used one a brand new Thunder Power batteries and it showed several cells as being bad on several batteries. I got out my multi meter and checked each cell that way. They were all good. The checker was giving false readings.

I'm also running Zippy Compacts 5S 2450ma 35C batteries with no problems. Great performance at a great price.

ericrule · « **Reply #11 on:** May 12, 2014, 10:30:38 PM »

I agree with the folks who suggest a Cell Checker. It is a great tool and we should all have one in the flight box.

Great for checking the charge in a battery as well as the "balance" between each cell. Before I send out a battery to a customer I run the unit through the Cell Checker to make certain that the battery is a good one. It seems that all batteries are manufactured in China where quality control is a lost art. Even Thunder Power batteries (one of the more expensive ones on the market) purchase the individual cells from a Chinese manufacturer then assemble the battery in Las Vegas. I know that they also check each cell to make sure it is good.

I purchase my batteries from two of the major battery manufacturers in China. My experience has been that an average of 2% of the batteries shipped out have one cell that is too far out of balance.

William DeMauro · « **Reply #12 on:** May 13, 2014, 04:45:41 PM »

Quote from: ericrule on May 12, 2014, 10:30:38 PM

I agree with the folks who suggest a Cell Checker. It is a great tool and we should all have one in the flight box.

I also have one in my flight box and use it all the time. They are certainly more accurate than those $3-$5 checkers. As far as I am concerned those cheapo checkers should only be used as a charged dis-charged gauge so that you don't use the same battery twice. I would like to know what the voltage was through the discharge port and not the balance port as I see many of the budget batteries with broken off balance wires. I have found that the balance wires on most of the budget are too long and too flimsy and poorly attached. I was saving this tip for a future Stunt News article but I will put it here too. Just look at the pictures and you will see how I use a piece of strapping tape to relieve the stress on the wires.

Crist Rigotti · « **Reply #13 on:** May 13, 2014, 07:31:11 PM »

Yup, looks real familiar Will.

Curare · « **Reply #14 on:** May 13, 2014, 08:26:13 PM »

Smart! Consider that idea stolen and propagated!

petermick · « **Reply #15 on:** May 14, 2014, 01:18:39 PM »

I am not using a "cheap" cell checker. In fact I am using the same model as the one pictured above. I first noticed an issue with the two defective batteries when I tried to do the initial charging of each. My charger gave me an indication of No Battery. I then confirmed that there was an issue by using the cell tester.

I did e-mail the distributor. I got a response saying that they had received my complaint and that a technition would be contacting me. It has been three days and I have heard nothing.

Russell Bond · « **Reply #16 on:** May 14, 2014, 05:20:04 PM »

That checker is interesting in that it is the same as mine but mine is by Hyperion.
It's called Hyperion Sentry.
I wonder if yours is a copy from China.

I bought a checker from HobbyKing which worked well except it didn't show the % left in the battery.
Ebay has these same checkers but they are a cheap copy of the HobbyKing model and are inaccurate.
They had the word "Made" instead of mode on the front. Dead giveaway that it was a copy.
I'm amazed that they would bother copying a product that is only about $13 from HobbyKing.

Dennis Adamisin · « **Reply #17 on:** May 15, 2014, 06:08:42 AM »

I'd bet the cell checkers all came from the same shop with different "brand" labels to pacify us gullible customers. Our stuff Is all marketed by 3rd party sellers, prices depend on getting closest to the source that also has good economies of scale.

petermick · « **Reply #18 on:** May 19, 2014, 06:40:16 PM »

My cell checker is a Hyperion, not a China knockoff. After all of the assumptions made in this thread let's admit that I did in fact get two lousy batteries.

john e. holliday · « **Reply #19 on:** May 20, 2014, 08:51:39 AM »

Again, has the vendor been contacted about replacement?

Fred Cronenwett · « **Reply #20 on:** May 23, 2014, 05:24:36 PM »

I have about 12 of the Zippy batteries from HK, one has gone bad with a bad cell. I have been flying with these batteries for over two years now without any problems except for that one battery that was bad

Fred

Author Topic: Lousy Batteries (Read 4158 times)

ron young