Taped starter

[Willis Swindell]

I saw a picture of a starter strapped to a 7 amp battery in Flying Models the other day. While at the Huntersville contest the other week end I noticed several people having problems with their 2 amp starters. The starters wouldn't turn the engines because of the first cold weather of the year. Some where else I read that Locktite had a new super double sided tape that holds up to a hundred pounds. I took my 7 amp battery out of my flight box which I haven’t used in about two years and taped my back up starter which I never have used  to my battery with the Locktite tape. Time will tell if it holds up or not, doesn’t look like much but it works.
Willis 

[john e. holliday]

Bet that gets heavy after awhile.  I too had one with the enclosed battery pack that bolted to the starter.  Mine was good for two or three sessions of flying, then recharge.  Don't have it anymore and don't ask why as I don't want to lie about why it went in the trash.  Have fun,  DOC Holliday

[Willis Swindell]

John
Yes That is the first thing I noticed was how heavy it was but I just plain to use it this winter on my larger engines that my lighter starter will not turn over.
Willis

[Doug Moon]

There is a way to hook up RC Car batteries to the bottom of the starter.  Bead Walker uses it and it will spin anything and it is light weight.  I think Tower sells the brackets so they just mount on the normal mounts with the screws.  I dont know how long they hold a charge though.

[Bill Heher]

2 of the 7.2 volt 3000 mAh NiMH car batteries in series will provide 14.4 v for turning the starter. 3000 mAh of capacity is usually plenty for a weekend of flying, and if needed they can be recharged in an hour or so. They are also a lot lighter than the bigger 12v gel cells from your field box.

This is about 10% above the normal voltage for the starter, but the short duration that we spin the motor will eliminate any overheating that would result from running the motor at above it's normal rated voltage.

An adapter to hook the 2 batteries in series would cost about $10 to make, and replace the cheap connectors on the batteries with high quality connectors that will handle the voltage / current without overheating or power loss. A lot of R/C car guys are converting to brushless motor / LiPo power, so you might be able to score a deal on batteries and a charger if you cruise the classified sections of some of the R/C car boards.