Smoked an FP Pack :(

[Skaross]

Well had 3 good flights out of my stock(ish) setup today, but final one badly puffed a FlightPower 2150 These were its first flights since I lost a screw in the head and had to rebuild, and they reminded me why I love this heli. Very smooth and quiet sounding heli and looks great in the air!

I was running the stock motor, Align 75 ESC and 515mm CF blades with all of the metal upgrades (including flybar cage). I'm now using the red lightweight Raptor paddes and these are a great visibility aid, and don't seem to affect the response at all compared to the stock Gaui ones.

I fly light 3D and a lot of FFF and the motor just couldn't cope - any more than +/-8 was bogging badly on the 515 blades (my older 480mm CF blades worked better all the way to +/-10).

Even top grade 2150's can not hack this sort of abuse and I would seriously recommend those of you looking for new packs use something bigger. 2500 would be the minimum I recommend.

I had hoped to be going to a 5S2P 4200 arrangement (with a Z30 1100), but United Hobbies have badly let me down over my packs. I had them on back order and when they finally came into stock they lost my order - by the time it was corrected, all out of stock again!

Since I can't get the 5S packs I wanted cheaply, I have made a choice to stick with the 3S x 2 setup and gone with 2 x 3S3300. I think these should give me decent duration and cope with the Z30

Might get a flight report next week if my new ones arrive before I go for a weeks flying at the RCHotel in Corfu

BTW, the 515mm NHP Razor Pro's are stunning blades for those in the UK who want good CF blades for their Hurricane... lovely and stiff and quiet too!

Kev

[Jaso]

What sort of flight times were you getting with your set-up prior to the pack puffing ?
What temps were the packs coming down at ? Hot ?


Cheers

Jason.

[Skaross]

Was getting about 6.5 minutes on them and they were coming out a little warmer than I'd like, but not too hot to hold.

On this occasion, the pack puffed 4.5 mins into the flight (I got an instant drop in performance and landed immediately)... interestingly the other pack only took 1450mAh on charge, so clearly some discharge irregularity took place!

Kev

[Jaso]

Hey Kev . Have you got an idea's on that pack failing ?
Seems weird , maybe a faulty pack ?

Jason.

[BlenderPilot]

If you were getting 6.5 minutes out of 2150 packs, you were definitely flying them well beyond 80% "long life" limit. How much were you charging those pack back? Were you charging the packs together or separate?

[Skaross]

Overdid this pack for sure - was well past the 80% discharge. Forgot my timer on the previous flight and put 2100 back in it. I charge them as 2 seperate 3S packs, both on Pro-Peaks Prodigy and Hyperion balancers (2 chargers).

Up until this point, I had been putting 1900 back in for 6.5 mins of good FFF... no hovering, just lots of loops and stall turns. Packs were happy at this.

Not blaming FP for the failure, just pointing out that anything less than 2500 is likely to be overpushed, or lead to very short flight times even with a moderate flight envelope.

Kev

[meatbomber]

have you checked your connectors? i had a bad connector between my 2 packs and that also caused 1 pack to get discharged a lot more than the other, and causing a puffed pack..

[Skaross]

Good advice - will check my Y adaptor for good connections and possible heat discolouration.

Kev