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Will the LiPo stay in place with this standard setup from Seagull?


Mitchell Howard
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Just putting finishing touches to my first trainer a Seagull Boomerang 40 built for electric.

 

I've velcro'd the ESC onto the side wall as pictured and threaded the velcro though the balsa base, but I see nothing stopping the LiPo from sliding back and forth.

 

I'm tempted to put a small piece of balsa epoxied onto the same face as the LiPo currently is to stop it pulling back upon climbing.

 

I don't think the velcro will hold tight enough, unless maybe I put some self-adhesive rubber dots on the LiPo outer to prevent it travelling out of the straps.

Battery compartment.jpg

Edited by Mitchell Howard
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I would suggest cutting off the bolts flush with the T nuts. If the lipo slides forward in a poor landing you might be in for more than just a broken prop.

To stop sliding just put a small piece of velcro on the lipo and on its tray.

Edited by jrman
typo (fat fingers)
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3 minutes ago, jrman said:

I would suggest cutting off the bolts flush with the T nuts. If the lipo slides forward in a poor landing you might be in for more than just a broken prop.

To stop sliding just put a small piece of velcro on the lipo and on its tray.

 

They changed the design since the manual was produced, my actual ones are extra sharp and pointy! should be able to dremel it off.

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I always put some velcro on the mounting surface like Dwain says but I also put some on the top surface of the battery so I can get the velcro strap as tight as possible without having to pull both strands of the strap together at the same time whilst trying to mate them. The bottom strand is held on the LiPo while I pull on the other one over whilst pressing it down. Belt and braces, I know, but I have heard too many stories of self ejecting LiPos.

 

A.

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I do exactly as you have done Mitchell with the wrap over velcro passed through the balsa base, the wrap over is very strong, but I add a piece of balsa to the motor bulkhead so that the battery cannot move forward on landing (and strike the sawn off bolts/nuts) and a piece of scrap 1/4" square behind the battery so that it cannot slip back and screw up your CoG. Having had 'super strong self adhesive' velcro pulling off balsa/batteries in the past I just do not want to be bothered with it. 

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Wpuldn't that non slip stuff only work the right way up, when the weight of the battery is on it?

If using velcro straps, O like to interlock the strap with a small tab -say an inch long of velcro on the pack to stop it sliding.

For a lot of my wooden models i use balsa or lolly stick wedges to wedge the battery in place. It's a bit more work than the velcro straps but can be very effective in locking the battery firmly in place against any in-flight forces.

 

 

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As someone who doesn’t like to stick Velcro on batteries, I use the ‘Velcro strap with non slip matting’ approach advocated above. The matting has enough give to enable the straps to be done up sufficiently tight that the battery stays in contact with the matting. I’ve used this on batteries up to 6s x 4000mah and found it to be perfectly satisfactory.

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19 hours ago, leccyflyer said:

Wpuldn't that non slip stuff only work the right way up, when the weight of the battery is on it?

If using velcro straps, O like to interlock the strap with a small tab -say an inch long of velcro on the pack to stop it sliding.

For a lot of my wooden models i use balsa or lolly stick wedges to wedge the battery in place. It's a bit more work than the velcro straps but can be very effective in locking the battery firmly in place against any in-flight forces.

 

 

Beg to disagree, I use it all the time in all my models for years and batteries never move whether mounted right way up or inverted. The sponginess allows the velcro staps to be really tight. Certainly couldn't be bothered to be faffing around with lolly sticks wedging the battery in. You ought to try it.

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13 minutes ago, Andy48 said:

Beg to disagree, I use it all the time in all my models for years and batteries never move whether mounted right way up or inverted. The sponginess allows the velcro staps to be really tight. Certainly couldn't be bothered to be faffing around with lolly sticks wedging the battery in. You ought to try it.

No thanks, I'm quite happy with my battery retention methods. There is significantly less faff using a wedge or retainer made from a lolly stick than velcro straps,  just a matter of inserting the retainer and turning it through 80 degrees to engage and the battery is locked into the structure, but it depends on the model.

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Also always use genuine Velcro sticky-back tape.  Perhaps a bit more expensive but worth the extra IMO.  Never tried the  non-slip mat for battery retainment but it works well in our camper to stop stuff sliding about when on the road so it might be worth a try.  There are many ways of skinning a cat - though it's probably worth leaving it on the cat ?

 

I have lost batteries a couple of times and got away with it.  On both occasions I continued to move the sticks even though I knew there was no power - can't think why.

 

The first was on a small Depron biplane where the battery was underneath on the outside.  It must have been on CoG because the model glided to a better landing than had I been in control! The second was when I bunted my Multiplex FunCub.  The still inverted model floated down to land more or less undamaged.  The battery was just held with Velcro (no strap) - I've since fitted a length of 1.5mm carbon rod across the fuselage through holes with snake inner for reinforcement.  Fitting straps is difficult and the carbon rod plus Velcro has worked for several years since but I'm more cautious with the bunts ?

 

Geoff

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3 hours ago, leccyflyer said:

No thanks, I'm quite happy with my battery retention methods. There is significantly less faff using a wedge or retainer made from a lolly stick than velcro straps,  just a matter of inserting the retainer and turning it through 80 degrees to engage and the battery is locked into the structure, but it depends on the model.

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How does that cope with the differing sizes of the same capacity batteries that I tend to use? Velcro does.

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1 hour ago, Andy48 said:

How does that cope with the differing sizes of the same capacity batteries that I tend to use? Velcro does.

I can - and have - use three different batteries with this model. There is a small wooden block at the rear, which has a small hole drilled off centre and a nylon bolt through into a captive nut on the battery plate. Depending on which battery pack I'm using the block has the leading edge or trailing edge of the block facing forward. The thing foam facing on the front of the block is under compression and keeps the battery in place fore and aft and the retaining cross brace keeps it firmly in place in the vertical plane.

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