What is the best 12v Flight Box Battery for an Electric Flight Enthusiast?

[Mike Freeman]

Afternoon All,

I use the small 12-14Ahr 12V sealed lead acid batteries in my flight box just to charge my packs back up at the patch.  They are just large enough to last a session and relatively light to cart about.  The latest is a Yuasa REC14-12 which is about 2.5 years old and is supposed to be good for around 600 deep discharge cycles.  I usually use about 75% capacity once a week on average and always charge it back to full capacity when I get home using a 3-step charger.  I recon this one has only had around 130-150 cycles yet it now only holds around 6-7Ahr charge - half what it should!!

Before forking out for a new one I'd be interested to hear if anyone has had better success with an alternative manufacture please?

Cheers

Mike

[Don Fry]

I’m researching a battery pack to power a boat winch. 12 volt nominal. It’s the sort of thing you see dragging Chelsea Tractors out of the Do Dha. 
 There are LiFe packs available. Oblong packs, clip power outputs, 18 Ah, £35 a cell. So £140 a battery. Huge current delivery.

I’m thinking it will drag the boat out of the water, and to the car. 
Over the years, I’ve become a huge fan of Life cells. 

[Dad_flyer]

The specifications for the REC14-12 are what should fit the bill well. I use a Yuasa Yucel Y12-12, which is cheaper but not specified for deep discharge (I had not seen the REC versions). Use case is very similar to yours, but less frequently, and I have not had it as long. Still fine, but when I am charging for bigger 4s models the drain rate is fast enough that even as specified the battery delivers only about 8Ah. 

 

I have looked for something with bigger capacity, or bigger discharge, or different chemistry - or just buying more lipos. In the end the Y12-12 is at a very low price per capacity point and so anything else would need to be guaranteed to last much longer to be worth it. Some people seem to have a solar panel as well (in photos of groups of models in the pits). That might well be worth it. They should last well, and the continual recharge would help the stress on the main storage battery.

[Dickw]

I built myself a 12v 30Ah Life battery from cells intended for electric bikes

https://eclipsebikes.com/battery-cells-accessories-c-70_69/headway-lifepo4-40152s-32v-15ah-p-197.html

Everything you need to build a pack (4s2p in my case) is available from that site and other capacity cells are available.

Not cheap but do actually still deliver the stated capacity after many years of use.

 

Dick

[conrad taggart]

20 hours ago, Dickw said:

I built myself a 12v 30Ah Life battery from cells intended for electric bikes

https://eclipsebikes.com/battery-cells-accessories-c-70_69/headway-lifepo4-40152s-32v-15ah-p-197.html

Everything you need to build a pack (4s2p in my case) is available from that site and other capacity cells are available.

Not cheap but do actually still deliver the stated capacity after many years of use.

 

Dick

Great shop but virtually out of stock of everything !   

[SIMON CRAGG]

I have spent lockdown divesting myself of all things ic. and converting all my fleet to electric.

I wanted to be totally self sufficient up the field, not have to purchase lots of lipos to cope with a full days flying and not have to rely on my car battery.

Up to now our club members either:

Charge all relevant lipos at home, fly until all batteries used. Go home.

Use a stand alone battery (limited charging capability), or their car battery and risk not being able to start the car at close of play.

I purchased a good quality (works well on a dull day) 100w Solar Panel and controller, and 80mah 12v Leisure battery.

It is important to get a charge controller that only allows the solar panel to float charge the battery at 13.7v. If connected directly to the battery, it is possible that the panel will overcharge and damage the battery. Leisure battery not car battery.

I do no charging at all at home, and the 12v battery lives in the car. All charging now done at the patch.

With a bit of careful planning, I have had no issues with charging a variety of batteries on and off all day.

So far...........so good!.

 

[Dwain Dibley.]

Sounds like a plan Simon. ??

D.D.

[Dickw]

5 hours ago, conrad taggart said:

Great shop but virtually out of stock of everything !   

Unfortunately that seems to apply to a lot of shops and items these days. I am sure things will return to normal eventually.

 

Dick

[Dickw]

1 hour ago, SIMON CRAGG said:

.........................................

I purchased a good quality (works well on a dull day) 100w Solar Panel and controller, and 80mah 12v Leisure battery.

It is important to get a charge controller that only allows the solar panel to float charge the battery at 13.7v. ........................................

 

A good move. I went the solar way a couple of years ago with a 100w panel and a charge controller to keep my 30Ah Life battery topped up. It has worked well and even kept my batteries charged up (and battery heater going) for for a full weekend flying.

 

Dick

[SIMON CRAGG]

Apart from the obvious advantages, the most important is probably safety.

 

Over the years I have heard quite a few horror stories of lipos bursting into flames etc. (Usually when on charge).

 

One of our ex members managed to set fire to his garage and part of his house, which didn't go down to well.

 

Luckily, my charger is pretty idiot proof (needs to be really), but as I am getting older its easier to make mistakes.

 

As others have pointed out, there does seem to be a growing trend in going down the solar road, with a few images cropping up here and there of them being used at various club flying fields.

 

I have to say, I am in awe of the solar principle, who ever thought that our models would one day be indirectly powered by the sun!.

 

 

[Dad_flyer]

Had some good days flying with my bigger models and found I ran out of electrons in everything including my field charger. Especially with child_flyer getting enthusiastic.

 

Having this thread in mind I looked into LiFePO batteries. As @Dickw says they are specified for what we need: Supply medium current (my 4-channel charger will often want 6A, sometimes 10), not mind deep discharge, have plenty of cycles, temperature tolerant (high and low). If you factor in the probable lifetime they are cheap, but up front cost can be high. There are a few that are cheaper, and don't seem to be poor - at least they have been around a bit and are not slated on caravan forums. So this arrived today.

24Ah, which is twice the nominal capacity of my lead acid, and three times the 8Ah or less that I actually get at high current draw. 4 and a bit times the price, so hardly needs to last longer to be worth it.

 

All being well I can empty it at the weekend between the showers that are forecast.

 

(Branded TN, it must be specifically designed for charging sport scale models ?)

[Gary Manuel]

Not seen one of those before DF. Looks good.

[PatMc]

On 01/05/2021 at 07:47, SIMON CRAGG said:

 

 

I have to say, I am in awe of the solar principle, who ever thought that our models would one day be indirectly powered by the sun!.

 

 

Do you mean like thermal gliders ? ?

[Engine Doctor]

Look out for old laptop batteries on the Internet. Usually only one cell gone down in the package most are 2000 mah packs You can then make a li-ion pack with 9 cells using 3p 3s that will give plenty of punch. You can put as many as you need in the parallel sets to increase capacity. If you try it make sure to fit a balance lead again available in the net. You can on any lips charger. 

[Don Fry]

I’m building a battery to winch my boat onto a trailer. I need about 700 watts to have a good margin of spare power. 
4x 25000 mAh LiFe from a bike cell seller came out to £60.

It’s going to be fitted with a standard plug, and I reckon, it will field charge my electric stuff.

[Dickw]

2 hours ago, Dad_flyer said:

...................................

 

Having this thread in mind I looked into LiFePO batteries. As @Dickw says they are specified for what we need: Supply medium current (my 4-channel charger will often want 6A, sometimes 10), not mind deep discharge, have plenty of cycles, temperature tolerant (high and low). If you factor in the probable lifetime they are cheap, but up front cost can be high. There are a few that are cheaper, and don't seem to be poor - at least they have been around a bit and are not slated on caravan forums. So this arrived today.

......................................

Strangely enough I bought a couple of those TN batteries a few weeks ago to supplement my existing 30Ah LiFePO battery, and the setup backed up by my solar panel kept my models charged and my batteries heated for a whole weekend away flying without a mains power source.

 

Those are indeed a very nice little battery - and much lighter than a lead acid.

 

Dick

[Martin McIntosh]

Try The Component Shop for a 12V/20Ah for about £27.50, or you can often get a battery on ebay post free next day.