I'm not seeing as many futaba posts as JR and Hitec, but I have a relatively new 12z and have noticed the battery time seems to be about 45 min. to an hour and it's time to recharge. The worst is when I am trying to program a plane and have to stop for a recharge. The recharge takes for ever, about 2 hours or more.
Do you just carry a spare or is there another better way to make them last longer between charges.
thanks and best wishes to all.

The new JR XG-11 has 6.6v life batteries and stays charged all day. just joking

I knew there were too many of you JR guys on this forum to post a Futaba question. Thanks for the joke.

Golfer, unfortunately I'm not sure if there is anything we can do. I have a 12z I've been using for about 3/4 of a season, and the battery can last for around 2 hours without getting really low. My friend has a 14 and he just has to carry around spare batteries. You can get cheaper batteries though, from Sony I think.

golfer find the samsung 18650 2600 mah...will last hole weekends before recharge....im make my own for the last 2 years.....good loock

I've been flying a 14MZ since they first came out, and I've always carried an extra pack. Recently I've started cracking open the packs and installing a "pig tail" so I can "field" charge them.

I buy the Sony NP-F570 on Ebay

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Genuine-...item3cc59d40f5

http://www.all-battery.com/

Originally Posted by golfer

I'm not seeing as many futaba posts as JR and Hitec, but I have a relatively new 12z and have noticed the battery time seems to be about 45 min. to an hour and it's time to recharge. The worst is when I am trying to program a plane and have to stop for a recharge. The recharge takes for ever, about 2 hours or more.
Do you just carry a spare or is there another better way to make them last longer between charges.
thanks and best wishes to all.

How old is your transmitter?

Mine 12Z was purchanse in April 06 and I am on my 2nd battery. I can still go about 2 hours between charges.
But that same battery is only good for 40 minutes in my 14mz.

I bought a Sony battery and it was horrible. It was only good for 30 minutes.

Thank you foks for the information. Especially thanks for the tip on the Samsund 18650. Based on the photo from resti, I have to ask the question; how do you make that work in the transmitter? It is obviously a different shape, does it even fit inside?
Rolling Thunder; the battery is still good,m I would just like to last longer before I have to recharge.
Thanks again for your help.

the "Clone" batteries in my experiance have been a 1 year lifespan battery....

I solved the issue with my 14MZ battery life by getting an 18MZ. 8 hours of flying on a charge. Yes Sir!!!

But the other suggestions here have been good.

You might want to try the NP-F550 as it is 7.4v , the NP-F570 is 7.2v and on a full charge you start out at 65% on your battery meter. And yes I learned it the hard way, I bought a 570 that I don't use.

I used mostly 570's, but I charged them with a different charger. Mine always came up to 100%. I was always suspect of the desk charger. You can buy the cable intended for the CR-2500 Futaba charger and cut it in half. Then wire in a plug to connect to a real charger and you have two cables to charge with. I never had an issue charging the battery in the TX.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXPHL6&P=7