Proper Switch

[Vahn]

Hello,

Thank you for operating this support thread.

This is my first post to Flying Giants. I have been trolling for over a week soaking up information.

I am about to take my first steps into the world of lightweight Lith-Ion batters and regulators (and larger scale models in general).

I was going to purchase the following two products:

• Fromeco Relion 2600 mAh Battery
• Fromeco Regulator

The application is the reciever (JR 2100 PCM) used in an Aeroworks .90-1.20 Yak.

This model uses 1 standard servo and 5 digital, metal gear servos capable of holding 180 ounces.

The radio (JR 9303 Air Synthesized Radio) came with a switch (Deluxe Switch Harness, Gold
- http://www.jrradios.com/Products/Def...ProdID=JRPA001)

This switch doesn't have any information available about it in the manual and on the JR site. So, I don't know how it compares with the Badger, Smart Fly, or other DSC switches usually suggested when using a Lith-Ion and and Regulator combo.

Although this switch does not have a charge jack, I imagine I have to take the battery out to charge anyhow, since I have a Triton charger. Fromeco has a KB article about this topic (http://www.fromeco.org/instantKB/article.aspx?id=10033) and suggests very short leads.

Since you would "normally" run a 2700-3100 mAh, 6 volt NiMh battery straight to the reciever via the switch, is it neccessary to buy a switch or will this stock JR switch do the trick?

Finally, for reference, this purely a glow application. I am not trying to use this stock switch for a gas Ignition.

At the end of the day, "$30.00" for a Smartfly or Badger Switch is a very small fraction of the total budget for this project, but I still thought I would check if the "stock" JR switch will work.

Thank you for your time,

Vahn

[sweetpea]

Stock switches are fine on any plane, but I might shy away from the stock one.

1) you cannot recharge from it
2) the HD switches are a little nicer

I normally use the Heavy Duty (HD) Electrodynamic switches because I found the connecters are a tighter fit to JR plugs. But the JR HD switch is just fine.

[Vahn]

Sweetpea,

Thank you for your reply.

If I can ask, do you commonly recharge your Lith-Ion battery inside your airplane?

For saftey reasons, I always rechage my Lith-Poly batteries inside a clay planter placed on cold concrete.

I have never owned a Lith-Ion battery and don't know much about them.

Since Fromeco is recommending that users of the Triton which only charges at 7.2 and can't charge at 7.0 do so with very short leads, I am working on an assumption that charging a Lith-Ion battery via the charge jack is not a good idea because of saftey and because of the lead distance.

As always, thank you for your time and support of new modelers.

Vahn

[sweetpea]

Not sure what info you got there.....(maybe your talking about the Triton Jr)

The IONS are not as prone to exploding as the Polys. Most Giant Scale pilots charge there IONS in the plane.

I have used several different chargers......

Powerflite
old Fromeco charger
Triton
New ION cube from Fromeco

the triton will charge at 7.4v and 11.1 v (I've used both depending on the battery I'm charging)

You can also change the amps you put in. Typically on a 2400 or 4800 ION you charge from 1.5-2.5 amps.

I used quite a long extension and never noticed any problems with my batteries during or after a charge.

[OverTemp]

I charge mine in my plane with the Ion Cube. Don't tell AMA.

I use the Fromeco Regs with the switches built in. The only bad deal is if you are not going to fly your plane for more than a week you should unplug your batts since the regs drain a small current when off. The switches are present in the regs whether you order them with or without... it's in the reg chip itself... they are just always on when you order them without the switches.

I can't understand why I would add another switch in series with a reg that has a switch already built in... so I just take care not to leave them plugged in if I don't fly for a long time. It's lighter this way too.

It's bad to leave your plane fully charged all week... I charge the night before I fly anyway, though with the 5200s in my 40% I can get 2 weeks of flying out of 1 charge even if I leave the batteries plugged in... those are monster packs.

[luv2flyguy]

If I were you and you are going to use Fromeco batteries and regulators I think that I would use their Badger switch, it's failsafe and are about the same price of all the others on the market. I would not use the standard JR switch, I would go with a HD switch from someone like JR or Radical RC has a nice switch but these are not a fail safe switch.

[jaguar bone]

My switch of choice :
SOFT MOUNT ONE-PIECE CHARGE SWITCH with LED VOLTAGE DISPLAY
http://www.maxxprod.com/mpi/mpi-4.html
I like having a visual of the battery condition prior to starting up.
Since I use two switches with two batteries and a BATSHARE, fail safe is well - I believe, I have that concern covered too.
You will too - I bet.

[saflyer]

Check out the emcotec magnetic switches.
They are great and even have a ragulator versions with one or two LiXX options

[Vahn]

	Quote: Originally Posted by sweetpea
	Not sure what info you got there.....(maybe your talking about the Triton Jr)

I am talking about the Triton 1. Not the Triton Jr. The information came from the Fromeco KB directly.

http://www.fromeco.org/instantKB/article.aspx?id=10033

Thank you to everyone for your input and advice.