AeroBird Challenger Charger Problems

[flynColorado]

My aerobird challenger wont keep a charge for more than 3 mins. I bought a new battery and got the same results. I have confirmed my charger is set on the correct setting. Has anyone else had this problem or know how to fix it?

Thanks

Safe flying

[Walks]

My aerobird challenger wont keep a charge for more than 3 mins. I bought a new battery and got the same results. I have confirmed my charger is set on the correct setting. Has anyone else had this problem or know how to fix it?

Thanks

Safe flying

Hey Fly, you might want to post this under the battery section for those who know more about it but since the same thing happened to a new battery I'd be curious if its not your battery and may be the charger itself. Also, did you completely discharge the battery before charging? In other words, hook up the battery to the plane, turn on the transmitter, and put the throttle on low to run the battery out (obviously while holding down the plane). When you charge it back up put the charger on a lower setting. It will take longer to charge but it will give it a deeper charge. Finally, batteries can give you "false" charges meaning the light will stop blinking but its really not fully charged.

So, first, discharge the battery completely; set the charger on a lower setting (.8); let it charge up until the light stops blinking; take the battery of the charger for a minute then hook it back up. Repeat the last until the charge light doesn't blink or the intervals when it stops is very short (less than 30 seconds).

Hope that helps.

Walks

[bigedmustafa]

I had problems with my 12v car charger "false peaking" and saying the battery was fully charged when it wasn't.

My solution? I bought an AC charger for $9.99 at my local hobby store. Now I charge my Aerobird batteries at home and I simply use the car charger to "top them up" when I'm on my way to the field.

To be blunt, neither the included 12v charger nor the AC charger by Hobbyzone are particularly high quality. Getting a good field charger from Hobbico or another manufacturer might be a prudent investment if you want to recharge your batteries on the fly.

[jutty]

The cheap pin connections might be enlarged and not getting good contact. I had this problem in flight:-( You cna use a small nail or a scribe and close the female portion a little. It helped me for awhile..... I switched everything to Deans plugs.

[Dr_Who77]

My aerobird challenger wont keep a charge for more than 3 mins. I bought a new battery and got the same results. I have confirmed my charger is set on the correct setting. Has anyone else had this problem or know how to fix it?

Thanks

Safe flying

What do you mean the ABC won't keep a charge? You mean the plane wont fly for more then 3 minutes, or the motor wont run for more than 3 minutes? Problem is probably the battry but could alos be in the plane. Too much load on the motor? If all is stock and you can only get 3 minutes, I say the battery is not getting charged. Get a better charger, like a Triton. Check Tower Hobbys for chargers. Be careful not to overcharge the battery, charge at 1 amp if pack is 900 mA rated (for NiCad or NiMH).

Dr_Who77

[Taylorcraft]

flynColorado,

One other thing is if you have a charger intended for a smaller battery pack than the one you have (IE charger is for a 7.2V pack and you're using a 8.4V pack) and the charger isn't of the delta peak type, you've most probably found the problem there. Also, using a NiCD charger with NiMH battery packs WILL cause errors, since the NiMH cells have a different delta peak than the NiCD type cells.

Since you've tried several battery packs with the same result, there's nothing wrong with the packs themselves. I fully agree with the previous answers here, you'd be best off with a "real" charger even if it will cost you more than the original charger costs.

Brg

Taylorcraft
____________________________________
Given enough power even a brick will fly.
But the lighter the brick, the better it flies!