B3 Charger Broke?

[mmartinez85]

Manual says when you plug it in LEDs should go from red to green. They just all light up green immediately and stay that way when I plug it in. No battery.

Issue is I think my battery is dead. Not powering receiver. Not powering servo tester. This is my first build (FT Tutor) and I haven't charged since I started the build and I also left the battery plugged into the plane last night (lesson learned). Was gonna run to the hobby store but was hoping someone with the same charger could help first.

 

[cjhagemeyer]

I don’t know if I had that same charger, but when I got into the hobby I had one similar. And when you plug the charger in the green lights come on, but then when you plug the battery in they turn red while it charges and then will turn green when it’s done

 

[cjhagemeyer]

Also you might think about picking up a lipo checker and alarm, they are about $3 and they are super handy to check the voltage of your lipo to see if it’s change discharged or had a dead cell or something like that

 

[Shurik-1960]

https://aliexpress.ru/item/32257068545.html?sku_id=12000033043773691&spm=a2g2w.productlist.search_results.8.1b5d6b0fvHKDZb

https://aliexpress.ru/item/1005005813022089.html?sku_id=12000034441905196&spm=a2g2w.productlist.search_results.6.1b5d6b0fvHKDZb

If you like aircraft modeling and you want to study for a long time and fly a lot- Buy these two things and you will be happy: you can quickly see the battery charge of the TPO banks, and putting it on the plane - by squeak, understand that you need to sit down. This kind of charging has been working for me for more than 10 years. I charge the batteries and transfer the batteries to long-term storage when I'm not flying.

 

[Mr NCT]

Also you might think about picking up a lipo checker and alarm, they are about $3 and they are super handy to check the voltage of your lipo to see if it’s change discharged or had a dead cell or something like that

I'm a big fan of those, too. You can get them here at the FT Store
Or Amazon

 

[mmartinez85]

Thanks folks. Will check out those doohickeys. I do think my charger is broke. Went and got a new battery yesterday and it worked fine. When I plug the dead one into my current charger, all the lights remain green. Left it charging overnight, still dead. Got a new charger coming today so we'll see.

 

[mmartinez85]

So looks like battery FT shipped with the kit decided to break. I get nothing from it and no indication that it's plugged into either of my chargers. New battery is fine though. Saga over.

 

[CappyAmeric]

Manual says when you plug it in LEDs should go from red to green. They just all light up green immediately and stay that way when I plug it in. No battery.

Issue is I think my battery is dead. Not powering receiver. Not powering servo tester. This is my first build (FT Tutor) and I haven't charged since I started the build and I also left the battery plugged into the plane last night (lesson learned). Was gonna run to the hobby store but was hoping someone with the same charger could help first.

If you left a battery connected to the plane overnight, it likely dropped below the minimum voltage that most chargers will permit a charge cycle on a LIPO.

 

[mmartinez85]

Did not know that 🤦

 

[mmartinez85]

What's the best way to know while flying that your battery is low? I see something like below. I've also read some people just set their own timers based on the type battery they have. The little devices above look like they just alert from the unit... so if the plane is flying do you even hear it?

Quanum Pocket Vibration Telemetry Voltage Meter With Alarm (869.5Mhz FM)

Quanum Pocket Vibration Telemetry Voltage Meter With Alarm (869.5Mhz FM)

hobbyking.com

 

[CappyAmeric]

Did not know that 🤦

You can revive a dead LIPO, although there are some risks with it. Some people say it isn't worth it, but I have done it many times. If you have a charger that can charge LiOn or LIFE or even NiCad, you can setup a charge to get it above 3.3 volts, then the LIPO setting can be used to take it to Storage voltage or Full Charge. Caution: Only put a LIPO on another setting if you WATCH it, and stop it when it gets to 3.3 volts.

 

[RossFPV]

What's the best way to know while flying that your battery is low? I see something like below. I've also read some people just set their own timers based on the type battery they have. The little devices above look like they just alert from the unit... so if the plane is flying do you even hear it?

Quanum Pocket Vibration Telemetry Voltage Meter With Alarm (869.5Mhz FM)

Quanum Pocket Vibration Telemetry Voltage Meter With Alarm (869.5Mhz FM)

hobbyking.com

You can use something like this https://store.flitetest.com/battery-checker-alarm-1-8s/ i have one for while flying and i can hear it no problem, its just as loud as a fire alarm.

 

[cjhagemeyer]

What's the best way to know while flying that your battery is low? I see something like below. I've also read some people just set their own timers based on the type battery they have. The little devices above look like they just alert from the unit... so if the plane is flying do you even hear it?

Quanum Pocket Vibration Telemetry Voltage Meter With Alarm (869.5Mhz FM)

Quanum Pocket Vibration Telemetry Voltage Meter With Alarm (869.5Mhz FM)

hobbyking.com

What I like to do is use a batter checker/alarm and time the first few flights. After I set a timer on my radio and no longer use the alarm because in a crash the alarm tends to eject from plane never to be found again (except by my dog 🤣🤣)

 

[mmartinez85]

You can use something like this https://store.flitetest.com/battery-checker-alarm-1-8s/ i have one for while flying and i can hear it no problem, its just as loud as a fire alarm.

Gotcha. Didn't realize those were as loud as a fire alarm and you could hear them while flying.

 

[Shurik-1960]

To restore the battery, you can use any charger from an old phone with 5 volts and at least 2 A. But first, the tester determines the charge on the banks, making measurements on the balancer. If the charge on the jar is less than 3.7V, normal charging does not see the jar and does not charge.You need to connect 5 volts to this jar: + to + and - to minus and monitor the voltage on the jar with a tester.When the voltage on the bank reaches 3.8-4.0 V, you can move on to the next bank. When there are 3.8-4.0 volts on all banks, the battery can be connected to any charge and the charge will go.I have restored more than 10 batteries this way.