radio control dangers eg, lipos and ic

pikpilot wrote: New member so just found this thread and thought I would pass on my experience.

Hello Michael & thanks for the input. .... I hope you like what you find in the forum & look forward to many more posts.

Polyphilla

Hi there pikpilot, and welcome to Modelchat Its great to see new peeps joining and feeling comfortable to post as well, they are all a friendly bunch on here so please feel free to post more, if you need anything or any info there is always someone about to answer!!

I think I will collect all the data on this thread when we have it all on and put together a safety sheet. would certainly help me as a newbie to the hobby

The type of charger is important.You need to charge lipos with a charger that has a balance plug for charging each cell equally.My charger automatically swiches itself off when a lipo is fully charged and balanced,even if the balance plug is not plugged in it stops when the battery is charged,You type in the battery you are charginf and that its a lipo,and the charger takes care of the rest.I store my lipos when not using them in a disused Microwave oven.Lipos are most likely to be damaged in a heavy crash.The lipo should be carefully inspected visually for any indication of damage.The charger should have the facility to dicharge a lipo.Disposal of a damaged lipo has a procedure where it is submerged for 24 hours in a bucket of salt water.Im not fully aware of the correct procedure for safely drowning a lipo ,so maybe someome else can help here.I have 10 lipos and never had a p[roblem.

Thanks Pik, welcome, I don't suppose I could ask you to post some details about yourself on the Newbie thread? We have very few rules here, but, the one that is rigid, we don't dis other forums, I know you haven't, I thought I'd just get it out there.

Welcome from me Pic. Enjoy this place as much as we do. We are a friendly bunch, and we do try to treat peeps like adults on here. Good point Kippy, and needs to be kept in mind.
However we do have mods, Garry, Kippy Pol and Mike.

Garry

Back on topic.
I have often heard on the news, "How dangerous the road are these days". Total load of rubbish. A road cannot be dangerous, its the peeps that are using it that are dangerous.
The same thing applies to lipos. They are safe if they are not touched, the only time they are dangerous is when some one starts , messing about with them, with a little or no knowledge of what they are doing.
I can only speak about my own experiances . I have been flying electric for 6 yrs , and have approx 20 flights per week, and have 14 lipos, so they are very well used. I am still using some lipos which were bought when I first started. In all this time I have had NO problem with any of the lipos, because 1 I know what I am doing and 2 I am aware of the possible dangers of what I am dealing with. With this knowlege I feel that I do not have any problems with electric flying, but even after saying that, I NEVER get complacent.

Maybe when this thread has run its course, and if members require it, I will produce a safety sheet on the operation and use of Lipos.

Garry

I for one would welcome a safty sheet or whatever you do, i have a lot of lipos many 6s ones
And when my second Revolver crash it had a brand new 6s 5000 lipo in it only on its fourth or fifth flight and it went up in smoke, i had my fire extiquisher from my jet with me but it would not stop it
i gathered the wreckage up and left the lipo there, went back for it two days later to dispose of it.

On another forum the question was asked what can be done to reduce the risk of a LiPo fire resulting from a crash.
In the poster's case it started a bush fire so not surprisingly the land owner banned flying from the field.

It set me thinking.
In the early days LiPos tended to be fairly small, the models relatively light and slow so the battery stood a reasonable chance of surviving a severe crash undamaged.

Now however its more likely the cost of big LiPos that limit the size, weight and speed of a model rather than the batteries capabilities but as is the case for almost anything, bigger also means structurally weaker so the chances of a big LiPo surviving a crash are much lower.

I suspect there is a point with big electric installations where the chances of a major fire after a crash become as high as with turbine powered models and should be treated in the same way.

I think bigger also means a more competant person who knows the correct installation and is a more experienced flyer therfore less likely to crash and BURN :blink: :blush: :oops:

Did you and I discuss size of models last time we met up Simon- or did I dream that conversation (brain is fried these days lol) When do model stop being models and become way too big to be safely flown as a RC because of the impact a crash would have, I wonder



IMHO- absolutely ridiculous and I wonder if there are any more safety rules put in place due to the size of this??

And PS- iI know thats Ali flying and he is one of the best. Am not disputing the safety of the pilot, I believe there are further tests as an RC pilot you need to take depending on other factors (???) -am disputing the safety of the size of plane with equipment as an RC by the way

willowlea wrote: Did you and I discuss size of models last time we met up Simon- or did I dream that conversation (brain is fried these days lol) When do model stop being models.......

Models omly stop becoming models when they crash. :whistle:

It needn't be that size Sarah, even a trainer can be terminal to life. :huh:

In the UK there are strict rules for planes over 20kg, in fact they can only fly with permission.
CAP 658 states
"All large model aircraft having a mass of more than 20 kg (mass of model and
equipment, but excluding fuel) require an exemption to fly."
and
"It is unlikely that an exemption will be issued without the condition that the model
must be flown within the ‘control’ of a recognised model association and at a suitable
site."
The LMA (Large Model Association) is such a body and they have quite strict rules to achieve the exemption, for example duplicate radio systems.

I am sure that designing, building and flying such large models is quite a challenge (and very expensive) but IMHO does seem to stretch the normal concept of 'model' planes.

hmmmmmmmmmmmm
i know my viscount would have been easier to build it it was 50% larger as i would have had more room to run all the wires and would have been able to fit retracts, also lager models are easier to get to a higher level of scale.
but i do sometimes think that they build big just to show off, mine is bigger than yours.
i have the 11' lancaster to finish and then i want to build a 8' wingspan hawker siddley trident.
i suppose its horses for courses.
some of the large models are awe inspiring, but do you need a 12' wingspan piper cub ?????
i could build a 20' wingspan model and as long as it was kept under 20kg i could fly it without caa approval.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

willowlea wrote: What do I need to buy to keep my lipos safe in a couple of weeks then?

A very important thing about Lipo safety that I haven't seen mentioned yet is about to hit us here in the UK with the onset of winter.
Many of us charge & store our batteries in an outdoor shed.... these sheds can get hot in the day & freezing at night.
The storage capacity of a Lipo varies according to its temperature. You could fully charge a 5000mAh lipo on a warm day & then leave it in a cold shed overnight ..... When its temperature drops, it suddenly becomes an overcharged 4000mAh battery & could be knackered.
This is one of the main reasons why decent chargers have a "Storage Charge" setting.

Pol.