mrlikescheese

Im kind of new to RC airplanes and was wondering how to make my own battery packs to save some money.Does any one know how or where to find out?

Mr67Stang

Yes, The electrics forum Seriously the guys over there will lead you in the right direction. I am not sure you will save money by building your own packs but I'm a greasy nitro guy, what do I know?

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

For the most part it's usually not worth the hassle to try and make your own packs to save a couple of buck. The reason is because when soldering if you get the top/bottom of the battery too hot it melts the internal seals inside the battery, and the battery is shot after that. It will become unreliable if that seal it gone. How hot is too hot? 2-3 seconds of heat can be too much. Because of that you get a real balancing act trying to get everything hot enough to make a good solder joint. So if you are careful to not get it too hot you end up with a bad solder joint, which can cause a crash from loss of power. IMHO it's better to just buy the batteries from a reputable source and know that they are built properly. A good source of information about all things concerning RC batteries is [link=http://www.rcbatteryclinic.com]www.rcbatteryclinic.com .

Hope this helps

Ken

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Hey! It's one of the Alex guys!

Hi Bob, I used to wire up my own packs all the time. Like ken said, you don't want to hold the heat there too long. The trick is to use a soldering GUN instead of an iron. If the battery doesn't have tabs, clean the contact good and sand it to get down to really clean metal. Add a little flux, then get the gun hot and melt some solder on the tip. Touch the tip to the end of the battery just long enough for the solder to get a good grip, then remove the iron.

Do this to all of the cells on both ends. "Tin" the ends of all your wires before attaching them to the batteries - That will help keep heating time to a minimum.

When everything is tinned, place a wire to a cell, and add the gun just till they meld together.

P-40 DRIVER

No point in risking an expensive plane to save a couple of bucks, Leave pack building to the pros. The fact your asking these questions means your probably not qualified to make receiver packs. If you would like to make some battery packs, by all means develop your skills, just don't make reciever or transmitter packs untill you really know what your doing. Most high quality packs are welded anyway, which is not something you can duplicate at home. The guys who really make it in this hobby learn quickly how minimize possible failure points in thier aircraft and do everything they can to ensure reliability. Battery packs are a critical component and should be treated as such.

bigedmustafa

My Feedback: (2)

I was working on getting good solder joints while attaching Deans Ultra connectors to an ESC and a couple of LiPo packs for the last couple of evenings. I'm thinking that paying more would have been a lot more fun.

I accidentally breathed in some smoke from the flux I was using. Man is that ever nasty!

Just pay double, it's much easier.

Dr1Driver

Listen to RCKen. Building a RELIABLE battery pack while not ruining the batteries in it is not easy. It's not worth the effort for the money you save. Check out the other recent thread on this subject for more opinions.

Dr.1

aerowoof

by the time you add the cost of batteries,solder,wire,connecters and shrink wrap how much are you saving?how much do you trust your solder joints?proper soldering techniques is almost a lost art these days,a lot of us older flyers built our own equipment out of neccessity[heathkit] and since they closed up there is not too much electronic kit building going on any more.

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

I don't know if you have one of these stores where you live, but they are worth it if you do. [link=http://www.batteriesplus.com]www.batteriesplus.com[/link] . They custom build your packs for you. They will spot weld the cells into the pack, let you inspect the spot welds, shrink wrap the pack, and if you take them the proper connector they will solder on the battery connector. a 2500 Mah Ni-mh 4 AA-cell pack cost me $15 plus tax. Personally I haven't seen better deals than this. Plus they use top quality cells, not the crap that others use. worth a look if you can.

Ken

scratchonly

Google "hangtimes hobbies". Good service, brand name batteries. I don't think you can build a 800 MA pack for this price.

Trollmaster

So, Does this involve a bag of "russets" and duct tape?

scratchonly

Huh?

ELTIGRE

well these guys make some valid points however there are some good reasons to make your own packs and IT IS NOT THAT HARD IF YOU ARE WILLING TO LEARN. saving $$ is rather minimal but can ad up. Not every place has a convienient hobby shop or electronics store nearby and open when you need it.some times you will need a custom pack or modify a pack to your needs. almost certainly you will find the need to attach connectors.are you going to wait untill they open up & be totally dependent on someone else? besides, just how do "they" do it?- by applying a learned skill. you will find plenty of uses for the investment in a good solder iron ( you do not need a gun-infact a gun can cause problems sometimes. the proper wattage for the task is what is important .cleanliness & quality components . spot welding is not always that good a way to attach cells -just a quick way for mfgrs. it is not neccesary to over heat cells to solder. Keith Shaw proved that. you may have heard of him?? pre tinning the cells will go a long way to ease process.use a light pana vise to hold the cells while soldering. use copper braid wicking - works superbly to attach cells.screwdriver pressing down the braid holds it in place & draws away excess heat that may accumulate.

mrlikescheese

My signature says "My name is NOT Bob".
ill look for cheeper batteries instead of trying to make them cuz i havent soldered much befor.

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Oh, sorry Not bob

Swager

My Feedback: (1)

Got mine at Hangtime's Hobbies.

Great Workmanship! Quality packs!