NCR18650B - Test Flight!

by MyGeekShow | March 22, 2014 | (13) Posted in Reviews

Last week I did some bench testing on the NCR18650B Lithium Ion cells, and the results were very promising, showing twice the energy density as a LiPo. This week I wanted to get the packs out of the lab and in the air on the Raptor 100 for some real life testing.

First I tested what the take off and cruise throttle was for the Raptor100, and then used a watt meter to determine the watts at those throttle settings. I found the same throttle setting for those same watts on the Li-Ion pack to ensure all was tested equal.

The throttle % was lower for the Li-Ion cells as they operate at a higher voltage, and I was able to match the same watt rate at about 4A, just over 1C for takeoff.

The plane flew just fine on the Li-Ion packs. I did some full throttles and hard climbs and this single 4S1P pack performed perfectly. The Raptor100 flew faster than it ever has before due to the higher voltage, and was easily traveling 100kph.

Now I'm off to build 6 more packs and put them on the Raptor140 for over 2 hours of flight time!

See you next week!

-Trent

Lithium-Ion Packs!
RTF Li-Ion Packs: http://store.mygeekshow.com/product-p/3.3a-4s-2c-battery.htm
Li-Ion Kits: http://store.mygeekshow.com/product-p/ncr18650b-pack-kit.htm
Single Cells: http://store.mygeekshow.com/product-p/ncr18650b-single-cell.htm

Raptor 100 Kits!
Kit: http://store.mygeekshow.com/product-p/raptor-100-kit.htm
ARF: http://store.mygeekshow.com/product-p/raptor-140-arf.htm

Learn More:
Raptor Details: http://www.mygeekshow.com/theairplanes/Raptor100.html
USA Trip Details: http://www.mygeekshow.com/usatrip/

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Filmed, Edited, Produced and Published by Trent in Arkansas, USA

COMMENTS

alibopo on March 22, 2014
Nice investigation - looking forward to seeing your endurance testing. What do you know about battery life etc? Do these have a shorter life expectancy than LiPo? Is there battery memory problems, recharge quirks? Cheers.
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Holski77 on March 22, 2014
These battery types are the same you can find in most smart phones, they behave very similarly to lipo batteries. If you look at MyGeekshow's past videos i believe he talks about some maintenance or at least voltage range and c rating for the battery.
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alibopo on March 22, 2014
I didn't know they were used in mobile phones - learn something new every day! :) Thanks, I'll have a look at some of the other MyGeekshow vids. They look pretty promising - improved time in the air is a definite attraction, as is power to weight, but I think the bottom line for most is "bang per buck" - over the lifetime of the battery how much time in the air will they get for their money. Cheers.
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MyGeekShow on March 22, 2014
There are rated to be charged hundreds of times, much further than your standard LiPo, however, we'll have to see! It essentially the same chemistry as many high tech electronics (laptops, cell phones, etc) and has great performance.
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alibopo on March 23, 2014
Thanks for the feedback - if they're 'safer' than LiPo in terms of charging peculiarities and fire risk etc, I could see them replacing LiPo quite quickly. The only other issue would be the green one - in theory LiPos are environmentally friendly, can the same be said about these Lithium Ion batteries?
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Foam Addict on March 22, 2014
Congrats! You are paving the way for a new Flight battery, which is never an easy thing to do.

It seems you have also discovered the joy of HVLC setups.

I may have to look at these batteries for some of my low power wings.
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MyGeekShow on March 22, 2014
Thank you! Isn't it an awesome hobby? So fun to see technology advance so quickly and add so much functionality.
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Battershell on March 22, 2014
Static testing like you displayed will yield higher than actual flight watts and amps. If the wind the prop was pushing was moving at flight speed the numbers would show lower. So in reality bench testing you have done pushed the battery slightly harder than real time flight. Good job overall
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MyGeekShow on March 22, 2014
Very true! This was "worst case scenario" and would under value it's abilities... Seems like I should try for a real endurance flight!
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Freaky_1 on March 23, 2014
You had my interest with the first installment. Now I'm intrigued for certain.
Was already looking at the cells for Tax use. I'd think you have some more testing as you've already alluxed, but I wonder if poof testing a few cells might be found in your future plans (abuse in use, overuse, charging, etc).

Either way, excellent proof of concept and thanks for clearing the path thus far.

Frank
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MyGeekShow on March 23, 2014
Thanks Frank! I'm super excited about them, they have a lot of promise...

As for abuse testing, I pushed one of these packs to full throttle on the Raptor 100, and it drew 12.6A, which is 3.7C! Now I wouldn't recommend doing that very long or very often, but it seems it capable of at least that at maximum.
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enivid on March 23, 2014
What about multirotors? Will their C rating requirements go beyond this pack?
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MyGeekShow on March 23, 2014
I'm not a quad master, but these cells like to operate at around 1C to 2C to keep them cool and maintain their long use life. So, if your quad drew 8A at 14.4v (115 watts!), you'd want 2 of these packs (operate at 1.2C), which would offer you roughly 40 minutes of flight with 480g of battery weight. Not bad!
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enivid on March 23, 2014
Maybe we should have the flitetest guys play around with these :).

Also are you considering making a more "rectangular" form-factor for your packs in addition to the square? Seems like it covers a lot of area even in your own flying wing design.
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NCR18650B - Test Flight!