Battery Pack Problems

Ok, this is very weird. I was hooking my battery pack, the one that comes with the starter kit, up to different things. I hooked it up to my rc plane and the propellar spun very fast. I tried to do it again, but it did not move. I opened up the lid to the battery pack and the batteries fell out. Also, there was a strange smell. I think somehow I shrunk the little springs that touch the negative side of the battery. When ever I go to put a battery in, they are very loose and just fall out. If any one has any idea what happened or how I coulde fix it please help.

Thanks,

-Ben

maybe the propeller was drawing too much current and the smell was the batteries leaking?

Inspect the plastic behind the metal springy bits. I suspect that the motor did draw a lot of current (as bloodsheddragon said), and that heated the metal springs causing them to melt into the plastic a bit. That would explain the smell and the loose fit. You may be able to fix this by just stretching the springs out a little.

Cheers,

  • Dean

Thanks for the help. You guys were both right. I think the motor caused the plastic to melt and to suck up some of the metal spring. Unfortunelty, I think the battery pack is broken beyond repair. When ever I try to pull the springs out they go right back. I guess I will have to order a replacement pack. Now the question is should I buy a replacement or should I buy the power pack accessory. O-well!

Thanks-

Ben

cough excuse to buy vex power pack cough

the pwoer pack was the third thing i bought (first being kit and second being easyc with hardware)

cough I would be if I had the money cough

I am just going to buy these 2 things from Radio Shack and wire them together. Does any one see any problems with this?

4 battery pack holder- http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062253&cp=&sr=1&origkw=battery+holder&kw=battery+holder&parentPage=search

2 battery pack holder- [http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062252&cp=&sr=1&origkw=battery+holder&kw=battery+holder&parentPage=search

Thanks](http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062252&cp=&sr=1&origkw=battery+holder&kw=battery+holder&parentPage=search)

it will work, but…

mounting that will be a real pain in the… neck, yeah neck.

Since you’re planning to replace the innards (at least the part with springs), you might try “hyperstretching” the springs beyond their normal stretching range to deform them to be permanently longer. I would recommend holding the end embedded in plastic with your fingers or needle-nosed pliers, to prevent the spring from being permanently yanked out of the plastic.

The worst that can happen is you’ll ruin the springs/plastic, which would have been replaced anyway.

2 battery pack holder- http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062252&cp=&sr=1&origkw=battery+holder&kw=battery+holder&parentPage=search

It should certainly work, and you can salvage the [Tamiya connector from the ruined battery box. It would be interesting to try making a ‘C’ or ‘D’ sized battery box and see how much more run-time you can get.

Cheers,

should work but try and use a DMM to make sure you’re getting the packs full potential of current and voltage, also make sure the readings are similar to a normal vex battery pack

There’s a cheaper alternative to the vex power pack if you don’t have the money. Radioshack sells a Vex compatible rechargeable 7.2V battery with 3 times the battery life of the IFI one, which would mean that you would only need to buy a battery charger for it and could buy the controller battery separately.

The 7.2 volt vex battery is 8 bucks cheaper than the radioshack one you listed (19.99)

Technic-R-C

umm… never mind. I forgot to check the pricing and thought that the Power Pack was more expensive than it actually is:(
that battery actually does have a longer life though.