Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

Great idea for using up a useless model, I guess it was just the drive train you had troubles with before you're using the hydraulic rams?

I'm interested to see how well this works with your B50?

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

My good luck with lipos just ran out 30minutes ago! :eek:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psoymn12vw.jpg

I was down in the basement loading the B50 with the JD850, heard a noise like something fell off the kitchen table... kept digging. Heard it again within a minute... went upstairs to see what's up? Small fire in the living room!

The glass jar with metal lid probably what I heard pop, contained most of the lipo explosion, but the glass jar still blew apart.

Grabbed an old coat & smothered the fire, immediately open front & back door, set up 24" fan at back door & cleared the smoke within 10 mins.

Cleaning up the mess, carpet is trashed... cut it out with my jack knife & pitched it out in the barrel.

That was a few month old higher end brand name lipo... how many times I have set the charger & LEFT the house?! Never again!

Charger goes to the shop, out in the middle of the cement floor, inside a metal box.

I was lucky! :) DAYUM I was lucky!!! :)

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...pstxsz2zqe.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ps0tqxviyo.jpg

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

Febreze is wonderful product, smells pretty good now throughout the house. :D

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

Holy crap joe ..thats frigging close ..Lipos are going out first thing ..this was on a charge ? and did your charger pack it in as well?

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

Holly LIPO Joe !
That's a wake up call that hits home. I am on my way to the garage to take my lipos out side.
Good thing you were home.
Greg

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

Joe, you were very lucky you heard it and went up to check. Looks like it had a good hold of the cardboard box too!!!
Rob

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

What kind of charger were you using? Only very few times have I ever left anything while charging. Like you I have always been in at least ear shot. That's very rare, was battery ever dropped? Damaged anyhow? You were lucky joe !!

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

Joe sorry to hear about your problem with the lipo battery did you have it in a lipo bag or just in the glass jar? If you had it in a lipo bag it moight have not done so much damage. I my self always charge lipo in a bag and stay with the lipo batteries when they are chargeing so I can disconect them right away. At Cabin Fever last week end while chargeing my lipo I had to tell people to stay back and give me some room because one of these batteries could explode especially kids. I guess we all need to live and learn and be more vigilant and not let our guard down when it comes to these batteries. Ed

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

Yes, it was on charge. No, not in a lipo bag. I have never dropped a lipo. That 3s looked like brand new, no puffiness to it at all.

It was this charger, though mine doesn't have any brand name stamped on it anywhere.
http://www.hobbypartz.com/thac6smbachw.html

Upon much thought, I'm 99% sure it was operator error, so don't go thinking lipos are unpredictable and unsafe...

1) I know I pulled a 4s lipo off the charger
2) I know I put a 3s in its place to charge
3) I can't remember if I change settings from 4s to 3s... if not?, why didn't the charger alarm sound off for wrong voltage limit? :thinking: :confused:
a) the charger is defective?
b) a full charged 3s might have been placed on wrong side of charger making me think it needed charging, and being full charged would put the voltage within the limits of low voltage on 4s. I don't remember looking at the starting voltage when starting to charge.

I got too complacent charging/using lipos & didn't follow my personal checklist to a "T"!!!

Putting this conveyer on my airdrill has been way more intensive this past week than I thought it be... tomorrow it should be working... I got it home today, hooked up to Big Red & discovered I made a minor mistake in the hydraulic plumbing, just gotta change a couple of fittings. .. another trip to town... :rolleyes:

And I got a call mid last week to do some custom wire rolling, 25miles from home. I was told it was less than 2miles of 4 wire, but it turned out to be just about 3miles of 4 wire, about 11actual miles of wire... it had to be done asap - changing landowners, renter didn't want to loose his fence material investment and it had to be done a certain way which made it more work & more time to do. Offloaded Ranger 9am Sunday morning - reloaded 9pm that night... now I was really tired & sore last night & usually an hour or so operating rc's is a great way to wind down & do something pleasureable...helps me sleep better... :rolleyes:

A moments inattention just about cost me my house.

I'm still gonna charge lipos out in the shop from now on, in a metal - fire proof box! It takes about 70 minutes for 3s & a 100 minutes for 4s; I'm not gonna sit there & watch each one charge. :rolleyes: But I will definitely never forget to follow my checklist at start of charge ever again to be certain everything is exactly as it should be! ;)

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

Lipos ......
I picked up an old wood burner fire place. The inclosed type with a glass door.
needed the high temp glass for my 3d printer bed. (May be an over kill in the glass department)
But the fire place is not that big and it sits nicely on the bench.
What better place to burn up a lipo.

Thats where I will be charging from now on, just in case.

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

I was hunting through the local junkyard this morning & found these old filing cabinets... I think I can make a charging station out of this so each lipo is in its own contained fire proof box & the charger will be too. ;)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psfzpkznfg.jpg

But in the meantime, I was getting low on charged lipos, so I set this up in the middle of the shop. I got this HiTec 4x charger from JDH429 last yr. :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...pswttamh6i.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psyiigoudf.jpg

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

I'm in the market for a new charger and was looking at that one. What do you think of it Joe?

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

It's just me but I would never use a lipo charger that doesn't support balancing lead connections. That is just asking for a fire.

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

I feel better now. I have all my lipos boxed up with my loader and tamiya semi + trailer.
Do you balance charge once every four charges, or something like that?
If you need longer/more balance leads, you can get them on Ebay.

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

This charger has balancing connections too. And I balance charge a brand new lipo the 1st 10x, then after that it's occasionally. All 4s lipos are Venom & 3s lipos are Team Enrichpower, whether balanced charge or straight charge, the ending capacity after it's charged has always been the same. And occasionally I'll balance charge to check for any anomalies.

But you're right Cooper... I checked last night after all 4 lipos (two 3s & two 4s) were charged, put a full charge 3s on 4s setting, set it to charge & it began charging a 3s on 4s setting without any alarms... that must have been what I had done Monday night.

I thought about it later, I should try plugging in balance circuit for a charged 3s lipo, then try 4s setting to see if alarms sound off. ;)

It's a great charger Kent. St Louis 2012, Nate brought one to the meet & there was another one there too; those two X4 chargers went hard all weekend charging everyone's batteries without skipping a beat!

Thanx for the tip Avel, the balance wires that come with this charger are like 3" long each... it would be a mini mega project to lengthen them all... hopefully whoever sells them ships internationally. ;)

When I set up my charging cabinet system, each box will be marked 1, 2, 3 & 4 to correspond with charger display and charge port #4 will be 4s only, as it's only the JD850 uses 4s. Nevertheless, I'll be watching carefully every time I start a charge & triple checking all settings are correct for what lipo is being charged. ;)

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

You are right joe not every time needs to run full balance. But,,, most chargers do the balancing at the last 10-5%. I always plug the balance leads in. That is how the charger knows if one cell is high or low. Think of it like if a couple cells are low and one high then the charger is trying to reach a certain voltage but not knowing one cell is high. That's the problem, it may over charge a cell. Without being more elaborate that it in a nutshell. And that is about the only time a battery will catch fire, if over charged.

I'm at work, taking a break and it's snowing!!! WTF????

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

i always balance charge all my lipos.. I dont see why you would not?

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

Wow...Glad to hear you caught the fire before it got out of control, Scary stuff.

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

And if you are using life batteries for your tx/Rx they can be left at full charge state in definately. It will not hurt them like it would a lipo. They are great replacements as their voltage is a little lower like 4AA for radios. And if you over charge them they will just spit out a black powder not catch fire. A little while back I saw a company that had military contracts for lithium based batteries. (Lipo and the sort) they had made a pack that could be shot, or have a nail driven into them and they did not catch fire or even die. They still made useable power. They would not however be able to be charged, kind of oblivious. :). Sometime in the future that technology will trickle down to us. Look on eBay if you do want to get longer balance leads, I hate that every charger company makes long charge cables but always manages to give you a short as possible balance cable!! And for any of you that use military ammo boxes for storing your batteries, good idea to drill a 1/2" hole in it (can put tape over it) that will let pressure out if lid is sealed, they can build up a lot of pressure when sealed up. Pressure = explosion. The hole lets it vent, if for some rare reason one decided to cook off.

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

Joe, just saw the pics of the lipo fire..wow i am glad it wasn't worse.

A retired friend of mine that i fly planes with just lost a large garage/building to a lipo charging fire.

I have a bunch of 6S batteries for my large heli and i always use the balance lead because like Cooper said if one cell is low or dead the charger won't know it without the balance lead connected and it will just keep charging.

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

I want to thank all who posted here about lipos I learned a lot just now . Thanks again . Mikev

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

That's a Big 10-4 Jason. Me too Scott, it was an eye opener & nearly a hard lesson learned too. ;)

Posting my screw-up, I thought I might be setting myself up for a flaming, but more importantly I thought it be educational for every one's benefit too... even a 20yr vet like me in this hobby has an occasionally brain fart that can be expensive or even possibly near fatal. :eek:

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

Glad to see this was a near miss episode and a great reminder for us all. It's when we all share experiences like this that keeps us vigilant and handle batteries with 100% focus.

this might sound crazy but Im thinking some kind of wireless camera or Closed circuit TV in my shop so I could be upstairs watching tv and still have an eye on them?

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

thanks joe now im scared silly of my 1 3s I have!!
glad nobody was hurt of worse

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

Yes joe, all the good stuff is fun to learn but the bad stuff is what teaches us!! I admit my location of my multiple batteries could be made better as now if one went it would most likely set off a chain reaction of all :(.

I think lipo batteries are like a crazy mistress , keep them happy and you will have lots of fun with them, treat um bad and they will burn your house down !!! Lol!!

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

When I changed over to lipo I charge only under supervision and in ammo box. So far so good........

Happy it was not worse for you Joe. Is defiantly an eye opener!

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

The problem with those balance plugs for me is my dink fingers, easy enough to plug together, but getting them apart again without tearing a wire off.:rolleyes: Balance plugs will definitely prevent an incident like I had last week.

That was my original idea with the cookie jar Mario when I started with lipo 4yrs ago, my comfy chair is line of sight 6 feet away while I play on the puter or watch TV. ;)

Scared makes you more focused not to screw up Mark, you're welcome. :p

Great analogy RW :D

Cheers Shawn. :)


I've been hauling dirt out all week, get home from working in my dad's yard all day about 7:30 & haul till about 8:45 or so... it's almost pitch black outside, I can't see the B50 backing up across the pile, but the back up cam will still show a picture with a clear view like the sun is still in the sky! The sun light has to be completely gone gone before the b/u cam blacks out.

I'll have to go measure the pile again, I might have surpassed 7cu yd by now in 5wks, I'm just about completely out of dirt to haul, I need some rainy days to replenish the pile. :D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...pshj40bo8n.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psjjozncp6.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...pssx4dhf4y.jpg

Perhaps by the time I'm done spring planting a goodie box from Germany will have arrived so I can get my pup mobile for B50 & start hauling that pile outside to build up the foundation around lean-to... I got a roofer crew coming sometime June to shingle south side of house & that pile outside is directly below - in their way. I'll get moved what I can, then use the farm FEL to do the rest. :(

If I would have gotten more organized this winter & learned tig welding, maybe I could've would've had my B4206 with belly dumper road train built & be moving two 5gallon pails of earth at a trip :D... next yr's to-do list. ;)


Rain today, possibly snow tomorrow... I finished up yesterday getting all my machinery ready for race day when the sun shines again, looks like next week it may not drop below zero anymore either, hopefully. Last couple yrs I started seeding May 14th, last time I started this early was 2012 & that was a lottery yr across the board; big crops, high quality, top dollar! Here's hoping for a repeat! :)

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

Joe, I know they make little plastic adapters for balancing plugs. They simply snap on and give you a lot better finger hold without pulling on wires but pulling on connector. They make them specific for 2s, 3s, ect.... Small too, can left on. I'll try and find them and post a pic or link.

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

If the link doesn't work look up on eBay , lipo balance plug protector clip
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from...clips&_sacat=0

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

Thank you RW. :)

I went with these... don't need 10, I guess I'll see if a 4s protector will work for 3s too. :thinking:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10x-AB-Clip-...item5d4db16962


So I put in the ebay search "longer lipo balancing wire connections" - got nothing. What would be the correct terminology?

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

I'm pretty sure you can use a larger protector for smaller plug. Just type lipo balancing lead
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from...+lead&_sacat=0

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

Looks like 30cm is the longer ones, should be able to plug multiple extensions into each other to give you longer if needed. Jst-xh (I think) are the more common ends.

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

Great! Thanx again RW. :)

I sent one of the USA sellers (ships worldwide) an email to see if they make or could order me 24 inch length, two 3s & two 4s leads.

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

Alrighty! I got three 24" 3s & one 24" 4s coming from this Ca, USA seller. :)

http://stores.ebay.com/3dRCparts/_i....&_sid=55305087

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

i see your still at it joe.

skip

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

I finished seeding at 10am this morning, parked Big Red in front of the shop & dropped the oil... taking the rest of the weekend off! 3 weeks straight with a few wrecks along the way... I hope I don't have another yr like this one! :eek:

So this afternoon I got busy in my workshop working on my adt pup again... finished the pintle plate, pintle & mounted it to the B50. The plate & pintle in the paint booth now.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psqfhdux9d.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...pstdlzjkwj.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psxoy3uapp.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psarj5vxm7.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psg5grepgt.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ps49u2oi2z.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psvuedsfkr.jpg

I'll spend tomorrow drilling out the cyl fitting holes so I rethread bigger nipples for faster dump cycles, keep up with the B50's capacity. ;)

I had the occasional early night in from the field to do some hauling out, holding pile hole is getting pretty empty now! I'll have lots space for storing dug earth next winter. :D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...pseoc6ijyu.jpg

Got this bit of lumpy dirt to screen & crush on rainy days the next month or two before hauling it as well.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psiguyp08g.jpg

I made this vid the Sunday before I started planting.

https://youtu.be/MOhkr-a6F6s

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

Yesterday morning it was snowing from 6 to 11am, then it cleared off... good day to work in the shop... 3pm a province wide blackout to 11:30pm... 3wks staring out a window to pound in the crop - to staring out livingroom window with no power & too wet outside to do anything... what a waste of a day!

So today the sun is shining & I'm gonna have some fun moving the pile outside... but guess what? Suddenly I was popular with visitors - 1 guy looking for durum seed to finish planting, then another stuck in a slough - needs a pull and lastly a health care worker stopped by for a survey...

4pm

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...pspg6wmj1v.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psnncbeyqf.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...pslyc1zd1x.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psaxrlvslq.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psben5dbyb.jpg

Then the foreman stopped by for an inspection... she's a bit of a bytch, but gave me paws up on a job well done. :D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psewdh8a0q.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psfvgip3qw.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psnsxy90v1.jpg

Then I made it rain with the sprinkler can, crust up that clay for good traction & compaction. ;)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...pstoodescq.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psncdaxx7s.jpg


Special note to Reg: not a shovel or rake on site, all done with rc. ;) :D

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

Looking good Joe. I use up all my patience in the shop. I don't have any left sometimes to use on the RC park so I use a shovel instead of my excavator.lol I admire your dedication to doing all this work using only the models. You buy kits and put them to work, I build things from scratch and then use hand tools to build my play area. I think it averages out.;)

Always enjoy the pictures and videos! Keep em comin!

Re: LilGiantsConstrCO
 

Joe I have a question for you.I know it's farmland so the soil is very good but I hardly ever see rock in the dirt you dig. How far down can you dig there before you hit a lot of rock or hardpan? There is a lot of rock here and hardpan isn't too far down in most places so it's tough digging even for real equipment. Just curious what it's like there?