B&H solo battery
- Thread starter Hawk
- Start date
This is getting nuts. They must have a ton of them yet and are worried about getting stuck with them. They were already beating the best price on Amazon.
One has to wonder if the price on these is going to follow the same pattern as the prices on the gimbals...
A new controller increased to $499.95, and the larger controller battery increased to $29.95, but the Solo battery has been reduced to $29.95...
None of this makes any sense to me...
None of this makes any sense to me...
It's funny - right below the $499.95 price for the spare controller, they have a link to two used ones in like new condition for $30. It makes you wonder how they come up with these prices.
last week they had the remote control battery on sale for $9.95, so I think they just rotate the discounts
i think the new controller price is a mistake. It was 49.99 last week. I just bought 4 batteries from them at $35..and a device holder for 9.95 (now 19.95). I wonder if they'll credit me on the batteries?? lol
Exactly what I just did for the battery. Chat with them and within 30 seconds they credited back $19 to my credit card account.
lol....looks like they do have a few put back. I imagine the parts market pricing will be getting out of hand pretty soon. Even the referee's on eBay are going up in price
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Anyone have any practical knowledge of how long an unused LiPo battery remains viable? I have several never used single cell LiPo's for a little Sums that I've had stored away for 2 years with a charge of 3.80 volts on them, and they still have that exact same charge after all this time. Assuming the last Solo battery was built 18 months or so ago, it'll be interesting to put some on the shelf another couple of years and see how they hold up about 4 years after being manufactured.
What I've read is about 2-3 years as new. At what temp the batteries are shelved at is the variable that determines the shelf life of a NIB battery. Naturally the battery capacity will degrade in time. So a NIB 2015 battery back in 2015 would provide 16-18 minutes and the same in 2018 would provide 12-15 minutes. Subjective opinion as to flight times, ymmv.
It is recommended to fly softly down to 50% the first few chargings with your New LiPo's. I documented my original batteries, Sept. 2015, and the recommendation did prove out. I'm still using #1 & 4 which were flown with this method, 2 & 3 died a young life and had hard flying out of the box. Just my shared experience and assume all batteries are created equal when manufactured, again ymmv...
Also to add, I typically fly in plus 90 temps. Store batteries at room temp and as depleted during my flying season as a weekend warrior. Charged the night before an outing. Batteries not used during a session are left to self drain as is common. My batteries perform poorly in coldish weather of less than 45 degrees. Which is somewhat good as I don't like the cold...
It is recommended to fly softly down to 50% the first few chargings with your New LiPo's. I documented my original batteries, Sept. 2015, and the recommendation did prove out. I'm still using #1 & 4 which were flown with this method, 2 & 3 died a young life and had hard flying out of the box. Just my shared experience and assume all batteries are created equal when manufactured, again ymmv...
Also to add, I typically fly in plus 90 temps. Store batteries at room temp and as depleted during my flying season as a weekend warrior. Charged the night before an outing. Batteries not used during a session are left to self drain as is common. My batteries perform poorly in coldish weather of less than 45 degrees. Which is somewhat good as I don't like the cold...
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I guess I didn't realize they stopped manufacturing batteries back in 2015! I have 5 in various stages of use, all working great, but couldn't help ordering 2 more this week for $30 each delivered. Plan is to verify they're charged at 3.80 for storage (using that nifty battery analyzer tool from Andre that hopefully comes in the mail soon), place them in an ammo box with a few vent holes drilled in it (my preferred LiPo storage container), and store them. I'm thinking checking internal resistance over time for each cell would be a good indicator of health, but I can't recall if Andre's tool can read that. I haven't read where anyone has successfully replaced the cells in a Solo battery... sure would be nice to keep these things flying until a good process is developed for that. Maybe stem cells...
What I've read is about 2-3 years as new. At what temp the batteries are shelved at is the variable that determines the shelf life of a NIB battery. Naturally the battery capacity will degrade in time. So a NIB 2015 battery back in 2015 would provide 16-18 minutes and the same in 2018 would provide 12-15 minutes. Subjective opinion as to flight times, ymmv.
It is recommended to fly softly down to 50% the first few chargings with your New LiPo's. I documented my original batteries, Sept. 2015, and the recommendation did prove out. I'm still using #1 & 4 which were flown with this method, 2 & 3 died a young life and had hard flying out of the box. Just my shared experience and assume all batteries are created equal when manufactured, again ymmv...
Also to add, I typically fly in plus 90 temps. Store batteries at room temp and as depleted during my flying season as a weekend warrior. Charged the night before an outing. Batteries not used during a session are left to self drain as is common. My batteries perform poorly in coldish weather of less than 45 degrees. Which is somewhat good as I don't like the cold...
So, store them depleted? I thought best practice was to charge them up to about 4 lights. I usually just charge them fully, and then top them off before the next flight.
This probably explains my growing stack of shot batteries. In the deep-cycle world, the worst thing is to deplete a battery and leave it discharged...old habits die a slow death.
This probably explains my growing stack of shot batteries. In the deep-cycle world, the worst thing is to deplete a battery and leave it discharged...old habits die a slow death.
Still seems to be a lot of confusion in the minds of many as to the workings of a Solo "Smart" battery. First and foremost, the last run of batteries was 11/2015. Lipo batteries produce current by merit of a chemical reaction. The older the battery the more this reaction deteriorates which directly effects thier capacity. In our case less mAh means less flight times. When a lipo's charge drops below a tollerable level it becomes unstable sometimes expanding and sometimes even catching fire.
The BMS onboard every Solo Battery regulates it's charging cycle and most importantly it auto drains the cell pack equally and to a level (54-56%) considered optimum for storage. On board circuitry also communicates real time battery data to the Solo while in flight.
It has been posted many times by those who purchased their Solos when batteries were fresh that they have gotten well over 200 sorties on a battery and that flight times were as much as 20 minutes and higher.
As the oldest batteries are approaching their third birthday the chemically depleted cells are rendering reduced flight times and are beginning to outright fail.
There are four cells in each pack which are individually monitored during flight. If any one drops below 3.0v a failsafe triggers the RTL many of us have expierenced.
The Battery Calibration attempts to equalize or "flatten" the individual cells which if successful can extend the life of a decent battery. It can not resurrect a defective battery.
Batteries being liquidated today are two or more years old. Their chemical composition deteriorated. Some will provide good service especially considering their discounted cost. Remember these batteries sold originally for $150.
Those that are taking advantage of the blow out prices should be sure to check if the Battery is still viable. The tester or Solex Battery Drain may not flush out a bad cell. Cells can measure up but fail once put under a load.
The BMS onboard every Solo Battery regulates it's charging cycle and most importantly it auto drains the cell pack equally and to a level (54-56%) considered optimum for storage. On board circuitry also communicates real time battery data to the Solo while in flight.
It has been posted many times by those who purchased their Solos when batteries were fresh that they have gotten well over 200 sorties on a battery and that flight times were as much as 20 minutes and higher.
As the oldest batteries are approaching their third birthday the chemically depleted cells are rendering reduced flight times and are beginning to outright fail.
There are four cells in each pack which are individually monitored during flight. If any one drops below 3.0v a failsafe triggers the RTL many of us have expierenced.
The Battery Calibration attempts to equalize or "flatten" the individual cells which if successful can extend the life of a decent battery. It can not resurrect a defective battery.
Batteries being liquidated today are two or more years old. Their chemical composition deteriorated. Some will provide good service especially considering their discounted cost. Remember these batteries sold originally for $150.
Those that are taking advantage of the blow out prices should be sure to check if the Battery is still viable. The tester or Solex Battery Drain may not flush out a bad cell. Cells can measure up but fail once put under a load.
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