February 2006 155
Focus on Competition
couple things lately I’d like to share with
you.
Many Lithium battery packs come with
two connectors installed on them: one to
charge through and one to discharge
through. Typically on those smaller packs
that come with connectors preinstalled, the
discharge side has a two-pin Deans
connector with one pin exposed (one male,
one female). The charge connector on these
packs is often a BEC (JST)-type female
connector.
This is usually a safe arrangement that
helps keep you from attempting to charge
or discharge from the wrong side of the
safety circuitry. However, that single
exposed pin has been known to work its
way into the slots on the JST connector and
cause a short. This is not going to happen
while the discharge connector is plugged
into your ESC, but it can happen when the
pack is being transported.
Michael Ramsey (MA associate editor)
realized this problem and came up with two
methods to minimize the potential of a
problem. He found a rubber cap at the local
home-improvement store (1/4 inch) that fits
neatly over the Deans connector to cover
the exposed pin. This cap is installed
anytime the pack is not plugged into an
ESC. You can also wrap tape around the
Technical Director Steve Kaluf
IN MID-OCTOBER 2005 the Competition
Department met with the AMA FAI
Executive Committee to discuss the
procedures we utilize to govern our
handling of the team, we send to World
Championships. Prior to this meeting we
spent a great deal of time doing an
administrative rewrite of the document that
sets these procedures for us.
During the course of the meeting our
suggested changes were presented to the
committee, and many other changes were
discussed. The result is a new document
with many adjustments to the procedures
we use to manage and select World
Championships teams. We now have a
method in place to establish, maintain, and
remove teams from the program.
Team funding amounts and methods of
funding have also changed to some degree.
This revised document has been mailed to
all Team Selection Committees and
program participants. If this program is of
interest to you, please contact the
Competition Department for a copy of the
document.
The Rules Change Cycle continues with the
Cross Proposal Phase. During the time
period of January 1, 2006-March 1, 2006,
we are accepting cross proposals to the basic
proposals that passed the initial ballot in late
2005.
Cross proposals are an alternate means of
accomplishing the objective of a basic
proposal which has passed the initial ballot.
All received cross proposals will be
published to the AMA Web site by March
15, 2006.
The cross proposals and all proposals
that are similar to another proposal will be
voted on in early April. For complete
information please see www.modelaircr
aft.org/Comp/proposals.htm.
Lithium Battery Safety: This seems to be
an ongoing topic as this battery technology
becomes more and more popular. I’ve seen a
connector, as I did until I could purchase
some caps.
The other suggestion he had was to
shorten the length of the charge lead to the
point where the pin cannot reach the
connector. Michael originally did this by
simply looping the lead back on itself and
securing with a nylon wire tie. Those are
pretty good ideas if you ask me!
I’ve also heard of accidents that may
have been caused by attempting to charge a
fully charged pack. Some chargers seem to
have the capability to overcharge a fully
charged pack in the first few minutes of
operation, before the charger switches to the
automatic mode. I have not been able to
verify that this has actually happened, but it
does seem possible.
The point is to know the status of each
of your packs, how your charger operates,
and that you are using the correct charger
for the pack you are attempting to charge.
From my experience it seems that 99.9% of
Lithium-battery accidents are caused by
something the operator did improperly.
Li-Poly and Li-Ion battery packs are not
Ni-Cd battery packs; they require special
care and feeding. Please treat them with the
respect they deserve.
Til next time … MA
2006 Key Dates
February 24 - 26
WRAM Show 2006
White Plains NY
March 1 - 5
Florida Jets
Lakeland FL
April 7 - 9
Toledo Show 2006
Weak Signals R/C Exposition
Toledo OH
April 4 - 10
Sun n’ Fun
Lakeland FL
April 26 - 30
Top Gun
Lakeland FL
May 6 - 7
RCX Radio Control Expo
Anaheim CA
May 30 - June 4
Indoor Free Flight National
Championships
Johnson City TN
July 24 - 30
EAA AirVenture
Oshkosh WI
July 4 - August 6
Outdoor National Aeromodeling
Championships
AMA International Aeromodeling Center
Muncie IN
(Events attended by AMA HQ staff and/or officers)
December 2005
World Record Updates
F3 (Aeroplane [Pylon Racing], Piston Motor)
No. 83: Speed in a Closed Circuit
Christopher Callow Australia 56.9 seconds 08/25/05
02sig5.QXD 12/22/05 12:40 PM Page 155
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/02
Page Numbers: 155