Futaba 7C Transmitter Battery Charging

[paul&robinmargle]

Hi, I have an urgent question - We unwittingly tried charging the battery by removing it from the transmitter and plugging it via the wrong socket (receiver) into the charger. The manual says do not do this but doesn't say if this does any damage, it seemed to drain the charge a bit. We have time to recharge and but will it be ok for Duxford tomorrow?
Regards,
Robin

[Adrian Harris]

Hard to say whether it will have damaged it.

The receiver outlet will expect to charge to 4.8V (four cells), whereas the transmitter battery will expect to charge to 9.6V (eight cells).

I don't use the Futaba supplied chargers as they don't have any intelligence and just keep trying to put more charge in until you disconnect them.

I now use an intelligent charger from Hobby King, which detects the battery voltage automatically, and charges to the correct voltage depending on what size battery is connected. It also stops charging after a set period, which is handy to indicate when a transmitter battery has come to the end of its working life.

Adrian.

[Dennis Jones]

Unlikely any damage will have been done to either battery or charger. I have spliced a female socket in the tx charger lead so that you can charge tx battery out of the transmitter. Just make sure you get the polarity right if you are going to do it.

Dennis.