Battery what? I know you bought
a heli and you wondering why there are so many choices? Well, I'll do my best to clarify the wonders and way of the mystery
riddle of the Mah.
Mah to start with means
( milli amp hour) this is the amount of volt a battery can supply at a given rate pre hour. Exmaple: ( 3300 mah battery can
supply 3.3 amp or 3300 milli amps pre hour) So what this mean to you, it means more Mah at a given voltage draw will last
longer. Not so fast, more so in a flying RC, in are case Helis, more Mah may equal more weight in most cases. Ok you say I'll
balance weight against mah for the best choice for my heli. Sorry it's not that easy, we have another factor to deal with
you can have two batteries with the same Mah and weight and different C ratings. I know your saying, oh, come -
on now, what's this C stuff? C rating works this way some batteries can discharge at only 10 or 12 C while others allow 18
or 20 C. These are just examples, a high C rate is better than lower. The possiblity of ESC and motor damage due
to high current draw on a lower C rated battery can really cost you money. As well as shortening the life of your battery.
Batteries with higher C and Mah ratings have less life cycles and cost much more.( Life cycles are the number of times you
can discharge and recharge a battery) Ok now you want to know how this all plays out for you.
This is my thinking on this,
You can buy a battery with longer flight time per charge or a battery with shorter flight time and longer life cycles. I'm
cheap so I go with more life cycles and lower cost. than I buy two of them, giving me the same or greater flight times
and more filghts at less cost. Now this will differer from heli to heli and pilot to pilot, but in general a 1500 mah battery
against a 2200 mah battery same pilot and heli. The 2200 mah may fly 4-7mins longer. the really high Mah battery may cost
as high as $80 Usd with lower mah ranging from $30 - $40 Usd.
The biggest thing is to get a battery with enough C rating to handle your
helis current draw. Remember here more C is always better! One more tidbit in my line of thinking, giving the heli eletronics
a cool down while changing batteries I beleive will give you a chance to inspect it more often and extend your motor life.
That's just my opinion for what it's worth!
