newbie nimh battery question

[kobkobico]

Okay im kind of embarresed to ask this (the awnser is probably really easy) but why is it evan if I completely discharge the battery to the point where the engine can't run, take out the battery, and put it back in, there is quite a lot of juice left in them.
Thanks,
kobkobico

[Dave Robelen]

Hi,
You are probably dealing with the BEC (battery eliminator circuit) in your model. It shuts down the power to the drive motor while there is still enough left to work the controls. After a bit of a rest, the cells usually recover and can power the motor for a bit longer. At this point, they are still run down too lowe to be useful until they are recharged.
Regards, Dave

[kobkobico]

Oh, I get it,
Thanks dave :)

[aeajr]

minor update to this.

The BEC allows you to run your electronis off the same battery that runs your motor. Most electroncis are made to run on 4-6 volts. However many motor batteries run at higher voltages. So the BEC takes this higher voltage and only delivers 5 V to the electronics.

The LVC, low voltage cutoff, shuts power off to the motor when the voltage gets to low. This preserves power for the flight electronics so you don't lose control of the plane.

Not all ESC, electronics speed controls, have a LVC and some don't have a BEC, and some lack both.