LilGiantsConstrCo

[SmallHaul]

Joe, just saw the pics of the lipo fire..wow i am glad it wasn't worse.

A retired friend of mine that i fly planes with just lost a large garage/building to a lipo charging fire.

I have a bunch of 6S batteries for my large heli and i always use the balance lead because like Cooper said if one cell is low or dead the charger won't know it without the balance lead connected and it will just keep charging.

[Mikem]

I want to thank all who posted here about lipos I learned a lot just now . Thanks again . Mikev

[Lil Giants]

That's a Big 10-4 Jason. Me too Scott, it was an eye opener & nearly a hard lesson learned too.

Originally Posted by Mikem

I want to thank all who posted here about lipos I learned a lot just now . Thanks again . Mike

Posting my screw-up, I thought I might be setting myself up for a flaming, but more importantly I thought it be educational for every one's benefit too... even a 20yr vet like me in this hobby has an occasionally brain fart that can be expensive or even possibly near fatal.

[Supermario]

Glad to see this was a near miss episode and a great reminder for us all. It's when we all share experiences like this that keeps us vigilant and handle batteries with 100% focus.

this might sound crazy but Im thinking some kind of wireless camera or Closed circuit TV in my shop so I could be upstairs watching tv and still have an eye on them?

[bigford]

thanks joe now im scared silly of my 1 3s I have!!
glad nobody was hurt of worse

[Cooper]

Yes joe, all the good stuff is fun to learn but the bad stuff is what teaches us!! I admit my location of my multiple batteries could be made better as now if one went it would most likely set off a chain reaction of all .

I think lipo batteries are like a crazy mistress , keep them happy and you will have lots of fun with them, treat um bad and they will burn your house down !!! Lol!!

[Dieselchopper]

When I changed over to lipo I charge only under supervision and in ammo box. So far so good........

Happy it was not worse for you Joe. Is defiantly an eye opener!

[Lil Giants]

The problem with those balance plugs for me is my dink fingers, easy enough to plug together, but getting them apart again without tearing a wire off. Balance plugs will definitely prevent an incident like I had last week.

That was my original idea with the cookie jar Mario when I started with lipo 4yrs ago, my comfy chair is line of sight 6 feet away while I play on the puter or watch TV.

Scared makes you more focused not to screw up Mark, you're welcome.

Great analogy RW

Cheers Shawn.


I've been hauling dirt out all week, get home from working in my dad's yard all day about 7:30 & haul till about 8:45 or so... it's almost pitch black outside, I can't see the B50 backing up across the pile, but the back up cam will still show a picture with a clear view like the sun is still in the sky! The sun light has to be completely gone gone before the b/u cam blacks out.

I'll have to go measure the pile again, I might have surpassed 7cu yd by now in 5wks, I'm just about completely out of dirt to haul, I need some rainy days to replenish the pile.







Perhaps by the time I'm done spring planting a goodie box from Germany will have arrived so I can get my pup mobile for B50 & start hauling that pile outside to build up the foundation around lean-to... I got a roofer crew coming sometime June to shingle south side of house & that pile outside is directly below - in their way. I'll get moved what I can, then use the farm FEL to do the rest.

If I would have gotten more organized this winter & learned tig welding, maybe I could've would've had my B4206 with belly dumper road train built & be moving two 5gallon pails of earth at a trip ... next yr's to-do list.


Rain today, possibly snow tomorrow... I finished up yesterday getting all my machinery ready for race day when the sun shines again, looks like next week it may not drop below zero anymore either, hopefully. Last couple yrs I started seeding May 14th, last time I started this early was 2012 & that was a lottery yr across the board; big crops, high quality, top dollar! Here's hoping for a repeat!

[Cooper]

Joe, I know they make little plastic adapters for balancing plugs. They simply snap on and give you a lot better finger hold without pulling on wires but pulling on connector. They make them specific for 2s, 3s, ect.... Small too, can left on. I'll try and find them and post a pic or link.

[Cooper]

If the link doesn't work look up on eBay , lipo balance plug protector clip
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from...clips&_sacat=0

[Lil Giants]

Thank you RW.

I went with these... don't need 10, I guess I'll see if a 4s protector will work for 3s too.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10x-AB-Clip-...item5d4db16962


So I put in the ebay search "longer lipo balancing wire connections" - got nothing. What would be the correct terminology?

[Cooper]

I'm pretty sure you can use a larger protector for smaller plug. Just type lipo balancing lead
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from...+lead&_sacat=0

[Cooper]

Looks like 30cm is the longer ones, should be able to plug multiple extensions into each other to give you longer if needed. Jst-xh (I think) are the more common ends.

[Lil Giants]

Great! Thanx again RW.

I sent one of the USA sellers (ships worldwide) an email to see if they make or could order me 24 inch length, two 3s & two 4s leads.

[Lil Giants]

Alrighty! I got three 24" 3s & one 24" 4s coming from this Ca, USA seller.

http://stores.ebay.com/3dRCparts/_i....&_sid=55305087

[wingnut163]

i see your still at it joe.

skip

[Lil Giants]

I finished seeding at 10am this morning, parked Big Red in front of the shop & dropped the oil... taking the rest of the weekend off! 3 weeks straight with a few wrecks along the way... I hope I don't have another yr like this one!

So this afternoon I got busy in my workshop working on my adt pup again... finished the pintle plate, pintle & mounted it to the B50. The plate & pintle in the paint booth now.















I'll spend tomorrow drilling out the cyl fitting holes so I rethread bigger nipples for faster dump cycles, keep up with the B50's capacity.

I had the occasional early night in from the field to do some hauling out, holding pile hole is getting pretty empty now! I'll have lots space for storing dug earth next winter.



Got this bit of lumpy dirt to screen & crush on rainy days the next month or two before hauling it as well.



I made this vid the Sunday before I started planting.

https://youtu.be/MOhkr-a6F6s

[Lil Giants]

Yesterday morning it was snowing from 6 to 11am, then it cleared off... good day to work in the shop... 3pm a province wide blackout to 11:30pm... 3wks staring out a window to pound in the crop - to staring out livingroom window with no power & too wet outside to do anything... what a waste of a day!

So today the sun is shining & I'm gonna have some fun moving the pile outside... but guess what? Suddenly I was popular with visitors - 1 guy looking for durum seed to finish planting, then another stuck in a slough - needs a pull and lastly a health care worker stopped by for a survey...

4pm











Then the foreman stopped by for an inspection... she's a bit of a bytch, but gave me paws up on a job well done.







Then I made it rain with the sprinkler can, crust up that clay for good traction & compaction.






Special note to Reg: not a shovel or rake on site, all done with rc.

[RCP57]

Looking good Joe. I use up all my patience in the shop. I don't have any left sometimes to use on the RC park so I use a shovel instead of my excavator.lol I admire your dedication to doing all this work using only the models. You buy kits and put them to work, I build things from scratch and then use hand tools to build my play area. I think it averages out.

Always enjoy the pictures and videos! Keep em comin!

[RCP57]

Joe I have a question for you.I know it's farmland so the soil is very good but I hardly ever see rock in the dirt you dig. How far down can you dig there before you hit a lot of rock or hardpan? There is a lot of rock here and hardpan isn't too far down in most places so it's tough digging even for real equipment. Just curious what it's like there?