How long should I use the charger? Does it turn off when the batteries are charged?
The wall charger included with your radio is a “C/10” charger. It will continue to charge close to its
given rate until unplugged. You should charge the first time approximately 16 hours to ensure a full
charge, then an overnight charge is sufficient, as the charger charges at approximately 1/10th the
capacity of the standard pack for 10 hours. Do not just leave your equipment on the charger
indefinitely as this is bad for the batteries and poses a fire risk. Note that charging higher capacity
batteries on the wall charger will require longer times to reach peak.
The manufacturer of my charger says my transmitter has a “diode” in it and that's why I can't
discharge my battery. What does this mean and how can I get around it?
A diode is a safety device which only allows voltage to go one way. All Futaba transmitters have
diodes built into their circuits to protect the radio against power surges, reversed polarity, defective
chargers, etc. If you accidentally plug an unprotected transmitter into the wrong brand of charger, you
may destroy the transmitter. But if you accidentally plug a Futaba transmitter into a JR charger, for
example, all that will happen is your transmitter does not get charged -- no risk, no damage.
If you wish to cycle your 9Z’s transmitter batteries, you will need to purchase a discharge jumper from
the Futaba Service Center. Then, remove the transmitter pack from the transmitter, temporarily insert
the jumper, discharge/cycle the pack, remove the jumper, and reinstall the battery.
Can I use 6V (5 cell) receiver packs? Will I get increased performance from my equipment? Are
there any drawbacks to using 6 volts?
All Futaba systems are designed to operate on either 4.8 volts (NiCD 4 cells) or 6 volts (Alkaline 4 cells
OR NiCD 5 cells),
except certain gyros which are specifically labeled for use at one voltage or the other only
. A
6-volt pack does provide more torque and speed, which may be desirable in certain competition
situations, or when the servos available for the model are of marginal speed or torque.
However, while 6 volts provides more torque and speed, it also provides a significantly shorter run
time for the same milliamp hours of capacity and may shorten servo life proportionally. This sounds
confusing -- let’s compare the current in the battery to water in a bucket. If you have four small holes
in the bucket, the water will come out at a certain rate. Add a fifth hole the same size, and you're
supplying more water (increasing the current and therefore making the servos stronger AND faster);
however, the bucket empties 25% sooner than when it only had four holes.
If I remove my transmitter battery, will all my stored data be lost?
No. The 9Z’s memory is protected by a lithium back-up battery. So long as either the lithium battery
or the transmitter battery are providing proper voltage to the memory, your settings will not be lost.
Does my radio have a lithium battery to store all my programming, or how is this data stored?
Do I need to service this memory in any way?
The 9Z uses a lithium battery to provide back up power to protect your programming in case of
primary battery failure or removal from the radio. This battery should be replaced every 5 years to
protect your data. Please send your radio to the service center every 5 years for replacement of this
lithium battery. Please be sure to back-up all data from your radio onto a Campac (or write it all
down) to avoid loss of your programming. Please note that there is no warning that the lithium
battery has failed, so regular maintenance of this battery is important to protect your model data.
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D. Batteries: Charging and Cycling