Horus X12S RTC Backup Battery Replacement

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Want to learn more about the amazing hobby of RC helicopters? Feel free to visit my site: www.rchelicopterfun.com/

[@passinthru4328]

Excellent step by step tutorial. Yes, my Horus X12S RTC battery is dead after about the same time.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Thanks for the RTC batt time frame confirmation.

[@eastcoastandy2905]

I have an X10 Horus. It got modded to hold 2xLR44 in series for the backup. Plenty room and works well. Tip for button cells in general: Don't touch the contact surfaces with your naked fingers, as sweat, acids and fats present will cause the battery to deteriorate / discharge faster. (I know this from quartz watches, especially) But hey, thanks for posting! Andy

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Interesting, I thought the precautions of touching modern day button cell electrodes with bare skin causing potential faster degradation was an old wives tale that has been debunked many times over? Suppose it never hurts to play it safe. Nice mod with the LR44's. Likely enough room in there to put even larger capacity RTC backup cell/s in - even move the location so it's easier to access. Thanks for sharing the tip. 👍

[@eastcoastandy2905]

@@Rchelicopterfun Nice that you're paying attention, I appreciate that. Perhaps my training in avionics and a watch repair sideline have mave made me a bit neurotic when I'm not wearing gloves at the bench! The X10 Horus also originally used the CR 1220 as backup, so next time I open it up I'll make a current drain measurement just for interest. Stay safe, Andy

[@EnglishTurbines]

My trusty X9D has the same problem...Good you did this video, I was waiting to stumble across one...I can order a button cell now...🤔😳😷

[@BelperFlyer]

The RTC battery has just failed this evening as I was setting up a model I'm building (a 60" ws Sopwith Pup) on my X10 Horus after just over 2 years. I'm certainly not looking forward to replacing it but your video will be useful even though yours is an X12 but is probably similar and certainly the same battery as X10. At least my external antenna connection is on the top where you screen is so may not be so much of a problem. Incidentally, I knew the battery had failed because every time I switch on I get a warning "Battery Warning. RTC battery low. Press any key".

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Thanks for the short RTC batt life confirmation on your X10 as well. FrSky should be using larger capacity 3V cells IMO. Interesting that the X10 has an RTC warning. Are you running OpenTX or FrOS?

[@richardsmith5689]

hey john you going to upgrade you x12s to the IRSM module and try the ETHOS or stay with open tx

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Staying with OpenTX - 100%

[@ConnorCain25]

Hey John, Im juet wondering if you've experienced something similar with your horus. Im getting extraneous rudder inputs on my radio. When I have the monitor screen open and my throttle is at minimum theres no random input. But as soon as I bring the stick to the centre I get random rudder inputs and I've actually noticed it in flight with a heli. I thought there was something wrong with my gyro as it had symptoms of the tail blowing out. Now I've narrowed it down to my radio I've no idea what could cause it. My only theory so far is my centering springs are too slack. Or there is dirt or fuel around the holofex sensors inside.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Erratic output on the rudder &/or aileron stick is generally due to the wires going to the hall sensors on those two horizontal gimbal axis breaking where they flex. I read about that early as one issue with the X12S as they didn't use high flex silicone wire on those two hall sensors. This was a common issue back in the 80's/90's on some radios, but it is unusual with today's better equipment. I replaced my hall sensor wiring in the X12S with high flex silicone stuff before it became an issue once I read about it. If you look closely in this video of the twisted tri-wires going to the rudder and aileron hall sensors, you can see its a slightly different color than the other wires. Anyway to diagnose if bad hall sensor wiring is truly the issue, you have to open your X12S and with the monitor screen on, wiggle the wire going to the rudder stick hall sensor (generally they start breaking right where they enter the sensor). If you can see the output jumping when the wire is wiggled & moved, you'll know it's a failing wire issue. If you know how to solder, you can just get some high flex silicone wire. I found some 3 conductor twisted red/yellow/black Spektrum Satellite RX wire harnesses on line for a few bucks and used them, but any high flex silicone wire of the same gauge will work. Then it's just a matter of removing the hall sensor, solder the new silicone high flex wires to the contacts inside it and splice the other end to the existing plug end. You will want to do the same with the aileron hall sensor as well because it will most likely start acting up too. Other option is to order the hall sensors with the high flex silicone wiring and plug connectors already in place. FrSky used to offer these, but I haven't seem them in a while (haven't looked in a while either). May be some aftermarket source as well?

[@ConnorCain25]

@@Rchelicopterfun that makes perfect sense John. Unfortunately I never knew that was an issue so thanks for letting me know that. I will definitely replace the wiring on both hall sensors and hopefully that will solve the problem. Thanks so much. Nearly wrote off a beautiful Heli because of it.

[@ConnorCain25]

@@Rchelicopterfun you were spot on John, I opened the radio and wiggled the wires going into the rudder hall sensor and the literally snapped right off so I was probably 1 flight away from complete disaster

[@richardsmith5689]

great video i just bought my x12s so i hope it will be three years before i have to change it. but i have notice the you changed the background photo {theme} on your model. how did you do that

[@Rchelicopterfun]

I went into the photo file and changed the image.

[@hf4687]

Hi John, great info.. I am evaluating the Horus X12S with the full Multi-protocol setup myself to replace my vintage MC-22. Many guys write that the stock 'main' battery is a weak point and doing some 2S or 3S Lipo conversions. I see you run the original main battery. Is that still the first, original one? Thanks, Harry.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Yes, still the original NiMh one and it's working fine. I've never had an issue with it and it has never left me wishing for more capacity. I just plug it in after a day of flying and it's ready to go the next morning or whenever I go out next for that matter. Like I've done with all my radios since I started flying planes back in 1984. I can keep the Horus NiMh pack fully charged, no special kid glove care needed, no worries about keeping it at storage voltage when not in use or having to discharge it to storage if I get rained out for a week, or worry about leaving it in a hot vehicle occasionally. I've tried LiPo and LiFe in other TX's I've had and they were always more of a hassle than they were worth; but that is just my 2 cent opinion based on my anecdotal hassles with LiPo/LiFe packs in TX's. Get what you find/consider works best for your particular usage & application; every battery chemistry has pros and cons as you know.

[@ConnorCain25]

Hey John, I've recently just gotten a Horus x12s and I'm new to open Tx. I was wondering what your battery meter range is set to as the one that's default for open Tx atleast for me seems way off. Cheers mate

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Howdy Connor, hope you enjoy your X12S as much as I've enjoyed mine over the past several years. I've got my voltage meter range set at 8.8 to 11.1V. That's 1.1V to 1.3875V per cell which is a fairly conventional NiMh working voltage range under fairly light loads (which is what an RC radio would be considered). I seem to recall the horus sucks about 250 to 280 mA when the display brightness is maxed and internal RX on. If yours is around that & the meter indicator is not indicating correctly, you may have to check the voltage calibration. Hopefully that's not required because it means opening the radio up & probing the battery terminals with a DMM (digital multi meter) while the radio is on to get the under load working voltage. You then set the calibration voltage to what the DMM was reading. A total PIA, and it should be calibrated good out of the box; but just thought I would mention it if your meter range is still way off at 8.8 to 11.1V.

[@ConnorCain25]

@@Rchelicopterfun That's perfect John thanks for all the information I really appreciate it. That's helped massively. Keep up the amazing videos. I've been flying helis for nearly 20 years and I still learn a lot from your videos 😁.

[@rcaddict2.0]

Great video. My battery died after 3 years also

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Thanks for taking the time to share your 3 year RTC battery lifespan too.

[@juliahousman89]

Hi John, thanks for the video. Just one point,, you shorted the old battery out by removing it with your metal tweezers so it would read practically 0v after that. It was duff anyway so no problem. All the best.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Button cells like these have such high internal resistance, direct shorting for such a short time frame, even if it was a fully charged new one would produce very little voltage drop. Any that did occur would recover very quickly. So it's not an issue to be concerned with. 🙂

[@dwexoticmaple]

hi have you updated the firmware to the latest 2020 v2 ? if so does this allow access?

[@Rchelicopterfun]

I have no idea what 2020 V2 firmware is? I'm currently running OpenTX firmware version 2.3.5. Its release date was 01/15/2020. Allow access to what - the RTC battery? Firmware has nothing to do with pulling the radio apart to gain battery access; perhaps I'm misunderstanding your question.

[@russshanks5913]

@@Rchelicopterfun Sorry to say that there is some video display problem with 2.3.5 and it is recommended to upgrade to 2.3.7. I know you (and I) hate to upgrade. I recently upgraded from 2.3.1 to 2.3.7 and it went without a hitch on my X12S. The problem is something like uses too much battery or ???

[@MrDroneinthesky]

How you change the turn on and turn off sound

[@Rchelicopterfun]

In the system's sound file.

[@MrDroneinthesky]

@@Rchelicopterfun i mean how to make custom sound and how i know the file name

[@Rchelicopterfun]

No idea how to make "custom sounds." This is the "Amber" sound pack. I got all the information how to set that up on OpenTX University's web site.

[@vicentesuarez357]

I Just replaced the RTC battery for my taranis X9D+ bought in January 2017. It is easier to replace than your Horus.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

So even the Taranis eats up the RTC batt quickly. Me thinks FrSky should have gone with a larger capacity battery such as a 2032 so we could get at least get 5 years.

[@alantoseland6629]

I'm pretty sure that my horus10 only managed around 18 months from new

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Thanks for taking the time to report your RTC battery life. The more data, the better 🙂