Charging Questions.....

[mcvickj]

I am looking for any information on how to charge Ni-Cd, Ni-Mh and Li-Poly. I have been to different sites and they have all had bits and pieces but nothing that seemed real concrete to me. There has to be a pretty staight forward answer to "How to charge my pack?" kinda questions. I have slowly invested in rechargables for my rides. Up until this point I have always used these slow over night chargers. They are nice because for the most part you can plug it in and forget about it until the next morning. However this is extreamly slow and I never know if I am getting a full charge. So after reading around I have invested in a charging setup.

The charger that I have decided to go with is the
Hobbico Quick Field DC Charger MKII 12V This charger has a lot of bang for the buck. The biggest selling point for me was the fact that it can charge 2 seperate packs at once. It also uses bananna plugs and I just happen to have some different charge leads that have bananna plugs.

The only drawback to this charger is that it is DC only. That is fine when I am out in the field because I can just hook it up to my car battery and charge away. But I also want to use this charger indoors. So I start to look for a 12V power supply. Tower's suggested power supply for this charger was almost $90! Now I wasn't too keen on the idea of paying $140 for a charger and power supply when I could just buy a Great Planes Triton for that kind of money. So after asking around for a cost effective solution to a power supply I was introduced to Ramboy.com

This power supply is a do it yourself kind of project. But it is such an easy project that there was no way I could refuse. For an input cord I am going to use a computer power cord. I will just cut the end off and crimp on a fork connector to the wires to make for easier attachment to the power supply. Here is a shot someone at RCGroups posted.

To make the connection between the charger and power supply I am thinking of using a cigarette lighter plug. I would cut off the clips on the charger and solider the male on and attach the female to the power supply. Then use a project box from Radio Shake to house the power supply and connector in. I might even wire in a switch.

However the real reason I have invested in a charging setup is because I am getting into parkflyers. My Tiger Moth is almost complete. I just need to knock down my buddies door and get my Dremel so I can do the final assembly. There was no great place to put this thread so that is why it is here.

I am awaiting delivery of my packs, charger and power supply. Everything should be here tomorrow. I will post a picture when I finish everything.

My ultimate goal for this thread is to answer the "How do I charge my packs?" If anyone has any tips or suggestions please post them here. Also if you have a great link you would like to share please post that. With this recent investment I don't feel like frying my packs on the first charge so I am trying to read as much as possible on how to charge a pack.

 

[El Pirata]

One thing about using a cigarette lighter is the fact that they are not really designed to have that much amperage going through them. This is why most battery chargers no longer come with a lighter plug and come with aligator clips to connect directly to the battery instead.

 

[mcvickj]

Hmmm...thanks for the heads up EP. Maybe I should get some Deans Ultra connectors and use that as the connection between the charger and power supply.

 

[Nitroaddict]

If you havnt purchased a powersupply yet, dont! Hobby shops rape you on those things. I got my powersupply at Home Depot for 38.00

 

[mcvickj]

I purchased the Cosel power supply from Ramboy for $25 shipped. After doing a general search for "cosel" at rcgroups I found there are a ton of people using this power supply.

 

[El Pirata]

Originally posted by mcvickj
Hmmm...thanks for the heads up EP. Maybe I should get some Deans Ultra connectors and use that as the connection between the charger and power supply.

The charger I use comes with both a 110 plug and aligator clips for hooking straight to a 12v source.

 

[scottm]

I have learned a lot about batteries in the last year for the same reasons. I have a Triton, an FMA Supernova, and a Intellipeak charger. I use the FMA for small rx and tx packs, the intellipeak for car packs, and the triton for li-poly plane batts.

I charge radio packs at C/10, or .1 amps for a 1,000 mah pack, and lipolys at C/2, or 1 amp for a 2,000 mah pack. I'm not sure what information you want, so just ask a specific question.

 

[Rolex]

I have the DYMOND super turbo charger. it does 1 to 26 cells, NiCad and Nickel Metal Hydride. It can do anything you need to do with batteries including peak charge, temp cut off, charge, discharge, trickle or any combination. $119, but I've now seen it for 109. It's 12 volt only, and comes with alligator clips for a car battery. I cut the clips off and put on a cigarette lighter adaptor. I don't use it in the car, but have a portable jumper cable pack that has a lighter jack in it. I bring it inside to charge it with it's AC power supply, and plug the charger in for my plane, heli, car and boat batteries.

With a 12 volt cigarette lighter charger, NEVER run the car when the charger is plugged in. You will burn it out.
NiCads can be charged up to double the milliamps, but NiMH batteries can only be charged at their value.
ie: NiCad 2400mA can be charged as high as 4800mA, but a NiMH 3000 can only be charged at 3000mA.
NiCads need to be 'cycled' routinely to erase memory, but NiMHs do not retain any memory and don't need cycling. Cycling consists of Discharge/Charge 3 times, and there is a setting on the DYMOND that will discharge, then cool for 5 minutes, then automatically start charging. It will beep when it's done, but you need to hit the start button for the 2nd and 3rd cycle.
There's lots of confusing and sometimes eroneous info out there on batteries, but take this info as fact from someone who owns about $600.00 worth of different batteries.