Good battery charger for ignitors

[pitbull14218]

I dont use a ton of rechargeable batteries, i actually have regular batteries in my controller and hpi nitro mt. But I'm tired of having to watch my ignitors on the charger being affraid i might overcharge them.

Is there a cheap charger that can be used to charge my ignitors that will automatically stop when fully charged?

Thxk

 

[cbaker65]

I dont use a ton of rechargeable batteries, i actually have regular batteries in my controller and hpi nitro mt. But I'm tired of having to watch my ignitors on the charger being affraid i might overcharge them.

Is there a cheap charger that can be used to charge my ignitors that will automatically stop when fully charged?

Thxk

My igniters are about 13 years old ,I usually leave them on their original charger over night an
sometimes for 2 or 3 day at a time.

 

[Certified Mike]

I keep a reg dry cell type igniter in my box just in case my rechargeable unit dies on me.

 

[ninnon]

Use the link to the calculator is posted in your other thread

 

[pitbull14218]

I know theres calculations for how long it takes the charger to charge the battery, but what I'm looking for is a way to not have to time or keep an eye on it.

The people at my local hobbby store said if i leave the battery charging it can get ruined, it doesbt automatically stop.

 

[ninnon]

I know theres calculations for how long it takes the charger to charge the battery, but what I'm looking for is a way to not have to time or keep an eye on it.

The people at my local hobbby store said if i leave the battery charging it can get ruined, it doesbt automatically stop.

Ah right. Ok then. You could buy one of those timer wall plug things:

 

[Certified Mike]

There are Def chargers avail that will charge all different types of batteries, capacities etc and will stop when the charger senses it's peak charge has been reached.

Lol! I don't think I'll ever get used to that type of electrical plug/socket.

 

[craig911]

i use a turnigy accucel 6 80w charger and bought a 5AMP laptop powersuppy to power it, i had to change the laptop charger end to a xt60 plug but I've had no issues
http://www.hobbyking.co.uk/hobbykin..._6_80W_10A_Balancer_Charger_LiHV_Capable.html

i use it for my lipo and nimh batteries

i made a xt60 to futaba to charge my hump packs but you could just buy this
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Futaba-Pl...497552?hash=item4d3af32ed0:g:~VsAAOSwQoFWPNQM

bought one of these to charge the glow driver
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Glow-Plug...na-Plugs-RC-Helicoptor-Car-Boat-/272099455723

i also soldered a female xt60 cable to my transmitter battery tray of my GT3B and have the cable poking out the side of the transmitter handle to charge it


using the charger i can see the current voltage, battery resistance set timers etc

 

[pitbull14218]

i use a turnigy accucel 6 80w charger and bought a 5AMP laptop powersuppy to power it, i had to change the laptop charger end to a xt60 plug but I've had no issues
http://www.hobbyking.co.uk/hobbykin..._6_80W_10A_Balancer_Charger_LiHV_Capable.html

i use it for my lipo and nimh batteries

i made a xt60 to futaba to charge my hump packs but you could just buy this
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Futaba-Pl...497552?hash=item4d3af32ed0:g:~VsAAOSwQoFWPNQM

bought one of these to charge the glow driver
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Glow-Plug...na-Plugs-RC-Helicoptor-Car-Boat-/272099455723

i also soldered a female xt60 cable to my transmitter battery tray of my GT3B and have the cable poking out the side of the transmitter handle to charge it


using the charger i can see the current voltage, battery resistance set timers etc

Thx, definitely something that will help with my ignitors.

So the charger you listed i still need a power supply for?

 

[craig911]

Thx, definitely something that will help with my ignitors.

So the charger you listed i still need a power supply for?

yeah but you can find a 5amp 12v laptop charger on ebay for pretty cheap

i cut the end off the charger and soldered the male xt60 connector on to the laptop cable

here is a pic of the charger power input

these are the only cables i need, the 3s balance extension cable, cable for glow ignitor, homemade xt60 to futaba cable and the standard XT60 plug to charge my lipos and transmitter

xt60 from transmitter

 

[pitbull14218]

So the laptop power supply goes from 115v to 12v dc into the charger to power it?

Do you need a laptop car charger to use it in the car or just power invertor? @craig911

 

[WVNed]

You open the hood and use your car battery.

 

[craig911]

So the laptop power supply goes from 115v to 12v dc into the charger to power it?

Do you need a laptop car charger to use it in the car or just power invertor? @craig911

You open the hood and use your car battery.

exactly as WVNed said just use your car battery in the car

as you can see from one of my pics the charger accepts 11v to 18v also if the input voltage is too high it will show a notification on screen and wont do anything, same as if the input voltage is too low or drops too low it will stop charging and show a notification on screen and you can set the low voltage cut off level in the settings menu

 

[WVNed]

Be sure and use a bag if doing Lipos.

 

[Certified Mike]

Using a Lipo bag isn't even optional... It is a MUST HAVE ITEM!!! Be sure to run your charger off the battery. Almost all chargers now have too much current draw to safely run off a cigarette lighter socket.
I have been meaning to mention this over and over as well... Be sure to buy a failsafe like
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bi...KAE13N6yqwb3Xr5F3M_ThBny1N_2kDv74saAmU58P8HAQ
There are a ton of different units with different prices and functions. At the very least, get one that sense low RX battery and loss of signal so when the unit trips, it will bring the throttle servo down to 'brake on' position. There are much more elaborate units with all sorts of different features and functions (and all sorts of prices). This one has the bare minimum of functions you would want to keep the car from running away on you.

 

[craig911]

Using a Lipo bag isn't even optional... It is a MUST HAVE ITEM!!! Be sure to run your charger off the battery. Almost all chargers now have too much current draw to safely run off a cigarette lighter socket.
I have been meaning to mention this over and over as well... Be sure to buy a failsafe like
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bi...KAE13N6yqwb3Xr5F3M_ThBny1N_2kDv74saAmU58P8HAQ
There are a ton of different units with different prices and functions. At the very least, get one that sense low RX battery and loss of signal so when the unit trips, it will bring the throttle servo down to 'brake on' position. There are much more elaborate units with all sorts of different features and functions (and all sorts of prices). This one has the bare minimum of functions you would want to keep the car from running away on you.

most 2.4ghz radio kits have a built in fail safe ( unless you bind a 6ch receiver like me ) then you need a dedicated one all thats needed is to read the manual and set it up

also most car cigarette lighters should be able to put out 15amps but i wouldn't go over 3-4 amps hence opening the hood and using the car battery

for the moment the OP wants to use it for nimh/nicd cells so a lipo sack would be unnecessary until his needs change although charging nimh in a bag is not a bad idea they can fail just as bad as a lipo

 

[Certified Mike]

I'm pretty sure neither one of my traxxas cars have a fail safe, which is why I mentioned it. Yes, I suppose you could use the Lipo bag for nicads nimh. I was thinking more about the ignitor battery, Lipo bag being somewhat self explanatory. Rather than trying to figure out what the charger is actually drawing and then explaining the power source plugs vs cigarette plug etc... Hooking up direct seemed to be the simplest, safest way.

 

[craig911]

I'm pretty sure neither one of my traxxas cars have a fail safe, which is why I mentioned it. Yes, I suppose you could use the Lipo bag for nicads nimh. I was thinking more about the ignitor battery, Lipo bag being somewhat self explanatory. Rather than trying to figure out what the charger is actually drawing and then explaining the power source plugs vs cigarette plug etc... Hooking up direct seemed to be the simplest, safest way.

thats why i qualified it with most 2.4ghz systems my old cheap flysky gt2b that cost me £14 had one so i don't think its unexpected to have one built into the receiver these days even on low end systems


most cells he would be using for a nitro would top out at around 2600mah maybe a maximum of 5000mah for a sub C cell glow ignitor overkill IMAO,

the charger should not draw more than is necessary so charging at say 1C so 2.6amps for a 2600mah tx/rx battery pack it would be fine on the 12v cigarette lighter

as it stands using the same charger at home my max charge current so far has been 3amp to charge my parallel wired hump packs
1500mah @6v x2 = 3000mah @6V that's the largest capacity battery i have all my other packs are around the 2amp mark so for a nitro model using nimh/nicd cells he would be fine

if it were charging 3/4/5s lipo cells then i would use the car battery at the field as it would need to draw more current to charge at higher voltages and since you can get in car usb phone chargers and usb hubs that draw upto and over 5amps i think he should be ok

( i don't mean to go into too much detail etc just how my mind works )

 

[pitbull14218]

I appreciate the help guys.

I need to get a failsafe for sure, i used to have one on my Savage but i think it got wet and acted finicky so i pulled it and stopped running it.

Unfortunately my savage disapppeared so not sure if its stolen or what.

But everything I've been posting lately has been gor my hpi Nitro MT (old one).

I just use AA batteries in side it, and in my remote, luckily i believe the remote tell me the battery charge for the remote.

So the only thing I'm charging is my glowplug ignitors which i have 3 of and i keep juggling them as i go to start the thing as they die.

Not sure how many starts the ignitors are supposed to be able to do, but sometimes its sincei never no truly the charge they have.

 

[cbaker65]

I get ton of starts out of mine ,but ,my engines start up easy an quick an stay running.
Also ,I always have everything checked ,fueled up ,on an ready to go before I put
glo-igniter on the glo plug, an when the engine fires up ,I pull the igniter immediately
so it don't just sit an drain the batt.
I use to have to get on to my b-law & sister for that.They use to start their rigs ,leave the igniter
on ,then start fumbling around with their rigs.
I told them that they are losing all the juice out of their igniter ,especially when they only
had one between their 2 trucks.LOL

I always carried 2 ,but never had issues with battery going dead fast!
I always had issues with the glo igniter casing & an connection tube
with bad conection.

They get corroded ,an it helps to clean the end up where it connects to the glo-plug!