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Kered ...Please contact me ....Thanks,
- Thread starter synthnut
- Start date
Hi Jim i'm here,
Last post on page 4, http://www.findmall.com/read.php?21,1178409,page=4 and a bit on page 5 for the basics, let me know if you need any more info.
Dont scoff at my battery holder
i haven't got round to making another yet as it works great, i also use it to charge the Etrac alkaline pack with rechargables in it.
I'll send you a PM with my email just in case
Last post on page 4, http://www.findmall.com/read.php?21,1178409,page=4 and a bit on page 5 for the basics, let me know if you need any more info.
Dont scoff at my battery holder
i haven't got round to making another yet as it works great, i also use it to charge the Etrac alkaline pack with rechargables in it.I'll send you a PM with my email just in case
Critterhunter
New member
I told him on the phone last night that he should check with your about the way you are charging those packs for that machine. Glad you could help him out. Make sure he knows what amp rates you are using and your m/v setting for those packs.
Thanks for the link Kered ...... I will work on the settings on the Accucell .....I'm gussing that you have yours setup to charge at .7 volts for your E Trac battery pack .......Why would I scoff at your absolutely silly looking battery charger setup ? ......
....OK OK OK .....JUST KIDDING !!!....... Ya left yourself wide open for that one !!........ Thanks so much for the link to the thead ..... Your setup works and I'm gonna make one jsut like it so you can break my chops !!!......Thanks again, Jim
....OK OK OK .....JUST KIDDING !!!....... Ya left yourself wide open for that one !!........ Thanks so much for the link to the thead ..... Your setup works and I'm gonna make one jsut like it so you can break my chops !!!......Thanks again, JimCritterhunter
New member
What's the capacity of those packs? If it were me I'd not go higher than 1/2 capacity in amps. Meaning, if they are 1800ma packs then something like .7 to .9 amps would take about two hours and that's as high as I'd go to be easy on them. Something that takes 4 or 5 hours is better so long as you aren't in a rush. M/V setting of 14 is probably fine if they are nimhs, which is what I helped you set it at on the phone. Doubt they are nicads but the 7 m/v we set nicads at would be fine for that if they were. Remember Jim, you don't need to tell the charger the number of cells when it's nimhs or nicads. It does that for you. Only with lipos do you need to confirm how many you are charging, which we already set to 3 for those and the proper per cell voltage of that type of lipo- 3.7V (which is an average, they charge to 4.2V per cell). That's the most important thing with lipos- Cell Count and the right lipo type set. There is no m/v setting for lipos. The charger uses other ways to determine when they have peaked (mainly target voltage).
Critter ,
Thsnks so much for your info .....
I got another message from Kered ..... .4-.6 volts is a better longer lasting charge ..... Heck , if I had 12 hrs to wait for the orignal Minelab Charger , I can sure wait 4 hrs or so for the Accucell !!... I would rather charge longer, and have more time in the field with that charge .......Thanks again , Jim
Thsnks so much for your info .....
I got another message from Kered ..... .4-.6 volts is a better longer lasting charge ..... Heck , if I had 12 hrs to wait for the orignal Minelab Charger , I can sure wait 4 hrs or so for the Accucell !!... I would rather charge longer, and have more time in the field with that charge .......Thanks again , Jim
My etrac battery is 1600mah and i'm getting over 1800ma in on a slow 0.4-0.6amp charge from flat, i have charged at 1.0amp on occasion like yesterday in the car on the way to the beach but very rarely as i have 2800mah rechargables in the alkaline pod that i alternate that last a long time, i always like to discharge in the machine till it cuts off having the spare at hand, then wait till needed before charging again the night before, thats why i charged in the car yesterday(i forgot) as the other pack was more than half used(as a just in case) I sit the battery on the floor well on the passenger side in a buiscuit tin.
I WOULD NOT DREAM OF CHARGING THE LIPOS ON THE MOVE JUST IN CASE
Charging at a higher rate does not put in so much, apart from being not so good as a slow charge to the battery health. but is handy now and again if you need it.
I WOULD NOT DREAM OF CHARGING THE LIPOS ON THE MOVE JUST IN CASE
Charging at a higher rate does not put in so much, apart from being not so good as a slow charge to the battery health. but is handy now and again if you need it.
Critterhunter
New member
Ooops- Meant 7 m/v for nimhs, 14 m/v for nicads! Said the reverse above. Those are both already set right on your charger, Jim.
Kered, I've got no problem charging a lipo in my car so long as I'm in the car watching it. No more risk doing that than a nimh or nicad. Normally in RC we open the hood and hook the charger right up to the battery terminals. That way it's cooler on the packs, we can keep an eye on them sort of while flying planes, and it's easier to swap batteries without getting in and out of a car. So long as you are in the car driving I wouldn't have an issue with charging a lipo, or nimhs/nicads. Just don't start charging a pack in there and then get out to do other things. The heat alone of a closed up car isn't a bright idea. When charging under the hood I try to position the car so that the hood provides shade to the charger/battery. Also, make sure if you do charge under the hood that you aren't putting your battery or charger on something hot, like the radiator. Finally, don't put this charger on top of the battery! Being an aluminum case you are at risk of shorting the two battery terminals together.
Mainly I like to charge or discharge in the middle of my garage floor away from anything. That way I can leave and not have to watch the packs. Even if something goes bad it isn't going to catch anything on fire.
Jim, by the way. I just thought of something. You mentioned that now you know how to wire up your boat batteries. Those are great (especially deep cycle or trolling motor batteries) for powering chargers. Charge the boat battery with it's normal charger, then use the battery to power your Accucel. Those types of lead acid batteries are meant to be drained real low and recharged without problems, where as a normal car battery doesn't like that. On the other hand, you could charge about 10 or 20 packs (or even probably way more) on a car battery before it would even start getting low. We do that in RC all the time. If the battery is weak then after 5 or 10 packs you might not be able to start it. That's why I set the low power input alarm on this charger to 10.5V. That low it will start my car. 10V wouldn't.
Kered, I've got no problem charging a lipo in my car so long as I'm in the car watching it. No more risk doing that than a nimh or nicad. Normally in RC we open the hood and hook the charger right up to the battery terminals. That way it's cooler on the packs, we can keep an eye on them sort of while flying planes, and it's easier to swap batteries without getting in and out of a car. So long as you are in the car driving I wouldn't have an issue with charging a lipo, or nimhs/nicads. Just don't start charging a pack in there and then get out to do other things. The heat alone of a closed up car isn't a bright idea. When charging under the hood I try to position the car so that the hood provides shade to the charger/battery. Also, make sure if you do charge under the hood that you aren't putting your battery or charger on something hot, like the radiator. Finally, don't put this charger on top of the battery! Being an aluminum case you are at risk of shorting the two battery terminals together.
Mainly I like to charge or discharge in the middle of my garage floor away from anything. That way I can leave and not have to watch the packs. Even if something goes bad it isn't going to catch anything on fire.
Jim, by the way. I just thought of something. You mentioned that now you know how to wire up your boat batteries. Those are great (especially deep cycle or trolling motor batteries) for powering chargers. Charge the boat battery with it's normal charger, then use the battery to power your Accucel. Those types of lead acid batteries are meant to be drained real low and recharged without problems, where as a normal car battery doesn't like that. On the other hand, you could charge about 10 or 20 packs (or even probably way more) on a car battery before it would even start getting low. We do that in RC all the time. If the battery is weak then after 5 or 10 packs you might not be able to start it. That's why I set the low power input alarm on this charger to 10.5V. That low it will start my car. 10V wouldn't.
Critter,
What I was referring to was how to wire 2- 12 volt batteries for 12 volt or for 24 volt ....I have my Battery Tender with a light setup on it that will tell me when it's charging and when it's fully charged for my marine and auto batteries .......I have a 7 a.h. Sealed battery that I charge up with the Battery Tender also .....I use that to charge my Lipo's and nicd's and nimh's using the Accucell ... It's small and easy to move around ......You guys have really helped me a lot on this battery front !!....Thanks again , Jim
What I was referring to was how to wire 2- 12 volt batteries for 12 volt or for 24 volt ....I have my Battery Tender with a light setup on it that will tell me when it's charging and when it's fully charged for my marine and auto batteries .......I have a 7 a.h. Sealed battery that I charge up with the Battery Tender also .....I use that to charge my Lipo's and nicd's and nimh's using the Accucell ... It's small and easy to move around ......You guys have really helped me a lot on this battery front !!....Thanks again , Jim
Critterhunter
New member
Good idea. I have two gel cell 6 volt lantern or emergency exit sign batteries that I some times use to power my chargers. When I don't feel like hooking up my modified PC power supply or I'm already pushing it's amp delivering limits by running two or three chargers off of it, then I'll bust out these two gel cell 6 volt batteries. Hook the positive from one of them to the negative of the other and now you've got a 12V battery. Hook the positive of your charger to the free positive on the one battery and your negative to the free negative of the other. Done. In fact, (and you might want to try this), I often then hitch up a 12V gel cell battery (most car battery chargers have this function) to that and charge the gel cells while the lipo charger is feeding off of them. The battery being charged (the two gel cells in this case) acts like a choke or capacitor and eliminates most of the noise that the car charger is putting out, so the lipo charger can run fine most times without locking up due to too noisy of a signal being caused by the car charger. That's why it's never a good idea to power a charger via the 12V output of a car or other charger, because the signal generated is very noisy. Using a battery as a noise canceling device can fix this some times. Now my little gel cells don't risk being drawn too far down as they feed my lipo charger to do it's thing.
Incidentally, PB (lead acid batteries) should never be charged real fast. In particular car batteries can handle that, but these gel cells or say small lead acid lawn mower tractor batteries don't like that. Charge'em nice and slow, like something that will take ten hours or more. They also don't benefit from being drained dead to exercise just like car batteries. That's why deep cycle or trolling motor batteries are built to handle deep draw downs that normal car batteries and such don't like. It's shortens their life. When charging deep cycle or trolling motor batteries (two different types, but very similar in certain respects), make sure you use a car charger that has that feature for those. While it may charge them fast (OK for those just like car batteries, unlike tractor or gel cells), it's charging method is different than a car battery charger normally does. You can charge a deep cycle with a car battery charger, but it's healthier and easier on them by putting it into that type of mode if it features it. I've got a great computerized car charger that has these modes, as well as a nifty function to recover "dead" car batteries. It analyzes the battery at start up and if it's sulphured up (due to abuse or sitting dead), it will go to a really high voltage to try to bust the sulphur off the lead acid cell's that can build up. I've recovered several bum car and trolling motor batteries that way. Very cool!
Just had a thought, so long as the job market is so bad around here (it's been bad here for ten years thanks to certain people running our city) I might look into solar and rechargable technology companies. I'm not a big fan of all this "green" cr*p that certain people keep pushing, but so long as those comings are making big money around here I met look into it. I just saw a company on TV bragging about all the money the government gave them to develop green power, solar panels, and battery stuff in the big city I live near. Right up my alley, and with my HVAC training I've probably got whatever skills they need covered.
Incidentally, PB (lead acid batteries) should never be charged real fast. In particular car batteries can handle that, but these gel cells or say small lead acid lawn mower tractor batteries don't like that. Charge'em nice and slow, like something that will take ten hours or more. They also don't benefit from being drained dead to exercise just like car batteries. That's why deep cycle or trolling motor batteries are built to handle deep draw downs that normal car batteries and such don't like. It's shortens their life. When charging deep cycle or trolling motor batteries (two different types, but very similar in certain respects), make sure you use a car charger that has that feature for those. While it may charge them fast (OK for those just like car batteries, unlike tractor or gel cells), it's charging method is different than a car battery charger normally does. You can charge a deep cycle with a car battery charger, but it's healthier and easier on them by putting it into that type of mode if it features it. I've got a great computerized car charger that has these modes, as well as a nifty function to recover "dead" car batteries. It analyzes the battery at start up and if it's sulphured up (due to abuse or sitting dead), it will go to a really high voltage to try to bust the sulphur off the lead acid cell's that can build up. I've recovered several bum car and trolling motor batteries that way. Very cool!
Just had a thought, so long as the job market is so bad around here (it's been bad here for ten years thanks to certain people running our city) I might look into solar and rechargable technology companies. I'm not a big fan of all this "green" cr*p that certain people keep pushing, but so long as those comings are making big money around here I met look into it. I just saw a company on TV bragging about all the money the government gave them to develop green power, solar panels, and battery stuff in the big city I live near. Right up my alley, and with my HVAC training I've probably got whatever skills they need covered.