[NSRCA-discussion] Battery charger needed

[Rex LESHER]

Anthony

For the last couple seasons, I've been using the Thunder Power 1010C/ 210V Charger/Balancer system.   I mostly use them 
for charging 10 cell flight packs, but it will charge pretty much any battery out there.  It'll charge 10 cells at 5 amps.  Or,
5 cells at 10 amps...  10 amps being the max output.  As far as input, the charger requires 11-15 volts... at a minimum of
15 amps, or 25 amps (at maximum charge output)..  I use a 45 amp/ 12V power supply that I either plug into availble 110V or
my Honda generator.  With this setup, I can run two charger/balancer sets at the same time, and pretty much continually fly
with short breaks of 10-15 minutes in between having packs ready to go.

These chargers are programmed with firmware and all updates are available at the Thunder Power website.  You simply connect
your charger to your computer, using the "available" connection cable and download the new program into your charger.
There isn't a safer system out there as the balancer and charger are connected together during the charge, and all individual
cell information is available for your viewing on charger screen.  

It's a good idea to have a charger/balancer combo that allows the balancer to "talk" to the charger during charging...  If the 
balancer detects a problem, it will notify the charger, the charge will be stopped, and the charger will provide a trouble code
for your viewing...  A typical situation will be that  one or more cells will be over volting, the balancer cannot bleed the voltage
fast enough and will tell the charger to shut down.  Then, most of the time, you can simply lower the charge amperage for a short
time, till the cells balance, then resume the normal charge.  Most every time I've had a shut down, it has been exactly that...  a 
cell imbalance where one cell reading is too high during the charge and the charger shuts off.  It's better to have to deal with that
for 20 minutes than to  overcook a $500 battery!  Or, overcook the nearby area for that matter!

In my oppinion, charging without a balancer can only lead to problems.  Everything works fine until there's a problem with one 
of the cells....  That's when it gets hot.  You won't ever know there's a problem till it happens.  If  you use a system with
this protection, you may see the problem before it ever becomes a "REAL PROBLEM"...

Rex 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Anthony Abdullah<mailto:aabdu at sbcglobal.net> 
  To: NSRCA Mailing List<mailto:nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org> 
  Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2008 1:52 PM
  Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] Battery charger needed


  Does not having the balancers create any problems? What is the work around for their absence?

  By the way, thanks for all of the great info, I am looking into the features of all the chargers being discussed. I have always been careful while charging but feel the need to be extra careful due to the potential volatility of the Lipos.

  Thanks again
  Anthony

  Tom Simes <simestd at netexpress.com> wrote:
    On Thu, 24 Jan 2008 13:26:26 -0600
    "Eddie Batchelor" wrote:

    > I'll second the Accucycle Elite. 
    > 
    > Eddie

    That's what I use on my foamy packs as well as my TX and RX packs. 
    Here's a good summary of it's features and limitations:

    http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=289050

    I really like mine and would buy one again if something happened to the
    one I have. It would be nice though if Hobbico would update it with
    integrated balancers. It would also be nice if they came out with an
    Accucycle Extreme or something to handle larger packs with the same
    intuitive interface (and the aforementioned balancers).

    Tom

    ======================================================================
    "Z-80 system stack overflow. Shut 'er down Scotty, the system's
    sucking mud" - Error message on TRS 80 Model-16B

    Tom Simes simestd at netexpress.com 
    ======================================================================
    _______________________________________________
    NSRCA-discussion mailing list
    NSRCA-discussion at lists.nsrca.org
    http://lists.nsrca.org/mailman/listinfo/nsrca-discussion


  _______________________________________________
  NSRCA-discussion mailing list
  NSRCA-discussion at lists.nsrca.org
  http://lists.nsrca.org/mailman/listinfo/nsrca-discussion
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.nsrca.org/pipermail/nsrca-discussion/attachments/20080124/a6608905/attachment.html