warlord385

Why are dc power supplies prefered as opposed to ac power supplies for chargers and lathes. Can anyone tell me why and no just that DC is a cleaner source of power than AC but can can some explain to me the "science" as to why powering our r/c equipment by DC is better?

Caddzilla

One reason might be that most r/c racing is done outdoors. And most tracks don't have AC power for racers to use, so all you have to power your charger or lathe is your car battery. And most of these are designed to be run from battery power, and pretty much every battery, if not all batteries supply DC power.

I don't know that one source is better than another, it just happens to be more convenient to design to the most common situation.

Just my thoughts.

popsracer

Simple, availible space and Cost. It would take at least 25% more case size in a Charger/Lathe to design in an adequite power supply. Look at the size of an aftermarket Power Supply, even a 7amp PS is larger than most chargers alone.
Most chargers that have built in Power supplies are limited in amp output (most) or need a good soild 120/220 VAC to charge at anything close to their maximum rate. This is most noticeable if plugged into a generator at the race track. With a Regulated Power Suppy, you now have about 13.5 VDC to power your equipment and as many amps as you care to pay for.

Two items that are note worthy:

1) Foam Tire truer's are coming AC power ready (most permanent tracks have AC power).
2) The New Brushless Motors are actually Alternating Current powered, by the switching of the Speed Controller.

Cole Trickle

Yep, many chargers with built in AC supply, suffer from a poor power supply, so when everybody plugs in their charger and the 120/220 drops a little, those chargers wont work.

Besides, as a producer of a charger, if the AC supply is external, it's easier to manufacture to different cuntries, since some use 120 volt and others 220.