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Another rookie question

Another rookie question

Old 08-16-2012, 04:34 PM
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Default Another rookie question

I guess I am going to have a lot of these now that all of the stuff I have ordered is now coming in

My first one is this, I have a Hitec 44167 charger. It is more charger than I need at the moment, but I am sure I will grow into it down the road. I opened it up and plugged it in to charge up my first LiPo battery. Looking at what was in the box and what I have with the battery, I have no plug to plug adapter to charge it. Is this something I need to make or buy? There is also a 3rd hole on the battery, a balancer for the cells. I take it I need to get that piece as well to plug onto the circuit board looking thing?

Do I need the balancer to charge the battery up for the first time?

Is there a set amp that I should charge my batteries for? I only have one at the moment, but I have 3 more on the way. I think they are all 5000mah.

My old charger would shut off once the battery had finished charging, I assume this one will do that also?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Jon
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Old 08-16-2012, 04:48 PM
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Is your battery a lipo? nimh? If its a lipo it absolutely NEEDS to be balanced EVERY charge cycle. 5000 mah will charge at 5 amps just fine. What battery ends do you have on your battery?
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Old 08-16-2012, 05:13 PM
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Originally Posted by stickys
Is your battery a lipo? nimh? If its a lipo it absolutely NEEDS to be balanced EVERY charge cycle. 5000 mah will charge at 5 amps just fine. What battery ends do you have on your battery?
There are no ends on my battery(s). They are all LiPo. It has holes that the plugs go into and a tiny third hole in the middle of them.

As for charging @ 5 amps, is there a drawback to charging it at less or just takes longer or doesn't really make a difference at all ?

Thanks,

Jon
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Old 08-16-2012, 06:07 PM
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Charging at less amps than 1C just takes longer, unless the pack is damaged and you're trying to restore it or pull other more advanced tactics. Sticking to 1C is always safe during general use, and recommended, even if the pack will take more than a 1C charge rate. For a 5000mah 2s battery, 5Amps is 1C.

As for the battery, if it has bullet connectors (holes in it), it should've also come with a cable that has the male bullets on it. Those cables generally are empty on the other end so you can use your plug of choice. Those same cables should also have a smaller wire to go into that middle smaller bullet hole, and on the other end have the balance plug that goes into the circuit board like thing (balance board).
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Old 08-16-2012, 06:36 PM
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This is what your charge leads should look like. The last pic is what you can do to run the battery in your car since you do not need the balance lead.
Most batteries like that use a 4mm male banana connector and the smaller one is 2.5mm.
Attached Thumbnails Another rookie question-008-1280x721-.jpg   Another rookie question-011-1280x721-.jpg   Another rookie question-009-1280x721-.jpg  
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Old 08-16-2012, 07:45 PM
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Originally Posted by justpoet
Charging at less amps than 1C just takes longer, unless the pack is damaged and you're trying to restore it or pull other more advanced tactics. Sticking to 1C is always safe during general use, and recommended, even if the pack will take more than a 1C charge rate. For a 5000mah 2s battery, 5Amps is 1C.

As for the battery, if it has bullet connectors (holes in it), it should've also come with a cable that has the male bullets on it. Those cables generally are empty on the other end so you can use your plug of choice. Those same cables should also have a smaller wire to go into that middle smaller bullet hole, and on the other end have the balance plug that goes into the circuit board like thing (balance board).

Originally Posted by Rock333
This is what your charge leads should look like. The last pic is what you can do to run the battery in your car since you do not need the balance lead.
Most batteries like that use a 4mm male banana connector and the smaller one is 2.5mm.
Hi JustPoet,

Thanks for responding. I looked in the battery box, but there were no cables there. It is a Tenergy brand I picked up from NorCal last week. I'll go down there tomorrow after work to pick up whatever cables I am going to need. I'll take my charger & battery with me along with the cables that came with the charger too. Thanks for explaining how to charge a battery. I feel like such a rookie lol.


Rock333,

Thanks for responding as well. The pictures help with what JustPoet said as well. I know for sure that I don't have any kind of charge lead like that at all. I am waiting on my Tekin RSPro/Redline 17.5 combo to come in so I can see what else I will need. Does the Tekin combo come with the bullet connectors to attach to the wires for the power leads?


If I understand it all, it looks like I just need some charger leads with the part that plugs into the balance board as well. Along with the male bullet connectors for the speed control power leads (if that doesn't come with them).

Thanks again guys, I am sure I will have more questions 8-)

JustPoet, my SC-R SP comes tomorrow and I will start building that this weekend. Hopefully all the rest of my stuff comes in so I can run it next week to shake the rusty driving out of my system. Figure it will be more fun to re-learn on the truck than on the buggy.

Jon
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Old 08-16-2012, 08:46 PM
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No the Tekin will not have any kind of connectors with it. You will need to get some Deans plugs(most everyone I know runs this connector). The wires to the motor will be Hard soldered(no connectors). Not sure why the batteries didnt come with a charge lead, but they are easy to make. With the Tekin you will get enough wire to solder everything up but like i said you still need a connector for the battery side.
This will be a good one to get for the battery. It already has a deans on it.http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...llet-Connector
Now you will need to get atleast two male connectors. One for the ESC and another for your charger.http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...e-Ultra-Plug-2
Just remember that when you deal with conectors that ALL batteries use a female, and ALL ESC's/Chargers use the male.
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Old 08-17-2012, 05:26 AM
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Originally Posted by Rock333
No the Tekin will not have any kind of connectors with it. You will need to get some Deans plugs(most everyone I know runs this connector). The wires to the motor will be Hard soldered(no connectors). Not sure why the batteries didnt come with a charge lead, but they are easy to make. With the Tekin you will get enough wire to solder everything up but like i said you still need a connector for the battery side.
This will be a good one to get for the battery. It already has a deans on it.http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...llet-Connector
Now you will need to get atleast two male connectors. One for the ESC and another for your charger.http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...e-Ultra-Plug-2
Just remember that when you deal with conectors that ALL batteries use a female, and ALL ESC's/Chargers use the male.
Thanks Rock

The links helped a lot. Going to write that down and head over to the LHS today after work to get those items.

I am sure there will be more questions once the next set of items arrives lol.

Jon
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Old 08-17-2012, 04:45 PM
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Jon, look for the guy with the Apple hat on tomorrow if you go to the races at NorCal. I have stuff that both runs on bullets and on Deans and I can show you how it all hooks up either way. You may also want to see what the tekin kit will look like all soldered up.
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Old 08-17-2012, 06:25 PM
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Will do. Sent you a PM as well.

Jon
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Old 08-18-2012, 10:54 PM
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Default Another problem/issue

I debated on whether or not to have a new post, but just decided to throw this in here.

I seem to have all my battery wiring/charging issues solved Thanks Rock/Poet.

I am just about done building my car and I decided to try out the electronics to make sure everything was/is functioning correctly.

Just for reference here is what my builds are intended to be at this time:

Kyosho RB5 SP2 WC
Futaba 4PKS w/ R614FS receiver
Futaba S9304/S9301 servo (I have both)
Tekin RS Pro w/ Redline 17.5 combo

Kyosho SC-R SP
Futaba 4PKS w/ R614FS receiver
Futaba 9402 servo
Tekin RS Pro w/ Redline 17.5 combo

Ok, the issue now is when I have everything hooked up, excluding motor, the steering servo sounds/feels like it is running full out yet not twitching or anything, just sounds like its moving. It steers left & right (sometimes turning it left or right stops the sound/feeling) and comes back to center. This happens on all the servos I have including the brand new 9402 servo.

I have the servo on ch1 and the esc on ch2. I don't remember this happening on my old cars way back when. Am I doing something wrong? I didn't leave it running very long before turning it off and unplugging it.

Do these servos just not work with this radio system?

I am hoping to get all the bugs worked out before I start building the truck next week.

Thanks again for all your help answering my endless questions.

Jon
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Old 08-19-2012, 05:20 AM
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Is it a buzzing sound? That's pretty common with digital servos. Often, if you change your steering center 1, maybe 2 steps on your radio, it will quit. You will want to make sure your steering linkage is free and not binding.
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Old 08-19-2012, 10:23 AM
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Thanks Deja Vu,

Well, I figured out what was going on AFTER I RTFM (Read the Friggin Manual). Should have done that to begin with.

New fangled technology and all allows my radio to have two servo settings, normal and high speed. High speed is for the digital ones and normal is for 'normal' lol. Well, I switched it to normal and everything works like it is supposed to now.

Just about done building it and hope to get it on the track soon.

Jon
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