Lipo Charging
 

I'm new to electric and I'm wondering how to charge a lipo battery. I have a OFNA DIGIPEAK3 charger. Can it charge and balance a lipo? Does it charge all types of lipos or only certain ones?

anyhelp would be appreciated

thanks,
offroad racer

That charger will charge any typical lipo battery. It does not have a balancer built in, so if you want to balance you will need a separate balancer. Balancing is not always needed, but is highly recommended to keep the batteries working well for many cycles.

If you do not have the manual for your charger you can go to Ofna's site and download it. This should give you all of the information you need to safely charge your lipo.

I don't see it listed in Ofna's manuals. Email them and see if they can send you a copy of teh manual. This has a little info about that charger -

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXPXN0&P=7

Can you show me a balancer. Preferably one on the cheaper side

http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...2-6S_series%29

I have this one, it works great. The only brawback is that if you balance during charging you can only charge at a 0.2Amp rate. I simply balance before charging and then charge at normal rates for a faster charge. Occasionally I charge at 0.2A while balancing, I figure it can only help.

Instead of getting a balancer, I would recommend getting a cheap balance charger instead like this one:

http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...lancer/Charger

I plan on getting one since my charger does not come with a balancer. Cheaper than getting a Team Checkpoint balancer or Hyperion LBA10

The Accucel-6 is a great balancing charger as long as you're doing 2S lipos. It is a 50watt output charger and will limit charge current to stay under its 50watt limit with 3S and up cell counts. I have one and use it for 2S lipos and it does a great job.

It will charge and balance while charging at 5amps.

Thanks
 

Im planning now on getting the one you showed in the link

Where do you get the power supply?

Oops I forgot that your Ofna charger comes with a built-in power supply. You can use a laptop power supply for Turnigy charger. As long as it is rated 12-17 volts and at least 60 watts. Or you can get this one for $10: http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...idProduct=6256

So many people recommend that Accucel-6 as a first LiPo charger so you should be happy with it.

I got mine yesterday from hobbycity and all i can say that it is Probably one of the best chargers for its price.

Make sure you understand what is said in the HC ad -

"All you need is a common kettle plug, found at PC stores or your local electronics store. (you probably have a spare cord laying around the house already, as its a very common type)."

Just don't want anyone ordering one and waiting just to realize its not complete when you get it.