monkee

iTrader: (15)

i have been afraid to jump into lipo.
i have stalled and stalled and stalled but i think im going to have to move forward.
i need advice. lots. i dont want to jack anything up.
i am looking at buying an associated b44 which appears to take lipo saddle packs.

i dont want to invest tons of money into new batteries and chargers.
so in a perfect world, what i would love to find is this..
(i have seached the forums but havent found an 'all in all' lipo for dummies guide.

i would like a charger that does both lipo and nimh. also one that balances or discharges or whatever it is you are suppose to do with lipos.

do any chargers do it all in one step?
i will be using a castle esc and motor so i will set the cutoff so i dont go to low but is there a way i can just plug in the lipo (in a bag i guess) and push a button and an hour or so later its all good to go?

and if this type of charger exists, are they bloody expensive?

i appreciate any input.
thanks.
c

mad_about_losi

iTrader: (38)

The easiest charger that I have found is the duratrax ice and they aren't that costly, as far as discharging lipos that you don't do. Go to your LHS and talk to someone there. They should be able to guide you in the right direction. Hopefully this will help you.

cielo1889

iTrader: (9)

i'm using provenom charger for a year already. well, it's a good charger so far and not too pricey. it all depends on how big is the capacity of the lipo to get it fully charged. most of them might spend between half to an hour and a half. u need to set up the right voltage, capacity cutoff, time cut off for the charger as well so it doesnt go overcharge, etc.
this charger can charge nicd,nimh, lipo, or even ur controller batteries if u do have rechargeable batteries in it. i'm sure someone down there can help u out with more details. hope this helps a bit...

Mope

I picked up a Venom pro charger recently along with a Venom 2s 4000mah lipo which didn't work. I sent the battery back and got a couple more which both work well. I just recharged them and it took about 45mins for each battery to charge and balance. The Venom charger is pretty much idiot proof so it's good for people like ourselves who're new to lipo batteries. I can't really recommend Venom lipo's though after getting a dud straight off the bat.

Duster_360

iTrader: (21)

Look into one of these chargers, thunder AC-6, they're less expensive and seem to be just as good at charging diff batts as more expensive chargers -

http://www.hobbypartz.com/chargers.html



Modern rc chargers are not that difficult to operate. If you need some help, just ask.

offtraxx

iTrader: (59)

I have both the onyx 230 and ice chargers. imo the onyx easier to use. sets up 10 diff packs and is ac/dc (plug into the house outlet or ur car battery) also charges nimh, life, and 123 batts. where the ice is 12 volt only and u need a power supply to use it with a 110v system (house/ track)

balencers can be found at most hobby shops or online store. just make sure u get the right plugs for ur lipo.

when chargeing lipo's, go 1 amp/1000. for ex, charge a 5000 at 5.0....4200 at 4.2 amps

monkee

iTrader: (15)

I Like the price of that Sky Charger B6AC 6-in-1 DUAL POWER !!
so that should do everything i need to do for a lipo right?

when i charge my nimh's, i pretty much plug them in, push the button and go inside for an hour.
can i do this for lipos? or do i actually have to be next to it to watch it.
do they really blow up or catch on fire a lot?

Duster_360

iTrader: (21)

If you're going to be running 2S pacs, thats a solid charger. Its a 50watt charger and will start limiting charge current to stay under the chargers output power when you charge a 4S. The SkyCharger will charge up to a 6S, but at reduced current - all that means is it will take longer than a charger that has enough output power to charge at the full 1C charge rate.

If you follow common sense procedures and charge lipos as lipos, I doubt you'll ever have a prob with a fire or an explosion. Not saying it can't happen, but you'd have to get a bad lipo or make a huge mistake in charging to get one to go off. I would recommend a fireproof place to charge them - I charge mine on a thick porcelain plate, you might want to get a lipo bag.

I don't watch mine every minute when charging, but I have watched enough to know what is going on so I can recognize whan something's not right. I look in on mine every 10-15min while charging just cause I want to know how they are progressing. I would def watch they 1st few times just so you understand what the charger is doing. These chargers have memory slots. so when you get it setup for your lipo, it will be alomost as simple.

PaPeRo

If you don't overcharge/overdischarge them they likely will never catch on fire. Most of the horror stories you hear are very rare and most likely due to user incompetence and sometimes complacency.

In my experience the most important thing is to take your time and READ the display and make sure everything is setup correctly before you hit the charge button. Charge rate and number of cells/voltage is important.

racer1812

iTrader: (31)

+1 for all of the above and I will add this. Don't be affraid of lipos! It's amazing how many "accidents", aka fires you see on Youtube. You truley have to try to get a lipo to catch fire. They are no more dangerous than nicd/nimh, actually I've seen way more nimh cells explode and it's not pretty!

monkee

iTrader: (15)

sorry....
explain the "2s" thing...

like im looking at this battery..
https://www.ssl-stormerhobbies.com/c...=ns&pn=ASC0712

but it says nothing about "s"
thanks

burnineyes

iTrader: (17)

The "S" stands for series. 2s means 2 cells in series, for 7.4V. 3s would be 3 cells in series for 11.1V.
When cells are connected in series the voltage of each cell is added to the total, while the capacity is the same for 1 cell or one hundred. Back when lipo cells were fairly low capacity, it was common to see a 2s2p pack. This means it has 2 cells connected in series, and 2 cells connected parallel. Parallel connections keep the voltage the same, but add the cells capacity. Most of todays lipos have plenty of capacity, so the "P" part is typically only 1p and will not be listed.

That Reedy pack is pretty good, it is a 2s pack, so voltage will be 7.4V

triple7s

iTrader: (4)

Is a 2S2P pack charged the same way as a 2S pack?

Duster_360

iTrader: (21)

Lipo voltage can be confusing too - there is a 'nominal' voltage thats talked about and a max voltage which is what you'll actually see off the charger. Lipo cell is 3.7v nominal, but charged it is 4.2v. So a 2S is 7.4v nominal and 8.4v off the charger. 3S is 11.1v nominal and 12.6v off charger and so on.

This is a little like talking about NiMh as 1.2v/cell when they typically charge to +/-1.5v.

And187

iTrader: (21)

This is a great charger I use it for both LiPo and NiMh I highly recommend it, you can program your batteries into the charger's memory so its basically one touch set up but it also double checks anything you manually enter to prevent you from selecting incorrect charge rates. I had used the MRC Brain series before i went LiPo and was really happy but ever since buying this I dont touch my Brain charger even for the NiMh.