heretic

Hi everyone

A friend of mine is in the market for a lipo charger for his kid but he's worried about safety and would like the most absolute " idiot-proof" charger.( no offence for the child, of course :-)

Something like : you plug, the light goes red, and when the LED turns green, the battery is charged. Something the kid could use almost by himself.
Obviously it does not really matter if the cutoff is at 4,18 per cell ;-)

Any ideas ?

defcone

iTrader: (15)

Those wall chargers that come with rtr kits work pretty much like how you described just that they take forever to complete charge.

Cravin

iTrader: (1)

Let dad do the charging.

vr6cj

iTrader: (124)

Yeah, I have a 5 yr and no way no how@! Lipo's are not for kids to mess with.

heretic

The guy is a responsible dad, don't worry ! He doesn't plan on letting him plugging ANYTHING in a wall by hismself ! Of course he plans to be there the whole time, the kid is FIVE !

I said "almost by himself ", what I meant was the kid could maybe himself plug the battery in the charger and understand it if is ready without having to read anything.

( Side note : you 'd be amazed how easily parents let their -admittedly older- children handle stick IB Nimh. Now THAT seems much more dangerous to me than modern lipos... because even in the right mode, the thing could blow up and send shrapnels all over the place!! I guess after all these years we all still stuck to the idea that Li- cells are more dangerous than others. Oh well)

About thr RTR-like chargers, do you have anything to recommend me ?

Longhair

No matter what charger you get, make sure you make a step by step check box next to it.

Not only will it promote safety, but will introduce the idea of following instructions and logic at an early age for more productive things in the future.

heretic

Longhair : very good input here. I think that's pretty much the idea of my buddy, he wants to make the kid feel like he's treated like a big boy, with a grown ups car just like his dad.

drsmooth

iTrader: (33)

Here's my pick! It's dc only, but if dad sets it up, it's plug & forget. The charger does the rest. You'll also need the correct adapter board you your battery.

Charger
http://www.revolectrix.com/4sgold_description_tab.htm

Power Supply

http://www.store.revolectrix.com/Pro...A-Power-Supply

niznai

No need for any of that.

There's one at RCmart, right here:

http://www.rcmart.com/catalog/rc-cha...v-p-33251.html

That's the UK version, there's a US version (110V) as well. Plug cord is quite common if you're not in the UK. Looks like it has balancing ports as well, so it should be OK.

I have not used it though, so don't know how good it is.

sidewaze

iTrader: (3)

No five year old should be doing it period. Let him watch and learn but in no way would I let him do anything. Plenty of time to feel like a big boy. Seriously the smallest of errors can happen and not just human. How would if feel if something blew in the child's face. I'm a licenced electrician and automation specialist and see things happen daily. Not sure how many five year olds can read let alone a checklist.

madcat4uk

Fully Agree

I dont use LIPO at all even at 19 becuse i know that if i forget about the battery (what i do somtimes with my NICD) there is potential for fire

If LIPO is what you need, then a responsable person should charge and maintain it, not a 5 year old

mooby64

iTrader: (3)

Have your friend look up a Lipo fire on Youtube and see if he really wants to have his son even touch a battery charger. Once a child feels he knows how to do something, doing it on their own is the next logical step.

Good luck !!!!!!!

Mitch-e4fs

iTrader: (7)

Swallow 2? Have The dad set it to lipo and the charge rate and all the Kia has to do is hold the start button till it starts.
When it's finished it says "end" and you press
The start button again.

viperbill1963

i would advise ADULT SUPERVISION just look up li-po battery explosions on you tube and see why