Battery charging systems

That's a pretty common kind of unit around here (Australia) - TY1 produces a great unit that incorporates the charging socket and a tri-colour LED that is green if the battery voltage is good, going to amber then red if the voltage is low. Very handy on the flight line - you move all the sticks around simultaneously, making all the servos work at once, and if the LED flickers to red you know your battery is marginal and you'd better stop and charge it before flying.

Thats both a good and bad idea. Slick idea but battery packs heat up when being charged. You have a very possible fire hazard there.

I never take my batteries out for charging, I have yet to call the fire dept. :)

Stefan Pettersen

"Fubar of The HillPeople" skrev i melding news:461e85f2$0$17160$ snipped-for-privacy@roadrunner.com...

The message from "Fubar of The HillPeople" contains these words:

Hi Dan, maybe with Lipo etc but my Nimh just get warm after

40 minutes fast charge from a 13.8v 7A feed, the thought of overheating did cross my mind but as I have never had a battery get so hot I couldnt hold it in my hand I think it would work OK, all the hassle of removing panels and turning a/c upside down, removing wings and so on can cause a lot of wear and tear on an airframe in a summer of flying so looking for ways to minimise it,

regards, Terry

I understand your point but I have had packs get so hot you couldnt touch them both during flight and during charging. I have had a couple different LiPo packs swell up during flight but never during charging. Wouldnt charge those in the plane either. To each his own, I guess. No offense but I wont park next to you either! ;-)

Disregarding the issue of leaving the batts in the plane, I would be a bit concerned over using that 3.5 mm jack plug - some of those can briefly short out as you plug the plug in, and that wouldn't be good - especially if you are using LiPos.

If I was going to use a similar scheme I would use 2.5mm power plugs and sockets - they do not short out

David

Terence Lynock wrote:

Remember there is a world of difference between a glo flyer charging his receiver pack and an electric flyer charging his LIPO power pack.

I think you are at cross purposes gents.

The message from quietguy contains these words:

Hi Dave, right now it is just an experiment on the bench so changing to a more robust and better fitting plug and socket may be on the cards, I would never charge Lipo in the fuselage knowing their reputation if incorrectly handled and even in the hands of an experienced flyer familiarity can breed contempt and still lead to accidents so Lipo would be charged in a fireproof container if I used them. At present for reliabilty and ease of use while I get back into the hobby I will stick with Nimh and once everything is familiar and routine as far as motors etc are concerned I can start changing over to the more advanced stuff,

regards, Terry

Fair enough. However the plug and sockets I was thinking of are not 'advanced' items - they are much the same price etc as those 3.5mm plugs, and are not a huge/heavy duty item. They are the same sort of plugs/sockets that are fitted to most of the cheap battery eliminators/wall wart thingos.

Cheers

David

Terence Lynock wrote: