Hello All, I have a G.T. Power P4 charger that came with the turn key set up (Super Clown) I bought from Brodak. It seems to be set up to use only a car battery as the power supply. I would like to charge it in the house with a plug-in 12v power supply. The instructions are a bit sparse and vague "input voltage: 9-15v DC " but no amp rating is given. I was hoping to use a 12V supply in the 2 to 3 amp range with the proper size input plug. Does this seem reasonable? Any advice and/or recommendations are welcome. I dropped a email to Brodaks on Fri. but have had no response yet. Yes, this is my first electric control liner. I post pictures soon I hope. Thanks in advance.

Bob

Mark:

Are you sure about the exploding part?  They're certainly known for bursting into hot, unquenchable flame (my RC club president nearly did some serious damage to his house with a pack, recently: he got it outside in the nick of time).

I charge in my garage, with precautions.  Basically the batteries get charged in a fireproof container, far enough away from other stuff that they can burst into flame and do nothing more than stink the place up.

Bob:

I'm guessing that if you're charging three-cell packs your peak supply current will be somewhere from equal to the peak battery current and about 20% more.  But it depends a lot on how efficient the charger is (power in = power out + power loss, the better the efficiency the less power loss).

Search on "power supply" in this forum and you'll get some hits.

Mark:

Are you sure about the exploding part?  They're certainly known for bursting into hot, unquenchable flame (my RC club president nearly did some serious damage to his house with a pack, recently: he got it outside in the nick of time).

I charge in my garage, with precautions.  Basically the batteries get charged in a fireproof container, far enough away from other stuff that they can burst into flame and do nothing more than stink the place up.

Bob:

I'm guessing that if you're charging three-cell packs your peak supply current will be somewhere from equal to the peak battery current and about 20% more.  But it depends a lot on how efficient the charger is (power in = power out + power loss, the better the efficiency the less power loss).

Search on "power supply" in this forum and you'll get some hits.

Tim,, sorry for the non engineering loose use of the terms,, the videos I have seen of "fires" resulting from overvolt, overcharge resembled an explosion to me,, at the very least, I believe the flame temp approaches 2700 degrees,, I could research but it really does not matter that much, the resultant fire is rapid and devastating to its surroundings,, so while my term was perhaps not totally accurate, the result would be,, and my understanding is that an explosion is basically just a rapid fire in a contained space,,

Bob,
 I had one of those chargers.(someone gave it to me) and you will soon want way better. but to directly answer your question something like this will work just fine http://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Power-Supply-LCD-Monitor/dp/B003TUMDWG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396909296&sr=8-1&keywords=12v+power+supply Just make sure the pos and neg are right. otherwise snip the chord and reverse it. Keep in mind that this power supply leaves no room to grow so you may want to consider growing everything before you even start spending.
William

Yes, don't creep ahead slowly on this. Get a good charger and use a 12V battery (field box battery will work if you have one) or get a good power supply in anticipation of getting a good charger.
William DeMauro is a good source of knowledge on power supplies, he helped me get mine going. I'd bet he knows a thing or two about chargers, too.

Tim,, sorry for the non engineering loose use of the terms,, the videos I have seen of "fires" resulting from overvolt, overcharge resembled an explosion to me,, at the very least, I believe the flame temp approaches 2700 degrees,, I could research but it really does not matter that much, the resultant fire is rapid and devastating to its surroundings,, so while my term was perhaps not totally accurate, the result would be,, and my understanding is that an explosion is basically just a rapid fire in a contained space,,

"Explosion", to me, means that your shop instantly has a new door.  I just double-checked the LiPo fire videos -- I didn't see anything that I'd call an explosion, although there were certainly some sequences of batteries burning in a way that'd burn down your shop (or house) if you're not careful.

Gentlemen, thank you all. Rest assured I will be charging the battery in a safe container and never unattended. When I said in the house I really just meant from an AC outlet. Most likely outside on an extension cord, but at home before I go to fly instead of hooking up to the car battery at the field (at least for the first flight). And yes, I looking at better chargers for the future, but I think I'll dance with the girl I got for now. I only have the one battery(so far) so this is will be a "see how it goes" kind of thing. I've read a lot, and watched other flyer's electrics with great interest. If this works as well as I hope I'll dive in a little deeper with a better plane and better setup. Till then that $11.00 power supply looks like a good bet. I'll keep you posted. Thanks again.

Bob