stunthanger.com
Electric Stunt => Gettin all AMP'ed up! => Topic started by: jim gilmore on October 09, 2010, 05:22:28 PM
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First off I hope i spelled your name right. Brodak says to ask you my questions.
I'm wondering if the charger that brodak has paired with their 1/2 A set-up will also charge 3s battery packs as well as 1s packs ? Also should I buy the programing card for the esc ?
Jim Gilmore
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Jim,
I am not Dennis but I do have this particular set up. The charger that comes with the 1/2a set is good for the 2s and 3s type of batteries. The timer and speed control seem pretty straight forward with nothing else to buy that I am aware of. Hopefully Dennis will chime in hear and support my claims.
John
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Will it charge a 1s ?
Trying to avoid owning a bunch of chargers.
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Jim,
The charger actually charges through the balancing plugs, so I would have to guess that the charger would not work as there is nothing to balance in a 1s battery.
John
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poo.. I plan to also but an electric helicopter but really do not want to have a charger for every thing I buy....
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The charger actually charges through the balancing plugs, so I would have to guess that the charger would not work as there is nothing to balance in a 1s battery.
That's like saying that a one-legged man can't buy a pair of shoes because he only has one foot.
Jim: chances are high that it'll charge one cell just perfectly. It's not that "there's nothing to balance", it's that one of something is always perfectly balanced with itself. Unless the charger manufacturer chose to shave a very few pennies off the their cost, it'll charge one cell just fine.
See if you can get your hands on a copy of the directions for the charger -- if there's directions for charging one cell, then you know you're home free.
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There is one way to make this charger, or any charger that charges through the balancing port, charge a single cell would be to make up a y-harness that allows you to connect 2 (or 3) single-cell batteries at the same time. To the charger, this would look like a 2s (or 3s) battery and it would obligingly balance charge them.
You will probably need some kind of adapter plug anyway, since your power connector off the battery, and the balancing connector are unlikely to be compatible, so when making up the adapter plug you can make it a 3 pin with 2 single cell batteries or a 4-pin for 3 single cells.
One caution I would make, though - this one has a fixed charge rate of 800 ma - so if your single cell battery is very much less than 800 mah, you would be charging at a pretty high rate. Not recommended ....
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Doesn't Brodak let you omit parts from the set when you buy it, or buy all the pieces? If the charger has a fixed rate then it's going to seriously limit your options -- you're probably much better in the long run to get a "charge anything" charger and go with that -- particularly if it'll do lead-acid, too, then you can charge your flight box batteries when you get home.
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Sorry I have been away folks, I got #1 son married off last weekend - been kinda busy!
I think most of the modern charger-balancers are really more akin to individual cell chargers. They charge each of the cells to the same peak voltage. For example the GT-P4 charger from Brodak charges 2S, 3S or 4S, but it wall also charge 2 x 2S packs. Biggest problem I can see with charging 1S would be getting the proper mating connector and charging at the correct rate ( uh, I think other folks already mentioned that)
The GT-A6 charger has a wide variety of charging rates from .1A to 5A, and also charges nicads, nimhs, and lead-acid batteries. That last part is important is because you can use your old, no longer needed starter batteries to power your field 'fridge during those all day ECL sessions..!