Charging LIPO with CTX charger

cyrrus · April 12, 2008, 11:48:41 PM

hey you can buy the same charger that shawn posted from a rc flight store in vancouver for about the same cost.

Shawn68z · April 13, 2008, 01:03:23 AM

Quote from: "light"
Quote from: "SgRddY"so if i use the converter until it reaches 90% then use the CTX LIPO mode to top it off at 1A, it should work right?

I would think so. Also if your using a 4900mah cell you will only be about 500mah of a full charge. I'm not for or against the converter but in a crunch it might help you out

It will work, but I have noticed my TrakPower 4900's take 1000maH after the charger switches to constant voltage mode. If I was to use a converter, my batter pack would only be about 80% full.

Its definately a neat toy to have in the tool box to use with a spare charger, but I would highly recommend to anyone to get a good lipo charger for use with their batteries. Esp one of the new chargers with the balancer built in. They are definately sweat.

Shawn.

Grinder · April 13, 2008, 12:33:17 PM

... and of course all the other chargers don't put "100%" into the packs either since they have to drop the current to keep the voltage constant and they get to a point where they all say close enough.... otherwise you'd be waiting hours for the last 5%

Shawn68z · April 14, 2008, 09:42:01 AM

Quote from: "Grinder"... and of course all the other chargers don't put "100%" into the packs either since they have to drop the current to keep the voltage constant and they get to a point where they all say close enough.... otherwise you'd be waiting hours for the last 5%

Okay, the ice only charges to 99.9% Thats pretty much full. But when using a converter, you can easily lose 20%. Thats a fair bit not to have in the pack at the begining of a race.

But if Ken wants to use a converter, I am good with it. I dont mind the competition only having a 80-90% charge when they start their race. :wink:

BigDawg · April 15, 2008, 10:43:08 AM

well when your only using 30-40% of your pack anyway whats the extra 10-20 gonna do for you?other than give you a little less re charge time

SgRddY · April 15, 2008, 11:42:45 AM

rob is doing every well with his hi-iq and the losi converter.

Shawn68z · April 15, 2008, 06:22:39 PM

Quote from: "BigDawg"well when your only using 30-40% of your pack anyway whats the extra 10-20 gonna do for you?other than give you a little less re charge time

Higher average voltage. Longer battery life (more cycles), and the ability to run the same pack twice if you have to.

Shawn.

Shawn68z · April 15, 2008, 06:24:18 PM

Quote from: "SgRddY"rob is doing every well with his hi-iq and the losi converter.

Take two wheels of his car, and Rob would still drive it like he stole it. :wink:

Grinder · April 15, 2008, 07:47:42 PM

How do you figure longer battery life?

BigDawg · April 15, 2008, 08:57:50 PM

well i would think if i have a 5000 mah batt and only use about 2000 or so mah per race i would have ample time to top up and use one batt all day with the converter if you think the slight extra voltage you will get from the last 10 or so % will help you any ill see you in the A

Shawn68z · April 15, 2008, 09:44:21 PM

Kurk: The deeper the discharge the shorter the battery life will be. By starting your run on a less then fully charged battery, you will finish the race with a deeper discharged battery then if it was completely full at the begining of the race. On a side note, I am keeping a log book of the charge cycles on each of my TP4900's packs to see how many 'race' worthy cycles I get out of them.

BigDawg: Losi's manual says 10%. The charger adapter cuts off when the voltage reaches 8.4V. My 4900's take an extra 1500 Mah after they reach 8.4V. So for my battery packs its closer to 1/3 of the pack is not being charged. Thats alot. Did you ever run NiMH 4200's? Did you turn off your charger at 2/3? I didnt think so. The one battery per car point is great if you always qualify straight to the 'A' . I only ask, what happens if you bump up from the B? Do you think they can put 2000mAH into a battery pack in less then 5 Minutes?
A higher average voltage, in capable hands, will beat always beat a similar driver with less voltage.

As for me in the 'A-Main' ... Work in Progress.

Shawn.

Grinder · April 15, 2008, 10:11:07 PM

Its actually the closer to full discharge AND charge states that affects cycle life. Charging to 80% is less destructive to your cells than charging to 100%. Its unlikely you would come anywhere near discharging a pack in stock as you typically take less than 1800 mAh out of the pack.

Regardless you want as close to a full charge for racing as the discarge curve on these cells are fairly linear and even if its a 1/2 lap advantage.... or so the pit racers would have you believe ;P

SgRddY · May 03, 2008, 12:58:00 AM

this is crazy..... i google "muchmore lipo charger" and this topic came up on the second on the search list.

Shawn68z · May 03, 2008, 12:03:29 PM

Quote from: "SgRddY"this is crazy..... i google "muchmore lipo charger" and this topic came up on the second on the search list.

Nice. :-) Good to see the site is being visited on a regular basis by Google.

Shawn.