Lipo Question

[GA Maxx]

Hi, Im new to the world of Lipo Charger, And I've bought myself a Lipo Charger and Lipo Battery for myself for Xmas (Comes to somthing when you have to buy your own Xmas Pressies :() To go in my brand new E-Firestorm Flux.

I've had plenty of Top End electric RC's, But the last time I had R/Cs Matched GP3300 Nimhs and a LRP Pulsar Charger where the top equipment, So This is my first experience with LIPO. So I have a few questions

I've purchased the Fusion Elysium Pro and additional Balance board to charge 2 Lipo's at the same time:

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/index.php?CallFunction=ShowSpecification&ItemID=30776

It arrived today (Props to MSUK, Only ordered 1pm yesterday and didnt even upgrade my delivery) Although its for Xmas, I decided to power it up and just make sure everything is ok, To avoid dissapointment Xmas day.

Now I'm going to order my Batteries when/If my Hyper 7 sells, I'm 99% sure I am going to go for 3x of these:

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/index.php?CallFunction=ShowSpecification&ItemID=34108

Now, My Charger doesnt have any leads apart from the leads to the balance board as seen in this quick pic:

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c144/CustomClio/d0e7058c.jpg

Is this what you use to charge Lipo's? OR do I need to purchase a DEans Connector for my charger, Like this?

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/index.php?CallFunction=ShowSpecification&ItemID=33646

Also, What A shall I charge my Lipo on? Its a 5400mah 7.4v Pack


thanks

[Grizzbob]

Well, I don't know much about that charger(have a ThunderPower TP610 myself), but from its description in the link, it looks like you'll want this: http://www.modelsport.co.uk/index.php?CallFunction=ShowSpecification&ItemID=34808 to charge 2 packs at once(& you might want the one you linked to for occaisions when you only need to charge one, but that's up to you).

As for charging, if I understand your question, then I'd suggest charging at 1C, which is 1 amp for every 1000mah in the pack's capacity & that charger should have a LiPo-specific mode(so a 5200mah pack is fine with a 5.2 amp charge rate, but for specifics on setting that charger to do 2 at once you'll need to refer to its manual)....:cool:

[GA Maxx]

oh so i have to charge the Lipo by plugging the deans connector in, I cant justcharge it with the white plug plugged in?

[drummin89]

Im not sure about your charger, but on my turnigy it charges with the white plug and monitors the battery with the discharge plug. You would have to read the manual that comes with your charger to see whats needed.

[drummin89]

here is the manual
http://www.logicrc.com/instructions/O-FS-LX60BP.pdf

From the manual: Note: In order to balance Lithium batteries during charge or discharge, please ensure that both the battery main power leads and the balancing connector from the battery pack are connected to both 4mm output banana sockets and balancing port respectively. The balancing port requires a short lead (supplied) and an adaptor board to suit your battery balance connector.

[drummin89]

I guess the charger will just think you are charging 1 large battery instead of 2 smaller ones. The charger may think its charging a 4 cell lipo when it is actually charging 2 2 cell lipo packs. And since the charger has a limit of 6 cells for lipo packs, when charging 2 at the same time you can only charge 2 3 cell lipo packs.

[rccardude04]

You charge through the main Dean's connector on 99% of chargers on the market now. If you want to balance at the same time, you will plug in the white connector as well.

Most of us, at least those of us with balancing chargers, will pretty much always balance and charge at the same time.

Charging 2 packs in series like that is really complicated, and really only for batteries that have been matched together their entire life. If you get one with a few more cycles than the other, they will go out of balance very badly, and that's a problem. If you run one even just slightly more than the other, you'll also not be able to charge like that. I see there's an adapter sold for the purpose, but it's not really going to work well unless you're running 2 identical packs in something like an E-Maxx or E-Revo where they're both put through the exact same running conditions as one-another.

You really just need a Deans connector to 4mm banana plug adapter, along with what it appears you already have.

-Eric

[GA Maxx]

thanks for your help guys