alvincfi

Hi I have a Supernova 250 that I have had for over a year now. No problems until recently trying to charge some 6 and 7cell nicads around 1500-3000mah from a car battery source. I soldered up a rig so that I could us the cigarette lighter connection from inside the vehicle. I noticed that while using the automatic mode the charge amps are very low usually much less than one amp, so the battery takes forever to charge. The charger was workin fine before using this system and now it goes to this lower amperage while charging. If I hook it up directly to the battery with alligator clips it has no probs. I have tried it with two different vehicles with similar results. The manual says nothing about it and the voltage in reading is fine. Anyone have any insights. Maybe Fred Marks could chime in??
Thanks,
Alvin

Doug D.

Well I'm not Fred Marks but;
Your going thru a bit more wiring and eletrical components at the cigarette lighter and the current from the battery will drop a bit because of that. Has a lot to do with Ohms Law for you electrical experts out there. You may notice a difference when the engine is running then when it's not.
If you have a way of tracing the wire thru the car physically you might follow several feet of wire before it gets to the cigarette lighter. Some of our club members that fly Electric bring a seperate car battery with them. A hassle I know but that's what they prefer to do. [&:]

Fred Marks

Doug, et al: It pains me to have to say this, but I am concerned with anyone charging from the cigarette lighter jack inside a car. It has come to our attention that the interior of cars are highly flammable. This apparently doesn't bother DOT, but it surely worries me. I also get the shakes every time I hear those door locks "clunk" when I turn on the ignition, knowing that I can't open a door and no one can get to me in an emergency unless I am in condition to hit the unlock button. if you have DVM, check the voltage at the SN with it plugged into the Cig lighter jack. You will undoubtedly find it below 12V. It depends on howmheavy the wiring is. if you try to pull sevral amps with SN, the lighter fuze will probably blow as well.

Antique

My Feedback: (4)

I use the cig lighter in the rear of my Ford often. Not a problem. Check the gauge of the wire you are using as well as your connections. I'm using 10 gauge stranded wire. I also had to clean the contacts inside the lighter receptical.

Doug D.

Well Fred, presonally I don't like using the cigarette lighter to charge batteries. Some guys like the idea of using it to charge their batteries while driving to the field. Kinda like the cell phones ya know! It's something else that would distract me while I'm driving. And other guys like using the cigarette lighter output so they don't have to pop the hood. Got to admitt though, it's pretty hard to get to the battery of some vehicles. We're fortunate at our field in that we have ac power available. So it's no problem bringing out a charger that's ac capable or the dc power supply if you have one. Most of the guys will use there flight box battery as well. Mine is a 12amp motorcycle battery. Adequate for most needs. Have found a place to get a good gell cell of the same size and capacity.
But for some folks that just to much extra to carry. I can understand that, so long as safety is there first consideration. [&:]