thething01

ok so i bought a helimax 400 and im having trouble charging the lithium batteries ok so i went online and bought a charger that it recemended at tower hobbies but so far im not to imprest but im wondering what it means to have a voltage error and how do i properly charge these damn bats and off subject whats a good heli right off the bat with you more experinced people century or helimax or what

bdavison

My Feedback: (1)

The MX400 works fine. I like flying mine, it flys very similar to a Trex.

Most likely, the voltage error is telling you that you have discharged the lipo below its limits.
Lipos should not be discharged below 3.7V per cell. Once you discharge them beyond that, some chargers will refuse to try to charge them because they could blow up. Im afraid that your lipo may no longer be operable. Some of the chargers as shown below, may be able to recover that lipo...but it all depends on just how low the voltage is.

As far as chargers, Id recommend the Great Planes Triton, The ICE, or the Hyperion charger. All three work very well.

HighSierra

My Feedback: (2)

I agree....When a charger won't charge a Lipo, it's usually because of a low volt failsafe feature...How many cells is your Lipo and how many volts is it reading now?

thething01

i have a 3 cell lipo and the charger i have is a hcap0250 12vpowersupply and im not sure how to find out the amount of volts is in the bat but igot this charger from a recommendation from the towerhobbies so and im like really new to this field of rc well all rc and im not to sure im learning on a fly here so

bdavison

My Feedback: (1)

OH....that explains it. If its this.....http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXL356
Thats not a charger, its a power supply for a charger. You plug a charger like the Triton into it, and then plug the battery into the triton. Plugging the battery directly into the power supply.....well lets just say your lucky the house didnt burn down.

Another blunder by tower hobbies, I wish they would hire some experienced people.

Ok...first, go here, and get yourself a charger.
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXCJG7&P=ML

Since you already have the power supply, you just plug the Triton into the 12V side of your power supply, and then follow the instructions with the Triton to charge your battery.


Lipos should always be charged at their capacity, and NEVER above it.
This is known as the 1C rule.
1C= 1 times the capacity.

For example.
If your battery is a 11.1V 1250mAh lipo, you would charge it on the Triton at 11.1V at 1.2A
1250mAh = 1.250A
If your battery is a 11.1V 340mAh lipo, you would charge it on the Triton at 11.1V at .3A
340mAh = .340A

Charging a battery at above 1C, can and most likely will result in the pack exploding and catching fire.
See here....http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...60570423705609

Hope this helps.

thething01

what about the electri fly lipo charger i went and bought that today and that didnt even work so what else could i do just by the triton charger or

bdavison

My Feedback: (1)

The electrifly one will work, but that lipo is probably shot.
Take a voltmeter and measure it. If its below 9v, its probably not recoverable.

thething01

ok will do and thank you for your help its really helping