RE: Attn: Hobbico Elite Owners  
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All Forums >> Radios, Batteries, Clubhouse and more >> Batteries & Chargers >> RE: Attn: Hobbico Elite Owners
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RE: Attn: Hobbico Elite Owners - 10/18/2004 11:49:05 AM   
coomarlin



Posts: 1001
Joined: 10/2/2002
From: Morgantown, WV, USA
Status: offline 		I had a hard time locating an Ammo box so I went to Wally World and bought one of those Brinks fireboxes that you put valuables in. Since I live in an Apartment I don't have much room. I stash the box with Lipo's in the oven. If for some reason they would catch on fire it would be contained in the oven. I've also heard of people stashing them in their fireplace.

I just have to make sure that my girlfriend doesn't decide to preheat the oven without taking the LiPo's out

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       Post #: 226

RE: Attn: Hobbico Elite Owners - 10/18/2004 5:52:52 PM   
Geistware



Posts: 12946
Joined: 4/9/2002
From: Locust Grove, GA, USA
Status: offline 		Hey, shouldn't the fire proof box protect the pack?
Just thinking out loud here!
I guess I will spend this week looking at what I need and start buying the stuff from Tower!
I am going to put together a Raptor and will need the Elite to charge my LiPo packs.
Do you recommend that the first charge be at 1/10C or higher?
quote:

ORIGINAL: coomarlin

I had a hard time locating an Ammo box so I went to Wally World and bought one of those Brinks fireboxes that you put valuables in. Since I live in an Apartment I don't have much room. I stash the box with Lipo's in the oven. If for some reason they would catch on fire it would be contained in the oven. I've also heard of people stashing them in their fireplace.

I just have to make sure that my girlfriend doesn't decide to preheat the oven without taking the LiPo's out


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       Post #: 227

RE: Attn: Hobbico Elite Owners - 10/18/2004 6:13:01 PM   
rajul



Posts: 6165
Joined: 6/18/2002
From: Missouri City, TX, USA
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Geistware

If someone wants to donate the packs, I could probably try it!
I can't see blowing up $50 for a test!


Geist, here are some pics taken off batterybunker.com I guess the result with a cookie jar will be similarly good. Note that the container should not be air tight.

Attachments
Click to see fullsize image.
Click for fullsize


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       Post #: 228

RE: Attn: Hobbico Elite Owners - 10/18/2004 6:16:58 PM   
JoeAirPort



Posts: 6789
Joined: 8/11/2003
From: Milwaukee, WI, USA
Status: offline 		Excuse my dumb question here, but can this charger do a slow charge a constant rate vs peak charging? I thought I looked in the manual once and could not find it. For example, when I buy a new large capacity NiMh (2000mah) I'd prefer to slow charge it the first time (to form it). Can the Elite do this? I'd like to set it up for 120ma charge and turn off manually, or timed charge.

My next question would be for a 2000mah Nimh pack, what would be a good forming charge rate? C/10 or 200ma?

thanks

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       Post #: 229

RE: Attn: Hobbico Elite Owners - 10/18/2004 11:26:38 PM   
coomarlin



Posts: 1001
Joined: 10/2/2002
From: Morgantown, WV, USA
Status: offline 		A charge of C/10 will not damage the LiPo's but will take a long time. Remember to never charge LiPo's unattended and at C/10 it's going to take all day to charge them. Most people I know charge their LiPo's at 1C even when they are new. I have never charged my LiPo's at anything other than 1C and they are fine.

As for the NiMH the Elite will charge them just fine. You can charge them at C/10 or 200mah as the initial charge. In fact if you are not in a hurry I'd recommend charging both NiCD's and NiMH batteries at C/10. Of course a faster charge of 1C can also be used, but most experts would agree the more you fast charge the shorter lifespan your batteries will have. As a compromise I normally charge my NiMH packs at C/5 when I'm here at the house, but I don't hesitate to charge at 1C if I'm at the field.

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       Post #: 230

RE: Attn: Hobbico Elite Owners - 10/19/2004 12:39:58 AM   
Geistware



Posts: 12946
Joined: 4/9/2002
From: Locust Grove, GA, USA
Status: offline 		Thanks for the LiPo feedback.
I will probably get the temp probe and charge them outside.

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       Post #: 231

RE: Attn: Hobbico Elite Owners - 11/10/2004 1:38:58 PM   
jimjel


 

Posts: 27
Joined: 3/25/2004
From: Sarasota, FL, USA
Status: offline 		I bought one of the temp sensors for my Elite. Very accurate. I wanted to install the temp sensor permanently on my receiver battery pack but the 10" lead was too short to be useful, unless you removed the battery pack from the radio box. Installed a 24" extension lead on the temp sensor which now gives me 34" of lead length so that I can easily get from my radio box to the charger. Tested the temp sensor with the longer lead length and saw no change in temperature readings. Very cool. Great charger.

Jim

(in reply to Geistware)
       Post #: 232

RE: Attn: Hobbico Elite Owners - 11/10/2004 9:17:22 PM   
Geistware



Posts: 12946
Joined: 4/9/2002
From: Locust Grove, GA, USA
Status: offline 		I have tried setting the probe alarm temp a little above room temp and it seems to stop and start as it charges. I haven't tried to cycle it like this.

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       Post #: 233

RE: Attn: Hobbico Elite Owners - 11/11/2004 6:19:59 PM   
jimjel


 

Posts: 27
Joined: 3/25/2004
From: Sarasota, FL, USA
Status: offline 		Mine won't do that Geist. Once it hits the preset temperature when charging the charger shuts off and does not restart. It will however, shut off and restart if the pack overheats on the discharge cycle.

Jim

(in reply to Geistware)
       Post #: 234

RE: Attn: Hobbico Elite Owners - 11/11/2004 7:54:57 PM   
Geistware



Posts: 12946
Joined: 4/9/2002
From: Locust Grove, GA, USA
Status: offline 		Interesting, I will have to check this again to see why it stopped.
I will report back when I see what is going on!
quote:

ORIGINAL: jimjel

Mine won't do that Geist. Once it hits the preset temperature when charging the charger shuts off and does not restart. It will however, shut off and restart if the pack overheats on the discharge cycle.

Jim


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       Post #: 235

RE: Attn: Hobbico Elite Owners - 11/15/2004 1:32:36 AM   
Geistware



Posts: 12946
Joined: 4/9/2002
From: Locust Grove, GA, USA
Status: offline 		OK, it didn't restart.
What I found is that the charge was at an end but the charge current was 864ma.
It looked like it was still charging by the current. My mistake. Seems like there is another bug in the system.

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       Post #: 236

RE: Attn: Hobbico Elite Owners - 11/16/2004 4:47:25 PM   
jimjel


 

Posts: 27
Joined: 3/25/2004
From: Sarasota, FL, USA
Status: offline 		Geist,

Re: the 864ma charge current. Are you sure the 864ma isn't the amount of charge the charger put into the batteries before it terminated charge?

I only use the charger to charge Rx and Tx packs. I input the battery pack criteria and let the system pick the charge, and trickle rates. It works perfectly, takes the battery voltage about 17% above nominal voltage before peaking, then switches to the trickle rate the charger software had selected.

As an example on my 1800mah NiMh 8 cell xmitter pack the software selects the following parameters:

chg current .75A
trickle current 40ma
sensitivity 8mv/cell


For my 2300mah NiMh 5 cell RX pack the software selects the following:

chg current .9A
trickle current 50ma
sensitivity 8 mv/cell

When the peak charge terminates the unit switches to trickle charge at the software selected trickle charge rate. Works perfectly every time. If you watch the display you can actually see the charge peak and the voltage start to drop. The peak charge terminates about 2 minutes after the peak is reached assuming you have an 8 mv/cell cutoff (less time with a more sensitive cutoff). I even checked the cutoff point. When the voltage drops 8mv/cell from peak the charge teminates exactly as it is supposed to.

I have found the temp sensors to be very accurate as well, and they terminate the charge as they are supposed to. I haven't had any pack get over 100 degrees when charging using the software selected paramters, hence no real need for the temp sensors yet.

Using the parameters assigned by the charger, I can charge 2 RX packs and 2 Xmitter packs (or any combination thereof), in an hour or less, assuming I ran my boats the previous weekend and just charge up immediately before I go boating the following week.

I have had no instances of false peaking to date.

No complaints here. Great little charger.

Jim

(in reply to Geistware)
       Post #: 237

RE: Attn: Hobbico Elite Owners - 11/16/2004 8:11:07 PM   
Geistware



Posts: 12946
Joined: 4/9/2002
From: Locust Grove, GA, USA
Status: offline 		I have no complaints either.
THe charge is complete because the display shows END
This is a known bug and will stay like that for a while then the current will update on go to the trickle current.
The current cannot be right because the voltage is too low to support that much current.
It can best be duplicated by drastically understating the pack capacity and then about 3 out of 10 times the charge will end and the current will display high.

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Information on the building and flying of Radio Control Aircraft.
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       Post #: 238

RE: Attn: Hobbico Elite Owners - 11/16/2004 10:05:13 PM   
jimjel