i got my balance charger and my 3200mah battery today. i pluged it in as per the instructions. it beeped like it should have when i plugged the charger into the wall. The instructions state that it should beep and automatically count the number of cells and flash once for each cell in the pack. then the green light will be on during the charge. Non of that happened. It is just flashing green every 4 seconds which is supposed to signal that the charger is ready to charge.....

anyone with a LiFe set up have any info for me?

oh, and im charging it on the recommended charge for the 3200mah which is 4 AMPS.

Thanks,
Jeremy

Maybe the main lead needs plugged in?

main lead on what needs to be plugged into where?

thanks

the manual states that if they pack gets lower than 2.5v per cell (5v), the charger may not be able to recognize it. but in dont have one of those testers....
will a standard voltage meter work?

also, i heard that if you fast charge them the first time the life of the battery will be shorter.

should i charge it on the 2.5AMPS setting for the first charge?

Most chargers require the main (charging) lead of the charger to be plugged into the main (using) discharge lead of the pack. I think the charger has a factory Dean's plug on it. I'm not sure you'd want to do 4 amps thru a balance plug anyways. Your pack may have a different plug than Dean's.

hey, thanks man. the instructions are kinda weird on that. it gives it like option A and option B. Making it seem like you either use the balance jack, or the deans connector. It should be listed as two diffenent steps. (i am supposed to use the dean for charging and the balance jack simultaniously right?)

so i got both plugged in and it is now flashing twice.

Like i mentioned above, should i charge it at 2.5 for the first charge, or just do the recommended 4amps?

thanks,
Jeremy

Your batteries will always fair best on a lower charge rate.

Batteries like to be slow charged. If you are not in a hurry always charge them slowly. They will love you for it.

the slower you charge (to a point) the better
charge at .5 amp or 1 amp if possible

A123's can take riduculous charge rates w/o damage. Also, my Cell-Pro 4 charges through the balance plug just fine, it doesn't even have a main output.

You have to be kidding, right? 6.4 hours to charge 3200mahr battery @ 0.5 ahr?

The best advice is to look at the documentation for the battery and charge within the recommended rate. The specs will usually give you a max discharge rate (ex. 50c x 3.2 = 160 amp) and a max charge rate (ex. 10c = 32 amp)

If you charged at 10c (example only) the battery would finish in 6 minutes.

Most chargers will not reach those charge rates. You really need to use the internet or the included documentation to study the battery characteristics.

Once I know the allowable, only then will I setup and charge a battery. I usually back off the maximums a substantial amount. Additional amperage creates heat and heat means inefficiency.

The old school of 1c charge rates does not apply to newer higher tech batteries. To drive a Lamborghini @ 10mph is unforgivable.

Another aspect of charging is to only charge at a rate the wiring can accept... the balance wiring may not survive charge rates above 2amp if only charging through the balance port.

Its the 3200mAh one right?. First turn on the charger, set to minimum ampere rating, then plug the deans into the male deans and the balancer into the balancing connector. It will recognise, beep once, flash twice and begin charging. Alternatively, (if yours is a lower capacity one withou the deans), plug the universal (j-type) connector into the socket on the lower side of the charger. (If it doesnt flash twice and start charging, reverse the connector and plug it back in). There is really nothing to it in the Hobbico LiFe charger

Whether to use trickle charging or fast charge is relly upto you and how long you want the battery to last

Hope this helped,

Ameyam

yeah, its the 3200mah life.  i charged it through the deans connector and used the balance wire too.

the manual recommended 4amp rate for that battery.  it charged fast. about an hour.

i think from now on ill charge it slower. theres no rush since my radio takes longer, so ive gotta wait on that anyway.

thanks for the help guys...

question. I wanted to re-check my battery with the trusty old multimeter. I thought the black should be kept on black and then move the red do the different wires to get the volt of each cell. But in doing that Im getting the reading of one cell and then when i move over and check the next wire im getting the voltage of both combined.

Which wire do i keep the ground on with the multimeter?

This was a differnent thread than i thought i was posting in. So an update - I got a Common Sense RC charger. Pretty cool....

Thanks,
Jeremy

Instead of moving only one lead move them both down a step so that you are always checking adjacent pairs. This will read each cell if they are all in a line (hooked in series) as on a balance tap.

That had worked, I just remembered it differently. So that way would tell me if I were to have a dead cell right?

Thanks

Sure it would. Ideally they should all be a perfect 4.2 volts when ready to use (if it's a lipo)