stufly

Hi folks - I'm a newbie, so sorry in advance for stupid questions, but I'm keen to learn about this great sport of RC flying with "Electrics"

I have just recently got back into flying planes after a 30 year break!, and wish to stay totally electric (also trying to get my 7 yo son interested and away fro mthe PC and XBOX !).

I have already been successfully flying a "Monton" ARTF 1.6m glider equipped with JR X2610 TX/RX set, a Mega brushless speed 480 motor, easy 40a ESC and FlightPower EVO20 1800mAh 3S1P 11.1v LiPo battery.
I'm still trying to get my head around all the "battery" lingo of volts, amps, C's, balancing and chargers etc etc. I have been reading lot's of articles on these topics already,s o hopefully it will all sink in soon!

I have now purchased a ARTF Seagull Boomerang 40 high-wing trainer and plan to fit it out like this example (http://www.modelflight.com.au/rc_mod...omerang_60.htm)
basically the items I will use are;
-DualSky XMotor brushless outrunner = XM5050CA8 (http://www.dualsky.com/main.asp?mainset=31)
-DualSky ESC, 80amp 2-6S LiPo (http://www.dualsky.com/main.asp?mainset=29)
-FlightPower 3700mAh LiPo battery, 5S, 18.5v
-13x8 prop
(any suggestions on this config is welcome)

So I thought, what I need is a decent field box to keep stuff together and to manage all the LiPo charging away from the car engine bay (which I have been doing so far with my "Swallow Advance" charger) - dangerous I know!

So my quetions are;
Is a flight box like this OK? = http://www.wholesaletrains.com/Detai...p?ID=200408670
What type and size of battery should I use to do the charging of 1800 to 3700 mAh LiPo batteries (and future 5000mAh also hopfully) ?
Can I charge 2x LiPo's (eg. 1x 1800mAh & 1x 3700mAh) at once with my Swallow Advance charger which does 5Amp output for up to 5 cells?
Do I need a LiPo balancer? If so, recommended type?

I deally I'd like to have the field box all setup so it is easy to recharge the internal main battery at home, and then easy to charge LiPo batteries in the field including the TX LiPo battery.

Sorry for the long post, just trying to get a decent setup right first time with some scope for growth.

All suggestions welcome, thanks

stringcheese

That's more of a nitro box set up to carry a small 12v battery to be used as a glow plug igniter. You'd be better off with a deep cell marine type battery on a wagon or handcart. Or make an extention cord to run off your car battery. Do not charge both your batteries at once. It is very important that if you wire two batteries in series, to charge them at the same time, that all the cells have the same mah rating. You can count on a fire if you try to charge your two batteries as a five cell. As a 1/10th scale electric racer I can tell you that most guys get about 8-12 charges off their vehicle before they ruin their automobile battery with 2s 3500-5000mah batterys. I always start my car for and let it run for 15 or 20 minutes after every 6 battery charges. You can face the same problem with a deep cell. Lead acid batteries do not survive well if you drain them completely. Once again the little battery that fits in that box may not make it through even one charge, let alone a day of flying.
Your best all around bet is to buy a inexpensive 1000w generator in the $100 to $150 range (US).
Good luck!

stufly

Thanks stringcheese
I have been usng my 4WD's deep cycle battery to charge so far, and the drive home is about 30 mins, so it should be getting enough re-charge from the altenator.
I was under the impression that a 3S1P 1800mAh Li-Po batt would only draw 1.8Amps in a 1 hr charge, so a small deep cycle batt of say 20Amps would provide 8-10 charges - or am I wrong?

If I was going to charge two batteries at once, I would use two chargers.