Triton,,, not getting full charge ??
 

Anyone not getting full output on the triton ?? Its not putting out the full rating on lipo charge.

Just got a 3 cell ployquest 3100 . and was a little disapointed that the triton was only good to 2.5 amps . Even longer then nessasary
to charge it up

. but now I just found out after a half hour on charge its only ramped up to 2.3 amp ? even longer now !!!

anyone else seen this on the bigger batts ??

just checked it and it starting to fall down after 42 minutes of charge . its now at 1 amp so i'm thinking the batt was already
3/4 full so it may have limited it ??? 1250 m amps in .

Got 1600 ma before top . took 1 hour and 45 minutes..... ouch

How long with a better charger at 3.1 amps ?

any suggestions for a three sell lipo charger that will go to 3 to 4 amp ?

Thanks Ron

RE: Triton,,, not getting full charge ??
 

LiPolys charge a little differently, so to put your fears at rest, what you're seeing is perfectly normal. There's nothing wrong with your Triton or the battery.

The charge cycle only starts out at full current, and then only if the battery is fully discharged. Because LiPolys charge to a specific voltage, the charger must start tapering the current back as the battery gets closer and closer to full charge. That's why the current has dropped off to 1 Amp after a while. If you watch it during the course of the cycle, you'll see that it drops slowly as the charge progresses, down to nearly zero by the end of the charge. The last 5-10% of the charge takes the most time; some people don't wait for it.

Overall, the best value for the money in LiPoly charging is the Astro 109. It'll charge the packs somewhat faster, but only because it uses a different method, "pulse" charging rather than taper charging like the Triton. Charges of fully discharged batteries to 100% will still take well over an hour.

RE: Triton,,, not getting full charge ??
 

If you watch the Triton during the charge cycle, you'll see in the first 5 min or so, it ramps the current up to the specified charge current (as long as the max voltage hasn't been reached yet). Then watch the voltage, it will increase until it hits the max voltage you specified, at which point the Triton starts ramping down the charge current (keeping the pack at the max voltage) until it completes the cycle and shuts down. If you hit the max voltage as it's ramping the current up initially, you'll never reach the max charge current, and it will start ramping the current back down.

As Matt said, at the field I usually take my pack off of the Triton once it ramps down to about 1/2 - 1/3 the charge current that was programmed, since the amount of charge I'll get after that point is pretty small compared to the time I'll have to wait for completion of the charge cycle.

RE: Triton,,, not getting full charge ??
 

Guys, I did not know that my Triton could charge lipos it does say lion but not lipos do you use the LIion battery type for charging LiPos and do you do anything different ? sorry if this sounds like a stupid question but I am still a newbie when it comes to LiPos.

Joe

RE: Triton,,, not getting full charge ??
 

The Triton will charge LiPo's just fine.

It works on the CC/CV method of charging. When the charge cycle is initiated, the current ramps up to the pre-selected value and remains constant until the voltage reaches it set point (~12.6 v for a 3S). At that point, the current begins to reduce itself to 0 amps. When the current reaches "0", the charge cycle is finished.

RE: Triton,,, not getting full charge ??
 

Thanks a lot ! that sheds a lot of light on it !!

I'll check out the astro rctt

RE: Triton,,, not getting full charge ??
 

Larry,

thanks for the info, I had not yet switched to LiPo as I was under the impression that the Triton could not handle.

regards

RE: Triton,,, not getting full charge ??
 

Larry,

thanks for the info, I had not yet switched to LiPo as I was under the impression that the Triton could not handle.

regards

RE: Triton,,, not getting full charge ??
 

LiPoly == LiIon. The only difference is in the packaging, and where the R&D dollars are spent.

RE: Triton,,, not getting full charge ??
 

LiPo's are a great improvment over Nicds and NimH's. Primarily because of their lower weight. But with these benfits comes some problems as well.

If charged incorrectly, LiPo's have a tendency to catch fire. I have heard of them exploding but have never witnessed this myself.

LiPo's do not take to crashes very well. A hard thumping usually results in the pack starting to swell. Once that happens, the pack is most likely trashed. So, if your flying skills are such that crashes are part of your usual flight plan, stick with Nicd's or NimH's.

Most inexpensive ESC's have a low voltage cutoff lower than is safe for a LiPo. For example, LiPo's should not be discharged below 3 v per cell. Most inexpensive ESC's have a LVC of 5 v. Ok for a 1S, too low for a 2S, disastorous for a 3S. Either buy a LiPo friendlly ESC or learn how to monitor the pack discharge and adjust flight times accordingly.

RE: Triton,,, not getting full charge ??
 

I think most, if not all of the reports of LiPolys "exploding" are the witnesses/owners of the packs using the term to describe a particularly sudden and violent fire. They probably weren't "explosions" in the true sense of the word.

Throwing a cup of gas on a small fire causes a sudden and voilent increase in the intensity of the fire. It's not an explosion, though some people may describe it as such. Now, if you threw a sealed bottle of gasoline on the fire, it would explode.

I'm not trying to downplay here, just going by what I've seen in the past. When the first intentional LiPoly failures were videoed and posted online, some people's reaction to the sudden and violent fire was, "Wow, what an explosion," when it really wasn't one at all.

RE: Triton,,, not getting full charge ??
 

I have a Triton and an Astro 109. For whatever reason the Triton stops charging before the battery is charged every so often (and this is on a discharged battery). I use the Astro 109 for my Lipoly batteris and now use the Triton mainly for charging my transmitter.