Charging question
 

I am new to electrics and working on my first project. I have a Hobbico Field Charger MK11. I have a 3 cell 1320 mAh Thunder Power battery. My question is the battery says it should be fully charged at 12.45V to 12.66V. The charger however cuts off at 12.10V, it has done it both times I have tried to charge and it wont continue a charge after that. The battery and charger are both new, any suggestions? Thanks.


Will

RE: Charging question
 

This is a known issue with the Hobbico Field Charger MKII. It charges lipos to only a little over 4V per cell, instead of the normal 4.2V per cell.

This doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad charger, but you won't be getting full capacity from your lipos -- more like 80-90%. You'll have shorter flight times than if you use a charger that fully charges your lipos.

There have been numerous threads on the topic over on RCGroups.com.

- Jeff

RE: Charging question
 

Jeff, thanks for the reply. I should have looked a little more I suppose. It was just one of those purchases where I was there and the price was attractive for what it seemed to offer. I'll break down and buy a Triton in a month or two. Thanks again.

Will

RE: Charging question
 

wilinfla,

I use a Triton with an Equinox balancer to do my lipos, and it works excellent. For all in one ease, I also have our [link=http://www.commonsenserc.com/product_info.php?cPath=38_29&products_id=185]Digital Balancing Charger[/link] that you might want to check out. Either way, I think you'll be very happy with what you get.

Happy Flyin',
Al
[link=http://www.commonsenserc.com]www.CommonSenseRC.com[/link]

RE: Charging question
 

:DI know next-to-nothing about electric but have become interested over the past several months (thanks Model Airplane News (magazine). My question is, after you've arrived at the flying field and exhausted the battery on the first flight, do you then pack up and head home to recharge? Surely the batteries won't recharge in 10-12 minutes at the field? Please advise. Thanks.

RE: Charging question
 

Most of us have two or more battery packs and a field charger. Electric flight with only one battery pack isn't a whole lot of fun!

If you have, say, three packs and a field charger, that can keep you going all day. This assumes you'll take some time between flights to chat with other pilots, enjoy the weather, have a snack, fiddle with the plane, etc. If you want to fly continuously, you'll need even more packs, because charging a lipo pack at the recommended 1C rate takes more than an hour.

- Jeff