Question abt my Apache lipo charger

[dabiddo]

Got this problem... my apache lipo charger, which is capable of charging up to 4 lipo batteries, is not always doing its stuff...

sometimes, it will charge while other time it will just blink its RED LEDs all the time, meaning something is not right... then if i let it rest a while and try again, it might start charging again!!

At first, thought it might be the power supply (12V) but then the charger said it could take it just 12V... tried using a 15v power supply but it still behaves the same...sometime charges sometimes fail....

hard to catch.... just like women...

anyone has the same experience with this charger and how to solve this problem??

thanks.

[9VDXN]

What is your amp supply of your 12v source?

The 12v supply that you have may not be enough current for 4cell charging.

[9VDXN]

As a rough guage to charge my 2cell lipos, at 250mah rate, the current draw is 300mah from my power supply.

at 750mah charge rate, my supply gives out about 800mah, and at 1200mah, it's about 1300mah draw. Not too sure about current draw at 11.1v for 3 cell lipos or more, but at higher charging voltage, current draw should technically be more demanding from your power supply.

I think your 12v supply is not outputing sufficient current to the charger.

[jason_ices]

ok for this isue.... please take note when using apache for 3cells and 4cells charging.


3 cells.

Battery voltage must above 9.55volt either charger will not charge. So when you fly until cut-off (9volts), let the battery recover for a while (10-15min), it should be able to recover above 9.55 volts.

4 cells.

Battery voltage must above 13volt either charger will not charge. So when you fly until cut-off (12volts), let the battery recover for a while (10-15min), it should be able to recover above 13 volts.

For 2cells and single cell, it will work as per normal. We know this from our R&D work.


Happy Flying
Jason

[9VDXN]

I still don't think it's the cell problems....i think it's the power supply...not enough current to supply for the charger...

David, try charging at the lowest current settings you have(250mah) and my best bet is that it'll charge.....if it does, slowly move up the next higher charge current (700mah)...if it's fine, then move up again until the problem comes back.


If it's fine at 700mah charging rate and not okay at the next step at 1200mah, it can probably mean that your power supply can only give out 1ah max, which is what most 12v supply give out anyway......so you can safely conclude that it's your power supply....

[dabiddo]

My power supply should be capable of supplying ample current to the charger... but u never noe too...

Actually you might be right abt the power supply... i bought the apache charger from Aircraft world and the first one came with this observation... then i thought charger fault so i sent back and they sent me a new unit.... it was working ok but occassionally the blinking RED LEDs comes abt... When i use a 12V car battery on the charger, it will charge all the time.

[9VDXN]

In this case, I can confirm chop and Gtee that your supply is not supplying enough current...

A simple guage to see is that to look into the fine prints of your supply....it should tell u how much amps it's supplying somewhere.

Another guage is to tell me how much you bought the supply for.....any decent 12v only supply that gives out more than 1amp should be at least $40+, 2A at least $70, 3A at least $100 ~ $200, and 5A at least $200 and above.

For what I normally use, even to charge 3300mah NimH packs, i find that 3A supply is quite good enough...anything more I rather go buy a big 17ah SLA battery for $48...

[dabiddo]

Thanks for the explanation.