power supply clarification

[spätzle]

hey guys.....

am new to this hobby and want to seek some clarification on power supplies.

Browsing the forum, i assume that most of you use a 12V power supply for your chargers.
Then there are also pics of chargers connected to 12V lead acid batts (motorcycle size?). Is this set-up used as a field charger?

am currently charging my 1500mah Li-Pos with the supplied charger from the honey bee CP. (see attached pic)
am using a universal adapter that supposedly provides 12V output...
is that ok??

charged them once before but my Li-Pos arent charging anymore.
suspect that i have overdisharged them... but could it also be because of the adapter?

sorry for the grandmother story..... lor sor..... haha.. getting old liao
but would really appreciate any help on this!!

[spätzle]

Newstar Adapter

just to add on...

took a look at the adapter i am using...

Output - 1.5V-12V (variable)
220mA could that be where the problem is?? Current output too low???

What would required minimum Current output be for a charger? (say Prolux/T10 or Triton)

[fredrick]

Brother your adapter current output well too low. For your lipo size i guess u need to have not more than 1.5 A but well above 1 A from your adapter.
Correct me if i m wrong.

[spätzle]

yeah..thats what i figured!
but funny thing is that it charged up once with that adapter before!
the batt pack is now a little disfigured, which is worrying la..

so i just need to find another adapter with higher current output right? no need for the so called power supplies??

[新加坡宁]

this is the problem with..

china made products.

[spätzle]

question.....

wat would the minimum required CURRENT output of a power supply generally be?????

probably going to upgrade my charger to either the T10, Prolux or Apache....
dunno if i should go straight for a triton though.... hmmmm......

[baby_zyklon]

how much current will depend on how fast you want to charge your cell, generally, a 3amp source should be enough for our average charging...

if you want to get a good and constant 12v source, suggest go get a SLA batt from a shop at the top floor of SLT, just directly in front of the escalator. The shop sells practically anything, from electrical parts to taimiya to even gws...I got a 12v 12AH there for $20++ only. The battery shop at the basement of slt charge me the same price for a 12v 7ah.

If you are just doing lipos, a apache or prolux should be enough lah. But if you also do nicd and nimh, then maybe go for the triton..

[新加坡宁]

Panasonic 12V 7,2ah/20hrs

i got mine at SLT for $25,didn't know there's 12ah for 12V.. Whats the 20hrs means??(Charging for it,takes 20hrs?)So the higher the ah,means power it can contain more?

[mack]

how much current will depend on how fast you want to charge your cell, generally, a 3amp source should be enough for our average charging...

if you want to get a good and constant 12v source, suggest go get a SLA batt from a shop at the top floor of SLT, just directly in front of the escalator. The shop sells practically anything, from electrical parts to taimiya to even gws...I got a 12v 12AH there for $20++ only. The battery shop at the basement of slt charge me the same price for a 12v 7ah.

If you are just doing lipos, a apache or prolux should be enough lah. But if you also do nicd and nimh, then maybe go for the triton..

Hi, Apache has a 1 - 3 cell charger with nicad, nimh and lipoly charging ability. The model is 2030.

Have fun!

[新加坡宁]

how much current will depend on how fast you want to charge your cell, generally, a 3amp source should be enough for our average charging...

if you want to get a good and constant 12v source, suggest go get a SLA batt from a shop at the top floor of SLT, just directly in front of the escalator. The shop sells practically anything, from electrical parts to taimiya to even gws...I got a 12v 12AH there for $20++ only. The battery shop at the basement of slt charge me the same price for a 12v 7ah.

If you are just doing lipos, a apache or prolux should be enough lah. But if you also do nicd and nimh, then maybe go for the triton..

i got mine at SLT for $25,didn't know there's 12ah for 12V.. Whats the 20hrs means??(Charging for it,takes 20hrs?)So the higher the ah,means power it can contain more?

[Super-Hornet]

For those who not sure about battery rating.
In battery rating, AH stand for Ampere Hour. It means (In theory), U can draw how much current for how long. Take example, 20AH means u can draw 20Ampere for 1 Hour. If u draw 40Ampere, it can last u for 30 minutes. (Of course all this is just a theory. In real life, u never ever get that accurate)

In Li-Poly, u can charge at lower than 1C but recommended do not charge more than 1C. If u charge at 1C, normally it take about 90Minutes to 2 hours.

Oh... 1C charging is equivalent to charging at 1time of AH. That is if the battery is 1200mAH, u charge at 1.2Ampere.

All Li-Poly/Ion battery that come out from factory are in partial charge. The reason they do so is because Li-Poly and Li-Ion will damage if it remain lower than 3V per cell for long time.

Super-Hornet

[新加坡宁]

Our 12V motorcycle batteries

i have 2 of this,1 old.1 new..the old i think gone liao.Use to use it for starter.But due to yrs i didn't use it.Even i use the charger to charge it.It seems it never hold charge.

1.How to maintain this 12V motorcycle battery?(ITs non-spillable type)

2.If not using it,how to store it?Must discharge??

3.Should i get a volt meter for my batts?If yes,what volt meter is recommended?

4.So what it means 20hours stated on the battery"12V 7.2AH/20hours"?Charging takes 20hours?

[baby_zyklon]

12v batt don't usually require any maintance. Recommend that you store your sla batt charged and not discharged. For lipos, preferably semi-charged, not fully coz they tend to loss a bit of capacity if store fully charged for a long period of time. Can get a digital multimeter @ slt, shouldn't cost more than $15.

[新加坡宁]

thanx

thanx for the input

[spätzle]

how much current will depend on how fast you want to charge your cell, generally, a 3amp source should be enough for our average charging...

if you want to get a good and constant 12v source, suggest go get a SLA batt from a shop at the top floor of SLT, just directly in front of the escalator. The shop sells practically anything, from electrical parts to taimiya to even gws...I got a 12v 12AH there for $20++ only. The battery shop at the basement of slt charge me the same price for a 12v 7ah.

If you are just doing lipos, a apache or prolux should be enough lah. But if you also do nicd and nimh, then maybe go for the triton..

thanks for your input..
what would be the difference between a power supply and a lead acid batt....

isn't is more troublesome with SLA/?? will need a charger that is able to charge SLA as well eh??