Align and Hextronic at 1.4c?

[Magnasanz]

Anyone charge their Hextronic and Align batteries at 1.4c using a Cellpro 4s? Just wondering if people do or not.

[Jermo]

I'm doing it :), The reason you can get away with it is because it's balanced the entire cycle.

[Magnasanz]

Woot now i just need to get my Futaba 9c fixed as it's suddenly decided to make up its own language for the menu system :arggg:

[Jermo]

um..you don't speak futabanese??? :D

[Magnasanz]

I think i do now managed to fix it but it was very strange :?

[Magnasanz]

Just used my Cellpro for the first time properly, and omg however did i do without it! I'm still 'breaking' in my HXT batteries atm so only been running them for 5mins. Started charging them on the Cellpro @ 1.4c and it's so fast! I love the way it builds up the amps it's putting in rather than just shoving it all in at once. To put 1330mah back into the battery it only took 35mins and thats to go to 100%!!!!!!!!????!!!

By my calculations thats only 266mah per min which is taking it pretty easy. How long approx can i get on a 2200mah pack based on 266mah per min?

[Jermo]

hehe... no idea but it's fast.. :)

Cellpro rox..I think I'll do a vid on it ;)

[Magnasanz]

It looks a bit cheap but for the price and the features it's soooooo good. Barely even gets warm when charging at full whack as well. Just so glad i bought one instead of using a seperate balancer on my old charger.

[kgfly]

By my calculations thats only 266mah per min which is taking it pretty easy. How long approx can i get on a 2200mah pack based on 266mah per min?

The guideline is to never discharge lipos more than 80% of nominal capacity if you want to get decent lifetime from them. Hence at 266mah/min you would get 0.8 x 2200 / 226 = 6.6 minutes which is about right. Of course the average discharge rate will vary with the wind, your flight profile, the heli setup etc.

Most folk on a well setup T450 with a ~2100mAH 3S pack can expect:

Hovering and mild FF - 7 to 8 min
Sport flying - 6 to 7 min
3D - 5 to 6 min

[Magnasanz]

I've set my timer up for 6mins which should be plenty and still give me a nice 'landing' buffer

[danjoy25]

Can anyone recommend an online shop that sells the FMA Cell pro 4 charger>

[Pinecone]

Try www.fmadirect.com

[danjoy25]

thanks, but was hoping for other shops that also carry Trex spares so I can save on shipping.

[Magnasanz]

Don't think you can get it from anywhere else online anyway i did have a look but ended up getting it directly from FMA.

[danjoy25]

I managed to get a charger w/ built in balancer which shows each voltage and can handle upto 5S and charge up to 5 amps. Not sure if it performs like a Cellpro but Iam happy for now.

[Jermo]

looks like an intersting charger. I think we'll start to see the gauge of wire used for balance leads going up. In fact they could do that now and incorporate the main discharge leads with the balance leads into one connector. The two main leads being large enough for full discharge rate and the other leads being large enough to carry fullest charge rate. mmmm...interesting.

edit: on more internet searches I've not found any support for your charger? Does anyone have support for it? The Cellpro Manf. directly supports their product where the Imax appears to be dealer supported at first searches.

[kgfly]

Jermo,

FMA tried a connector like you describe, it didn't win sweeping support, I am not sure why. IIRC they stopped using it themselves, but you could check on their website www.fmadirect.com.

[Jermo]

I'll have to look. I can imagine why it didn't win sweeping support back before packs were such high capacity. I guess from an engineering perspective charging each cell directly just looks to be the safest considering the nasty things these packs are capable of. I think things are going to change drastically in the next 2-3 months with new battery chemistry. We'll see.... I don't know anything 100%..I just get that feeling.

[Magnasanz]

It's never ending - It's like trying to keep my computer up to date, or my Kitesurfing gear but not quite as much money!

My latest set of batteries have been postponed as well - although i don't think UH will be on backorder for the 2200mah for a while!

[Jermo]

Mid april will be the next shipment, may want to have them on order. I have a set on order now..that will make 6 total htx packs.

[Magnasanz]

They were supposed to be in stock yesterday (13th April) but it got pushed out to the 18th. I've had 3 on order for a couple of weeks anyway so a few days won't make much difference. My align 22c pack is starting to puff slightly but non of the HXT batteries show any sizes yet. I think 7 batteries will be enough :)