**NEW** FMA Direct Cellpro 4S Balanced Charger Review

[kamtsa]

Some info on the guts.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/member.php?u=107322

Specifically the board layout with major functions identified.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1284494

Thanks Probedude. This is awesome information!

I may do the OLED mode (I presume that the 5V reg can handle the increased current to the OLED display).

Another useful mod would be a charge LED. Basically a single LED that is on during charging. This way I can check the charger state across the room.

Kam

[Probedude]

I may do the OLED mode (I presume that the 5V reg can handle the increased current to the OLED display).


Yes for the OLED version. The other nice thing is that dimensionally it is identical to the stock display so you can reuse all the same mounting hardware.

Dave

[hurleybt]

I've been using my Cellpro 4A for about a month now. I love it! The guys at the flying field all love it too. My friend got the "dork" award for bringing his laptop and hooking up the charger to it, while we all stood there and gawked... equivalent to watching grass grow.

[burke.bill]

Looks like the chager I could use,but the battery I would like to use for my Trex 600n nitro pro is the Thunder Power RC Receiver Pack 3400mAh 7.4V 2 Cell Li Poly This battery has no balance leads don't think this charger will work as it use's the balance lead to charge? am I right? thanks for any help with this.

[aballen]

Is there any word on the cellpro6 or the balancepro hd with a display?

Seems like the 6s should be easy enough to design and test.

[EatMorePizza]

Would this be fine for say my eflite packs 800 and 1350mah 3cell

[Blue Note]

Looks like the chager I could use,but the battery I would like to use for my Trex 600n nitro pro is the Thunder Power RC Receiver Pack 3400mAh 7.4V 2 Cell Li Poly This battery has no balance leads don't think this charger will work as it use's the balance lead to charge? am I right? thanks for any help with this.

The CellPro 4S charger does indeed work through the balance leads and does not work with a Li-Po that doesn't have the balance leads.:thumbdown: If you think you will ever replace the 2S battery you are using, however, it will most likely have the balance leads and this charger would be a good choice, especially for the cost.:thumbup:

Would this be fine for say my eflite packs 800 and 1350mah 3cell

According to the manufacture, you should have no problem using this charger for those batteries. Just be sure to get both parts of the charging lead. The universal charging adapter and the adapter for eflite packs. A little less that $20 for both.:thumbup:

[EatMorePizza]

Thanks i did order the adaptor for my packs. What about power supply what do you use?, or recomend

[Blue Note]

I always charge off a 12V lead acid battery that I use for my flight box to run glow drivers, starter, fuel pump, etc. I'm kind of in the same boat right now trying to figure out a suitable replacement as it is getting old. I definitely do not want to lug around a big, heavy battery for all my charging needs. Several guys at my field use tractor batteries for the cold cranking amps, but they get a little heavy and expensive in my opinion. I have been looking into using a PC power supply ( because they're cheap and I already have one ) to allow me to charge the batteries with the CellPro 4S while plugged up to AC. Might as well charge them all up before stepping out the door. If you uncover better options post them so we all know.

[trickybit]

Somebody posted a link to a Rubbermaid Travel Mate (by Vector). It's a 6amp 12V supply. I just got my cellpro in the mail and went down to Walmart. They have the same thing under the Black & Decker brand. It's near the coolers, next to the electric cooler you plug into your cig. lighter in the car. The Travel Mate is a way to use that cooler off of 110AC.

Of course, you have to either hack it up or hack up a cig-lighter adapter of some sort.

I made a rig out of a cig lighter extension/splitter to a couple of screw poles fastened to an iPhone carton... then I discovered that the alligator clamps of the Cellpro pull off leaving banana plugs. shoot; tomorrow I'll get some sockets at radio shack and improve my setup.

So again to review, travel mate (vector) goes 110v AC to 12v DC cig lighter female. Cig lighter extension cord goes to posts/sockets, Cellpro connects to those posts/sockets using its clamps or banana plugs. Pretty kludgy but I didn't want to shop for a mess of parts and solder up a PC power supply; I have none to scavenge at the moment, and they're not cheap.

I had a nice lab power supply but it only does 3 amps, and the Cellpro comes with a sticker on the cord and lots of notices in the manual that you need 5amps or the warranty is voided.

Had I known what a pain and hack it would be, I might have bought the bc6 or whatever that one is w/ the built-in power supply.

[iuam]

Hey just wondering what you guys think about the FMA batteries?

[Helibelly]

Hi, just wondering about using a 4 amp charging current on my 2200mah 3 cell lipos. Wouldn't this charging rate be a bit high for the balance connectors and leads? Any thoughts are welcome.
Eric.

[whaleboy]

Jermo, only correction..... Most chargers charge through the discharge leads and "Discharge Balance" through the balance port!

FMA chargers do charge through the balance port along with a FEW others. But most of the popular chargers dont work this way....

Well that clears up a few things... I only have the cellpro, and being new I thought that ALL chargers charged that way (through the balance lead). Thus my confusion in another post about hooking up a pair of 3s cells as a single 6s.

-David

[Gsquared08]

Oh man!!! I thought learning helis was brain-jarring. This battery thing is scaring me silly. I can't get a grip on all the terminology, don't understand 1c, 2c, 20c, etc and am too scared to leave my E-Flight battery and charger hooked up to my car unsupervised in fear it might burn my car down (at least that's what the manual stated). I thought about spending $25 to get the E-Flight AC adapter so I can babysit the charging inside but I figure why waste the money when I'm considering a Cellpro type charger anyway.

I bought a Blade 400 (ducking for flames:D) and would like to purchase a better charger than what comes with it. I hear the fan burns out quick, I don't know if it's capable of charging the GeForce among others and I don't know if it charges and balances like everyone suggests is needed. I have the battery that comes with it and I ordered a GeForce 20c 1800mAh 11.1V for now. I was looking at the Cellpro because I see all the great reviews on it but I don't understand a thing about it. This video demo was amazing because it showed how to use it but outside that, I'm a lost sole.

Is there a LiPo charger/balancer thread for KING-SIZE'D Dummies without out all the division and multiplication formulas and do I really need to buy some super 300 watt power supply to charge these batteries inside my house? Do Cellpro type chargers all need 3rd party power supplies or do they come with AC adapters?

[ginnz]

im using a 12v power supply i got from an RV company i used to work for, it convers ac to dc, and will charge, its got 30A output. its the cats-ass of 12v power supply's, its called the inteli-power 9000.

i could run 5 or 6 of these chargers off this rig.:thumbup:

[high_flyer_1]

I haven’t tried their charger, but I won’t do any more business with FMA after their president Tim Marks sent me this email after I complained about their customer service when they messed up my order:

What a d&*k!

Tim Marks
President
FMA, Inc.

5713 Industry Lane
Suite 50
Frederick, MD 21704
Phone: (301) 668-7614 ext 13
Fax: (301) 668-7619
tim@fmadirect.com (tim@fmadirect.com)