Charging at the field

[aballen]

What do yo guys do for charging at the field?

I've seen charging off the car battery, but wont that kill the battery (in the car I mean)

field battery, same problem... and now I have to re-charge the field battery.

I want to hook up multiple chargers for simultaneous use at the field, what is the best way to go?

[Raydee]

I use the battery in my car and never had a issue. I have had two lipo chargers and my triton all going at the same time and my car never even studdered.

[Probedude]

It all depends on how many AH's you are pulling out of your car battery and how good it is. Do little charging and you'll be fine. Do a LOT and you're going to have problems.

[daijoubu]

Starter batteries (the kind in your car) can only support shallow discharges without affecting their service life. Maybe 20-50% of the rated capacity should be used on a regular basis. The are designed to provide high peak currents. I still use it to charge the packs for my Blade CP. I would seriously think twice before charging as many packs for a 600... A good field battery (deep cycle) can support deep discharges. About 80% of its rated capacity on a regular basis. These get big and heavy fast and now you need a way to recharge this battery.

[Finless]

For 3S charging using the car battery has not been a problem but for 6S and up I have killed my car battery in a couple of charges.

Most people I see charging larger packs use a generator.

Bob

[dlmcmichael]

Pretty extensive discussion on the subject here: http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=41352

[aballen]

I'm doing my research, and here is where I am coming from.

I used to fly micros, but I got a t-rex450, and well, everythging else is just gettgin bench time now.

I have 5 batteries for my rex, but they dont charge as quickly as my smaller micro sized bateries, and I want more flyign time, so I want to get a few more chargers.

The field I am at has AC, I can use that.
My car has DC.... I'm not so confident I can use that, I drive an STi, and it is hot, hot, hot, under my hood... without the hood... no shade.

I am thinking of getting something like this?
http://www.hobby-lobby.com/powersupply.htm

Then a can grab a few cellpro4s, use em on the powersupply, and if I'm really in a pinch, use my car batt.

Sound right? I just like to get some input before I drop another $400... also do you guys know of any other power supplys that I could use?

[aballen]

or maybe even
http://www.rcaccessory.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=113
and
http://www.rcaccessory.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=174
with 3 cellpro 4s

[dlmcmichael]

I've got one of these you mentioned on the way. http://www.hobby-lobby.com/powersupply.htm (Didn't order it from Hobby Lobby, though).
If you are still interested I can let you know what I think of it this weekend.
David

[Pinecone]

I don't understnad why your packs are charging slower. At 1C charge rate on both, they should charge at pretty much the time, for the same % of use.

[aballen]

yeah let me know.

I'm currently looking at this one

http://www.hobbypeople.net/gallery/158303.asp

[dlmcmichael]

Actually the one I got was this one: http://www.grandrc.com/inc/sdetail/78012
It is the single output version of the one you link to above. I'll let you know how it works.
David