E-Flite Charger Problem

[Leslie Ruh]

My Batteries seem to have a full charge ( each cell shows charged voltage ) , but the stock charger keeps flashing error indications. Why?

[dbennettya]

I think the consensus is that the stock charger is junk. A good balance charger is best.

The stock charger depends on a circuit in the battery to perform balancing so you'll need a good balance charger to use better aftermarket batteries.

I'm not sure if you can use the stock batteries with a normal balance charger. Maybe someone can chime in.

Good Luck, Don

[jimmanyk]

May be dud charger or balance tap connection on the battery or the charger connector. I charge my stock E-flite 1800 on a bantam bc6 no problem, dont know if there is a circuit in the battery.

[Tinker]

I'm still using my original B400 battery along with a few Turnigy 2200's on my non-Blade charger. No problems at all. I don't track the charge/discharge cycles but I've flown them a lot over the past year. I seem to recall reading something about the original batteries being somehow unique on the charge side but they look and act just like my Turnigy's.

All seem to be doing fine on the balanced charger I've been using for just about everything. I think I paid about $40 on sale for it locally. It's a Venom but it looks identical to a number of inexpensive balanced DC input chargers I've seen. I'd highly suggest something similar since it can charge just about anything, can display cell/total voltages and current, it even interfaces to a PC if you want to capture charge info.

[FR4-Pilot]

Chuck the E-Flite charger!

It's pure evil

-John

[Maverickman360]

What is a good after market charger. Not to expensive. Don't they have ones that can charge multiple batteries at once? Can someone post a link to both?

Thanks,
Tony

[FR4-Pilot]

This one's not bad ($55, 80W) - I have one and can charge two 2200s or three 1800s at once. It has it's own built-in power supply

http://www.hobbypartz.com/73p-ac680-accharger.html



In order to charge two or more batteries at once you'll also need something like this ($16):

http://epbuddy.com/index.php?main_pa...roducts_id=111


Are there better chargers - Yes.
Do they cost more - Yes.
Am I happy with this one - Yes.

Would I like a 250W icharger & 220W power supply ($115) - Heck Ya! :

http://www.progressiverc.com/the-sta...20w-combo.html


-John

[Bee_random]

Would this adaptor properly balance charge?

I see that the batteries are parallel charging and although the balance lead is used, this only parallel charges the cells isn't it?

Doesn't this mean that to get the most from your batteries you need to have all batteries/cells at about the same level of discharge? Or risk over/under charging a cell?

This subject has alway had me scratching my head. I continue to balance charge one battery at a time.

So I guess the real question is; can parallel charging reduce the life of our batteries?
B

[Maverickman360]

I don't know a whole lot about this stuff but my guess is that it would treat for example 2 3 cell batteries connected to the adaptor as a 6 cell battery and charge all cells equally. I could be completely wrong but it seems logical.

[FuntanaS]

When parallel charging batteries the number of cells in each pack needs to be the same however the capacity can be different. Say you hook up two 2200mah 3 cell packs and a 1800mah 3 cell pack in parallel the charger sees it is as a single 3 cell 6200mah pack.
When you hook the batteries together to charge in parallel it is ideal that the packs be pretty close to the same voltage. With a 3S 12.6V battery the packs should be within about 0.25V or less. When the packs are hooked up in parallel all of the batteries will equalize.

Parallel charging when done correctly will not damage the packs any more than charging them one at a time.

[Maverickman360]

Thanks, I think I am going to order this charger. I am fed up with that e-flight charger. Takes forever!

[FR4-Pilot]

Hey Bee and all. Yep that adapter will balance charge the cells. I was skeptical of balance charging at first too but like Futana said the packs will be forced to equalize. I parallel-balanced charged all last summer with no issues.

Definitely read up on the subject before attempting it:
http://sites.google.com/site/tjinguy...allel-charging
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...932319&page=72
http://www.rchelicopterfun.com/paral...-charging.html

Be careful, good luck and enjoy!

-John

[Bee_random]

Cheers John, much appreciated. B