Battery charger

[heyjack19]

I just recently got back into rc cars along with my drones. I just purchased a pretty good charger to use with the cars. That's a pic of the charger below. I was wondering if there is any way to use this charger with a P3S battery. Since this charger actually shows some data on the battery while charging.

 

[heyjack19]

In case anyone was wondering you actually can use that charger. Been researching since I posted that. Venom actually makes a adapter from the Phantom 3 batteries. Plugs in just like all the other adapters that come with the charger. Now I can actually monitor the voltage and charging amps. Plus I can add temp sensors to it.

 

[solentlife]

You paid about 3x the real cost for that adaptor ... but of course you paid $12 for the Brand name !!

Welcome to the world of better charging. I have been using LiPo / LiHV charging since day one of buying my Phantom ... and have exact same lead bought on Ebay for less than $5.

The only function that we cannot access is Balancing ... but at least we have data about charge rate, mA in, double safety cut-off (the P3 battery cut-off plus the chargers detection of fault cut-off). We can even check total voltage ... and have a real figure not just LED blinking .. and also iR check total to see when battery is going downhill !!

We can select max rate battery is rated for instead of the reduced rate DJI charger provides etc.

For anyone looking to go this route ... much cheaper but fully capable option is the SkyRC B6 60W mini or the Accucel 6 80W LiPo chargers ... both budget priced and fully capable of LiHV charging.

Nigel

 

[heyjack19]

That was actually for 2 with shipping included. The only ones I could find on eBay at $5 also wanted around $3 for shipping. So I figured at $7 and some change each with shipping wasn't bad. Just hope it works like I'm thinking it will. I also like the fact that this charger will accept the traxxas temp sensors to monitor battery temperatures.

 

[solentlife]

Just make sure you can charge without balance lead connected ...

Many chargers allow you to go into settings and say no to balance lead ... it doesn't actually stop balance working - it just stops charger forcing you to connect balance lead. So if you have a normal LiPo and balance lead - you can still benefit from balance lead monitoring.

Second - to use the lead - you mst switch ON the DJI battery ... regardless of charge level.

Nigel

 

[WilliamM]

Just make sure you can charge without balance lead connected ...

Many chargers allow you to go into settings and say no to balance lead ... it doesn't actually stop balance working - it just stops charger forcing you to connect balance lead. So if you have a normal LiPo and balance lead - you can still benefit from balance lead monitoring.

Second - to use the lead - you mst switch ON the DJI battery ... regardless of charge level.

Nigel

When comparing two battery chargers both capable of 1C charging rate for a battery in question. What's the difference in one being a higher wattage charger than the other? So for sake of argument let's say the battery is 3000 so my charge rate would be set to three amps. So what's the advantage of having a higher wattage charger if the lower wattage charger is capable of the same amperage output that you're going to use. Does it charge faster even at the same amp setting? I understand a higher wattage charger might be capable of 2C or 3C charge rate that a lower wattage charger might not, but just wanted to know if there's any upside at the same charge rate (amp setting).

 

[solentlife]

Lets look at power and how its delivered ... and side effects.

If you have a charger capable of say 4A charging at 12V and you have a 3S 3000 LiPo of 11.1V nominal, 12.6V full ... then at 1C - the charger is going to be working at or near full capacity in early stages and as the charge nears completion - it will be working extremely hard.
If we take a charger capable of say 10A and put it to the same job - at 1C ... then charger will chug along happily without stress or strain.

But make sure the power supply to it is sufficient to provide the power needed ...

A final word .. many people move onto more adventurous models and limiting charger to the needs today can be false economy for tomorrow.

But for DJI batterys - particularly these P3 batterys ... the 80W Accucel 6 is a good compromise giving reasonable charge rate ....

Nigel

 

[WilliamM]

Lets look at power and how its delivered ... and side effects.

If you have a charger capable of say 4A charging at 12V and you have a 3S 3000 LiPo of 11.1V nominal, 12.6V full ... then at 1C - the charger is going to be working at or near full capacity in early stages and as the charge nears completion - it will be working extremely hard.
If we take a charger capable of say 10A and put it to the same job - at 1C ... then charger will chug along happily without stress or strain.

But make sure the power supply to it is sufficient to provide the power needed ...

A final word .. many people move onto more adventurous models and limiting charger to the needs today can be false economy for tomorrow.

But for DJI batterys - particularly these P3 batterys ... the 80W Accucel 6 is a good compromise giving reasonable charge rate ....

Nigel

Now I know why my little charger takes so long to charge my external batteries. Think I showed it to you before, it's only a 20w (stop laughing). It's promoted to charge the LiHV (and does), and can put out up to 3.0 amps. That's why I was asking about wattage. So if I have my math right, (V = W / A), so in my case 20 / 3=6.6 volts. So my not so good charger is only putting out 6.6 volts? And it's trying to charge a 17.4v LiPo, no wonder it takes an hour.

 

[solentlife]

In fact usually the amps are the one that suffer not the volts.

Your little 20w job is barely pushing more than 1A ...... that means from 50% your DJI will take more than 1hr to charge ...

It will be very kind to your battery though !

Its a common error .... the figure that needs to be considered is not max amps - but max watts capability of a charger.

Nigel

 

[geoffN]

Why-ever bother?.......................you're just complicating things unnecessarily!!. The standard charger that comes free, charges the batteries up very quickly with no problems. If it was no good and damaged the batteries, Dji wouldn't be sending it out and there would be many warranty claims. I haven't seen any posts referring to batteries failing due to the standard charger.

 

[WilliamM]

Why-ever bother?.......................you're just complicating things unnecessarily!!. The standard charger that comes free, charges the batteries up very quickly with no problems. If it was no good and damaged the batteries, Dji wouldn't be sending it out and there would be many warranty claims. I haven't seen any posts referring to batteries failing due to the standard charger.

Actually throughout this thread the discussion of charging DJI batteries and also standard lipo batteries we're both being discussed. I think the point you're missing is some people in this hobby want to know the why and how things work. In this thread specifically no one is disputing that the supplied charger does its job. A traditional charger shows you the stats of the battery during charge that are interesting to know. Post #3, third paragraph explains it.

 

[solentlife]

Thank you William ...

The point I made a long time ago is exactly that. The standard DJI charger in fact is not a charger but a regulated 17.4V power brick. It is commonly termed by the electricl guys as a Dumb Brick ... because all it does is supply a steady voltage. It has no safety failsafe. You have no idea of rate its charging or how much it puts in total.

Its fine if you want simple and are happy with it ...

Personally I am all for simple but i do like to know whats going on. I get display showing AMP rate, VOLTS at that time, how much mAh put in at that moment, time on charge.
I can also check total iR of the pack - tells me overall condition and also its deteriorating state. I can check total voltage ....

Complicating it ? How ? By pressing a few buttons and switching on the battery ... ?? Whats so complicated ? Only people who would think it is are those who have never even seen it or know what it is ....

Nigel

 

[heyjack19]

What does it matter if I do want to complicate it. I didn't get into this hobby for it to be easy. I love to tinker. That's why I got into the cars again also. The drones are starting to get boring. Not much you can do to them. I had to buy a charger for my lipos anyway. I was just curious if it could be done.

 

[solentlife]

What does it matter if I do want to complicate it. I didn't get into this hobby for it to be easy. I love to tinker. That's why I got into the cars again also. The drones are starting to get boring. Not much you can do to them. I had to buy a charger for my lipos anyway. I was just curious if it could be done.

Some people just don't accept there are other ways in the world.

I have to agree with you that these models can get boring ... not exactly like my gasoline powered 3D stuff or my display biplane ! To be honest the interest for me has been to tinker as well to see how far and with what as cheap as possible - to push the range ... getting her to 4.5kms for under $100 modifications has been the most interesting for me.
When I was testing different combos of GO and FW ... that was interesting but of course DJI then imposed their forced updates and that stopped.

I flew 3x today and I have the videos ready to edit ... but you know ... I don't know if I'm in the right mood !!

I'm looking across the room at the Tiger Moth I'm building on the bench ... now that has Character !!





Nigel

 

[heyjack19]

I haven't been able to get into the planes. They are very cool but I can see myself destroying something like that. I myself have gotten back into the cars. Just got a Redcat Chimera 1/5 gas and a TR-MT10E brushless. I didn't realize how far the technology had came since I raced in the 90's. You can't keep the front end on the ground.