Post by retiredbri on Oct 16, 2008 9:27:44 GMT 1
When I started, I had a small wall power supply (240V AC in, 12v DC 1.5 Amp out) used with the stock 7 cell Hobbico HBZ1026 (max 1.2Amp) charger. It even worked with the two extra 7 cell 14000maH NiMH batteries I bought.
I then got bought two 8 cell, 9.7V 14000maH batteries and a Hobbico PKZ1519 charger (it will charge up to 10 cells from 12V). I thought having 5 batteries would be OK but because I wanted to re-charge them as quickly as possible, I tried to use both Hobbico's together (1.2 amp + 1.2 amp = too much current = original wall charger blew up)
As a replacement, I decided to use my standard 3 amp Car Battery charger but a friend said that IT CANNOT BE USED because it has bad regulation (no load = 18V, full load = 14V) and is unsmoothed. Even if it could have been used, it would only just had enough output.
However, he noticed that I had a spare 12V car battery in reasonable condition so came up with a brilliant idea. He said charge the battery overnight using the car battery charger and then DISCONNECT IT.
I then had I had a very smooth 12V supply capable of supplying many more amps than I would ever need - albeit HEAVY
. I connected two cigar outlet sockets (+ve to centre pin) and now connect both the Hobbico chargers to my "BIG" supply and all is well.
The BONUS is that I can take this battery to the local club on a small trolley and charge my batteries near the pits (cars have to be parked 200 yards away and my "eco" car has an energy cut-out that switches off power to the cigar lighter socket after 5 minutes).
He said I could recharge each of my 5 batteries about 4 times before the car battery needs recharging. 20 flights of about 10mins each flight is more than I could ever fly in a day. Also, if I got another Hobbico or similar charger then more batteries can be on charge at the same time and the car battery could still easily supply the current.
Great friend with great lateral thinking!
PS: He said the PKZ charger must have an inbuilt DC-DC converter to allow charging of 8 cell (9.6V), 9 cell (10.8V) or 10 cell (12V) batteries from a 12 Volt input. Good value for such a versatile charger.
I then got bought two 8 cell, 9.7V 14000maH batteries and a Hobbico PKZ1519 charger (it will charge up to 10 cells from 12V). I thought having 5 batteries would be OK but because I wanted to re-charge them as quickly as possible, I tried to use both Hobbico's together (1.2 amp + 1.2 amp = too much current = original wall charger blew up)
As a replacement, I decided to use my standard 3 amp Car Battery charger but a friend said that IT CANNOT BE USED because it has bad regulation (no load = 18V, full load = 14V) and is unsmoothed. Even if it could have been used, it would only just had enough output.
However, he noticed that I had a spare 12V car battery in reasonable condition so came up with a brilliant idea. He said charge the battery overnight using the car battery charger and then DISCONNECT IT.
I then had I had a very smooth 12V supply capable of supplying many more amps than I would ever need - albeit HEAVY
. I connected two cigar outlet sockets (+ve to centre pin) and now connect both the Hobbico chargers to my "BIG" supply and all is well.The BONUS is that I can take this battery to the local club on a small trolley and charge my batteries near the pits (cars have to be parked 200 yards away and my "eco" car has an energy cut-out that switches off power to the cigar lighter socket after 5 minutes).
He said I could recharge each of my 5 batteries about 4 times before the car battery needs recharging. 20 flights of about 10mins each flight is more than I could ever fly in a day. Also, if I got another Hobbico or similar charger then more batteries can be on charge at the same time and the car battery could still easily supply the current.
Great friend with great lateral thinking!
PS: He said the PKZ charger must have an inbuilt DC-DC converter to allow charging of 8 cell (9.6V), 9 cell (10.8V) or 10 cell (12V) batteries from a 12 Volt input. Good value for such a versatile charger.