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Post by father&son on Mar 4, 2014 2:46:32 GMT 1
Got our acucell 6 in the mail today. We had initially bought a $60 (US) PS for it....BUT, I had a flash of motivation, and an old PC, so I actually managed to take out the 430W ATX PS and convert it into a perfectly good 12V PS for the charger. Total investment: $6.50 US in crimp connectors (no solder), and two bullet connectors. Got some flying in before the wind and rain came up, and then made it home and got both. LiPo's charged/discharged to storage voltage before dinner. All accomplished by virtue of the advice I got on this forum over the last few days. Thanks guys! Oh, and I spent ZERO hours at work today. (Score)  ? |
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Post by flydiver on Mar 4, 2014 2:53:18 GMT 1
Good going on the PS mod. Done that one myself!
Maybe you've already figured it out but that charger (and it's like) are limited to 1A discharge, so they are fairly slow.
I try to fly all the batteries I bring even if it's not a great flight to get the charge down. For short to moderate term anything below 4.0v/cell is OK. The longer it's going to be that way the more I strive toward storage level.
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Post by father&son on Mar 4, 2014 3:58:44 GMT 1
Nice. The weather is iffy here right now, so I decided to take them down to storage level just in case. It will charge them fairly quickly if I get a chance to take the plane out again soon.
The power supply mod was much easier than I thought it would be. Some of the YouTube videos recommend putting in a load resistor. Others do not. My presumption was that the load resistor is there to convince the power supply that there something on the downstream end asking for power even if the charger is not connected. That way the power supply's voltage regulator will "ungate" the power and make it available downstream. Indeed, if you turn on the modified power supply with the charger not attached, and then attach the charger subsequently, something internal in the power supply shuts it off. However, if you attach the charger to the 12 V output wires before turning on the power supply everything works fine. My guess is that a load resistor would eliminate this problem, but otherwise is relatively unnecessary in this application.
What say you?
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Post by flydiver on Mar 4, 2014 5:57:04 GMT 1
I put a resistor in mine. The PS seemed to require it and I found the available voltage actually went up. It gets hot so is wired with thermal compound to the case side. Some people put a 12v brake light on the outside. It operates both as a resistor and as a functioning notice.
Can,t say I understand much about the particulars of computer PS units. For this I just followed the conversion 'recipe'. I just make sure I have enough voltage and amps for the job.
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