philfly Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 I was talking to a guy at work the other day about electronics when he showed me his latest project. The thing that he had 'knocked up' was a 5 channel single cell lipo charger, which i thought would be ideal for indoor flyers? The unit can simulataneously charge 5 lipo's from 75mAh to 150mAh (This range is selected per channel with a swith and can be tuned at the design stage for different currents) It charges in 3 stages using constant current, constant voltage and then trickle charge (no overheat protection) It can run on an input voltage from Vout+1.5v to 36v! my thought was to include a high capacity lipo which could be charged at home, which would then be enough for lots of charging at an indoor meet for upto 5 cells at a time. Costs would be around £25-35 without the lipo's would anyone be interested in such a device? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Mackey Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 Not personally - I ( and I suspect many others ) simply use a parallel harness to charge as many individual cells as I need at once - all from any one of my my existing chargers. This harness here I made for up to 6 cells, which in practice is more than I ever really need.Cost.....£4 approx and a few minutes soldering the leads together The latest MSRs etc come with a 5 port charger - mains powered , included too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelH Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 Hobby King and others sell those ready made for next to nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Mackey Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 I know - should have patented it when I made it two years ago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philfly Posted April 14, 2011 Author Share Posted April 14, 2011 Cheers guys thats why i asked, i knew someone would have come up with a dodge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kozmyk Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 Actually the charging circuit in the E-Flite Celectra 4-way is not very sophisticated and I do wonder if it treats the lipos in the best way.Out of the box apparently they can be giving 3C or more! Adjustment is possible.Celectra 4-port Mods I've also found that the two lipo chargers I have don't charge my little 1s lipos (70mAh to 160mAh) properly either.My Hyperion 0720i SD3 seems to get stuck at around 3.6V per cell.I suspect that it's stopping at the handover threshold to the balancer, which of course in this case is not connected to the 1s cell.My Lipro Quad 6 does go through the motions on small 1s but the charge cycle finishes before a full charge has Really gone in.I've looked for an equivalent on HK an can find nothing like it. So philfly, I reckon a purpose designed multi staged charger for these little blighters would be a good thing and I'd certainly be interested if your mate decides to produce some more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelH Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 Posted by Tim Mackey - Administrator on 13/04/2011 23:13:58:I know - should have patented it when I made it two years ago And that would make what difference to our overseas friends ? Have you seen their 'Park 480' motors and their servoless retracts ? Don't get me wrong. I love how those guys are helping to make the hobby more affordable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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