Cigarette lighter charging

[Robin Kearney]

Hi there, I wonder if somebody could answer a little question for me!

 I have a 8 cell NiMH pack 1300 mAh, I normally charge it at home using the mains, however my charger does have a cigarette lighter adapter which I've never used. Is it wise to charge it from my car? If so what sort of amps should I be dialing in?

r.

[David Parry]

Hi Robin,

If I am right you should be able to us the same as you do on the mains, all you are doing is using your car battery for power instead, your charger will have a transformer in it governing the power so even when you are on the mains it is probably still only using 12v

[Alan B]

Hi Robin

Ive had a couple of the car cigarette lighter chargers.  They have worked fine with no problems. They normally charge at about 500 mAh for that size of pack.  Usually the chargers supplied with RTF models tend to take about 2 to 3 hours to charge a NiMH pack. 

Al

[Tim Mackey]

If youm mean what charging current you should set, then it depends on the battery. Some packs are happy to be "fast charged" at anything up to 1C or even more....but many are best left on slow ( 1/10th C or so )

Whichever you do, it is wise to leave the engine runningas long term use could  mean a jump start to get going again

[Robin Kearney]

thanks for all the quick replies, just in time before I go on holiday tomorrow I normally charge that pack at 2.6 amps for 30 mins at home, is that likely to stress the car too much or should I drop the current a bit? I'm probably only going to get a chance for a couple of charges due to other commitments Thanks again!

[Tim Mackey]

Should be fine.... but heed the warning about flat batteries ( car ones I mean )

[Alan B]

If its of any use to you or anybody else for that matter.  I dont tend to use the car cigarette lighter.  I use one of those Car Power stations.  As for the usual jump leads/compressor/lights it also has 3 cigarette lighter sockets.

[Tim Mackey]

Yeh they are great...Maplins had em not long ago on special price. You can usually find them in your local staurday market quite cheaply

[YakMad]

Those Car Power stations usually contain a 12 volt 18 amp/hr motorcycle battery, if you can get one cheap, strip the battery out as its pointless to lug the Power station around when you only need the battery. (It's a cheap way of getting the battery as when I last checked the battery on it's own was about twice the price of a cheap Car Power station)

[Alan B]

Thats not a bad idea Yakmad!  Didn't think of that one!   I have one that has a knackered compressor and a dodgy jump lead (as I reversed over it !   )  So its been lying redundant - One extra flight box battery coming up!!!

Cheers   Al

[iawnski]

hi guys ive got a fag lighter  in the back of my van  that i installed saves me going round the front and haveing to put the keys into ignition every time i want to use iit /i run it from the light in the back hard wired does the job great/

[birdy]

In essence its the same as using a 12v battery in your flight box, just the electricerty has to go through the car first...

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Kelly]

Aldi are selling  those Car Power Stations now  for £24.99 (I think).

[Helidel]

Have checked my cig lighter output, the fuse is 20A and the lighter takes 6A. The one at the back is the same but due to the long lead length is only fused at 5A. I charge my Lipos direct from the battery,             (but off the car of course) and at a 5A drain for an hour has almost no effect on the battery. but my car is newish

[Robin Kearney]

Thanks for all the advice, I charged my pack up a couple of times this weekend at 2.6A from the lighter output, all went well!