ericrw Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Whitch 12v battery should I buy for chaging Lipos on the field; ordinary 12v Car battery or a Caravan Leisure battery? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken anderson. Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 hello eric---i have seen people using both-to be honest i think you'll need a fair old battery if your going to charge on a regular basis--if the lipo's are small one's ie..1000m/a..i would say any old battery will keep you going if your talking about 2200...upward's..i would say dont bother-charge them at home and use them at the field...as the capacity and size of the larger one's mean a charge of an hour +..dont use the one on your car-i've seen people stranded at our field after flattening the one on their car's................. ken anderson...... ps-timbo will tell you for sure-mine is the layman's explanation.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Foreman Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Sealed Valve Regulated Lead Acid, they are quite tolerant to deep discharge, have been using a couple for a few years no complaints have a look here Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericrw Posted December 4, 2009 Author Share Posted December 4, 2009 My lipos range from 800 to 3000. I'm expecting Timbo's contribution with interest!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Mackey Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Well either type will obviously power the charger identically given the same capacity - but the leisure battery (as Tom said ) is designed to tolerate deep discharge whereas your regular car battery is not, and will very likely be goosed if allowed to drop too low....11V or less and it could be history TBH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Hooper Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 What Timbo said. I've used both in the past, and it's worth sourcing a 'leisure' battery everytime! FWIW I got mine from a farm suppliers. Farmers use them to power electric fences, and they simply won't pay the inflated prices that you find at caravan showrooms or Halfords. tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericrw Posted December 5, 2009 Author Share Posted December 5, 2009 Thanks for the tip re- Farm Suppliers. Eric. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vecchio Austriaco Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 I think deep discharge is not an issue - as even cheap chineese chargers allow to set a low level voltage for the source. So for an ordinary 12V car battery which is in my opinion the cheapest solution - you set 10V lowest source voltage and the charger will stop when that level is reached. I currently use a 55Ah car battery - chargers are hyperion eos 720i and turnigy accucell6. With this setup (and 10 batteries) I fly small aerobatics (2200mAh battery) the whole day and the car battery is stil not empty. Have a look at scrapyards - sometimes they have batteries in good condition at very low price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Davis Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 Whatever you do don't use your car's battery! I drive a diesel and fly fairly big models with batteries of 3000-5000mAh capacity. After one afternoon's flying my battery was so flat that the fuel valve wouldn't open and the car wouldn't start. Fortunately it went with a tow from the secretary's old Volvo. Funnily enough, I'd seen the same thing happen to someone else the previous week whilst flying as a guest down in Exeter. Nowadays I just charge the batteries I want to use off the mains at home and don't bother recharging at the field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flytilbroke Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 A 3000 mAh pack is likely to "take" a good deal more from a charging source than the nominal "3000" mAh) . Allow for charger losses as well as losses due to the Pack charging. A 60Ah Battery may get close to minimum Volts after 12 or so charges are taken from it, at that rating, especially in the colder weather of winter. Go for the Leisure Battery, less chance of damage to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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