Charging lipo whilst out and about...

[ph47mf]

So a couple of young families want to hit the beach for a few days, we'll be bringing our RCs down but most of us only have 2 sets of lipos each (4 x 3S lipos), obviously we can charge it when we reach our hotels etc but when we're out at the beach, it would be nice to use a set and have the other set on charge in the car for example.

Apart from having a million lipos with you, how and where you do you charge your lipos on the move? And is it possible to do this with my car?

 

[#ARRMArcfanboy4life]

If you have the right connector you probably could and bring jumping cables.
or buy a spare car battery

 

[nino]

Make/buy a cable that connects directly to your car battery terminals (with alligator clamps on one end and whatever your charger uses for dc input on the other). You'll want the car running while you charge, and keep the charger and packs outside of the car.

You could use DC from the lighter plug but that won't give you a lot of power. Enough for smaller packs or slower charging. But 2x3s at a decent charging rate, not very likely. I sometimes charge while driving (eg 2200 3s packs for my TRX4).

I often charge my packs while bashing, sometimes only to bring them to storage voltage so I have one less thing to worry about when I get home.

 

[jeepnut]

Some cars have electrical plugs. I assume you would have mentioned that if yours did.

 

[L3phturn]

I have a charger that will take DC input. 12v car battery - my plan for camping this summer.

 

[#ARRMArcfanboy4life]

I have a charger that will take DC input. 12v car battery - my plan for camping this summer.

I have the venom dual charger (ac/dc)

 

[The Bean]

DC charger and a 2nd hand high capacity Pb battery. Easy to get both under €100

 

[Ginglehopper]

Make/buy a cable that connects directly to your car battery terminals (with alligator clamps on one end and whatever your charger uses for dc input on the other). You'll want the car running while you charge, and keep the charger and packs outside of the car.

You could use DC from the lighter plug but that won't give you a lot of power. Enough for smaller packs or slower charging. But 2x3s at a decent charging rate, not very likely. I sometimes charge while driving (eg 2200 3s packs for my TRX4).

I often charge my packs while bashing, sometimes only to bring them to storage voltage so I have one less thing to worry about when I get home.

Is there a way to charge packs to storage charge with this charger? I couldn't find it so I kinda guess and charge it aboult halfway.

This is the charger I have.
https://www.hobbytown.com/common-sense-rc-2-port-charger-6a-50w-per-chan-csdacdcduo/p873830
Here is the manual

https://www.commonsenserc.com/product_instructions/ACDC-DUO_manual_v2.pdf

 

[The Bean]

The stats say it can discharge, so probably yes. I don't see a direct way, but maybe if you fill in the storage voltages, it works?

 

[Ginglehopper]

The stats say it can discharge, so probably yes. Check your manual to see how

I'm reading it now. It says something about it. STO=storage charge. Thanks!
Okay, I found it.

 

[The Bean]

Np!

 

[Ginglehopper]

My storage charge setting can only go up to 2.0 amps, but I can put it at 5200 ma. So thats what I did for my 5200 mah 3s batt. Should my amps and milliamps be the same? Or does it not matter?

 

[WoodiE]

I would be cautious about randomly charging your LiPo batteries while you're out and about shopping at the beach. I like to keep an eye on my batteries while they are charging just to play it safe, let alone charge them when you're not even around... assuming probably also locked up in a car?!

 

[The Bean]

Should my amps and milliamps be the same? Or does it not matter?

The amps show how much power is going into your batteries. The only thing a low Amp rating does is charge slower.


Here's a difficult sciency formula
V × A = W, so 5.2 Ah × 11.1V = 57.7 Wh
6A charging × 11.1V = 66.6W

This would give a charge time of appx. 1h.

Because your storage mode charges a battery to half of full capacity, the charger probably halves the max. allowed amperage, to preserve battery life.

 

[Ginglehopper]

The amps show how much power is going into your batteries. The only thing a low Amp rating does is charge slower.


Here's a difficult sciency formula
V × A = W, so 5.2 Ah × 11.1V = 57.7 Wh
6A charging × 11.1V = 66.6W

This would give a charge time of appx. 1h.

Because your storage mode charges a battery to half of full capacity, the charger probably halves the max. allowed amperage, to preserve battery life.

I understood about 10% of that. The 1h charge time part.

No, I get what your saying. It lets me charge at 5.2 amps, just not storage charge at 5.2 amps. Thanks a lot!

 

[ChemEng]

Don't leave your batteries in the car in the summer in the sun. The heat will significantly shorten their life, basically ruining them (ask me how i know).

I understood about 10% of that. The 1h charge time part.

No, I get what your saying. It lets me charge at 5.2 amps, just not storage charge at 5.2 amps. Thanks a lot!

Storage charge just stops charging at ~3.8V instead of 4.2V so it will take less time to storage charge as long as you are CHARGING. If you are trying to DISCHARGE back down to storage voltage (if you didn't get to drive a pack for example) it will take FOREVER because it probably uses a small resistor to discharge. You need a dedicated discharger to do this in any reasonable amount of time.

 

[Ginglehopper]

Don't leave your batteries in the car in the summer in the sun. The heat will significantly shorten their life, basically ruining them (ask me how i know).

Storage charge just stops charging at ~3.8V instead of 4.2V so it will take less time to storage charge as long as you are CHARGING. If you are trying to DISCHARGE back down to storage voltage (if you didn't get to drive a pack for example) it will take FOREVER because it probably uses a small resistor to discharge. You need a dedicated discharger to do this in any reasonable amount of time.

How do you know?

 

[olds97_lss]

To reiterate what others mentioned, the car should be running whenever your charging packs. I found out the hard way on that one. Charged up pairs of 3S 5000mah packs 4 or 5 times while bashing, got in my car to leave and all it would do was click. Got a jump, which for some reason freaked out my car and ruined a HVAC servo which then broke a blend door that cost me $900 to replace (they had to remove the dash). Good times...

I have a relatively cheap HTRC-H150 ACDC Duo wired up in the trunk of my car all the time. Added a power switch to it because it doesn't have one. My battery for the car is in the trunk, so it worked out well. If/when I get rid of this car for something else, I'll likely spend $150 on having a high current power line run to my trunk (like for an amp) for the convenience.

These days though, I just take enough packs with me, but occasionally, I'll still use the charger.

 

[ChemEng]

How do you know?

Thanks for asking! Lost 6 batteries to the NC summer sun whilst eating wings after a flight session. Now i bring them in with me (this picture was from 2019 and was the last time i ate out...):

 

[Notorious J]

So a couple of young families want to hit the beach for a few days, we'll be bringing our RCs down but most of us only have 2 sets of lipos each (4 x 3S lipos), obviously we can charge it when we reach our hotels etc but when we're out at the beach, it would be nice to use a set and have the other set on charge in the car for example.

Apart from having a million lipos with you, how and where you do you charge your lipos on the move? And is it possible to do this with my car?

Whatever you decide to do, do not charge them unattended unless you have a battery safe box to do it in. A guy I know here had left two batteries to charge in his basement. I'm talking he was only one floor away. One battery started to smoke and caught fire. He was using a very good charger and had never had issues before. Fortunately, the fire department arrived in time to contain the fire to the basement, but the rest of the house suffered a lot of damage from smoke. Never ever ever charge lipo batteries in the open when unattended, especially if you are in a place like a hotel or under the hood of a car.