Would a wall charger charge a 5 cell pack?

[Tom Foley]

Say what you want ..the batteries are fully charged bro . When running 2 day races with 7 boats , batteries are recharged before day 2 but not ness. before , even after a few runs in open water . Running hitec 705 and 805 MG servos on big boat rudders .Using 2500 - 3500 MAH in Hydros and 1700 MAH in monos . 20 hydros on 4.8 V @ 1600 MAH .

 

[Tom Foley]

I'm with HJ.

All you guys and your expensive engines and hulls and you are using a "4.8v" wall charger to charge your 6 volts packs.... Do you have a 110 source at the pond? I use a 12v/120v charger for my packs and it works at home and at the pond.

The most expensive airplane radios in the world that fly planes worth more than your lifes work in boats come with a wall charger ......think about it ..

 

[Dasboatman]

Blackout's statement probably went un-noticed. The benefit of a AC/DC Peak Charger are many and provide us with many benefits not realized with wall chargers. You can plug them into a 120 VAC source, or charge batteries using your car battery/ electrical system. I use a Dynamite Vision Peak Ultra AC/DC Peak Charger. It will charge 1 to 8 cell Ni-Cd & Ni-MH Packs, and 1 to 3 cell Li-po Packs and I am able to increase or decrease the charge rate to many current adjustments.

Tom, The only way to determine what the usable storage capability of any battery is by "Test Discharge" at a known load, and see what capacity you really have. With NICADs - there is a finite number of cycles. I only "Test Discharge" NICAD batteries if I see a problem while in operation. Normally the test discharge is a prelude to me throwing said battery in the **** can - Oh, excuse me - - Taking it to an authorized disposal facility.

I don't have much experience with Ni-MH, and no experience with Li-Po. I still remenber the early NICAD receiver batteries when they first became available. Orbit Super Het Reed set with receiver pack cells that looked like fat quarters. Very impresive when they blew up !!! CHEERS !!! Bob

 

[Tom Foley]

Not to derail this further but i have 2 batts. for each boat plus conventional - low tech AA batt. packs at any given event . I realize i am not using proper protocol on ni Cads but simply have never had any problems ..i just don't run my shizzle all afternoon to drain these things . Not dissing ..just keeping it simple !!

 

[Dasboatman]

Hey Tom,

I didn't provide comment for you, more for the initial question KEZ asked. You have been doing this a long while and what you have done over the years has worked for you. I'll bet we won't see any spring loaded case, Walmart brand AA cells powering your twin. I have seen so many nightmares over the years with batteries in boats. Green corrosion is not conducive to failure free operation. Most of the new boaters don't know what Corrosion X is.

I try to never use the terms "Always" or "Never". Seems like every time I get cocky - I pay for the comments - Har, Har !!! San Diego Model Yacht Basin is a salt water site filled from the bay. A leaking radio box will quickly bite you there. CHEERS !!! Bob

 

[Andy Greene]

7.7 volts expalins it. I have to agree, almost every charger I've dealt with had the output rating lower than the actual rating, but never by almost 50%. I had expected the rating to be more like 10 to 15% lower, not enough to charge a 6 volt pack but plenty to charge a 4.8 pack.

As for Rick's unneccessary "junk in the trunk" comment, I was asking for an explanation so EVERYONE would be able to understand why it works. Your slam against me was unwarranted and takes away from this thread.

my my, touchy aren't we.... just smile at the light hearted jab & go on with your day .

Hey Robin,,, Been awhile since I've been able to abuse Andy, So I had to "jab" someone,, Just happened to be Hydro Junkie this morning.....

Been quite some time since the 3-R's have tag teamed anybody,,, have you & Ray taken a dose of "warm & Fuzzy"????

Take it in stride HJ , I KNOW him and have been jabbed quite a bit harder-

That said, Im up for one of them Paulie Girls after the hot azz day I had at work Foley

left /right/center - all good

I have used the wall charger and a cheap charger from Hobby Town with the same results, have even double checked the wall packs charged with the wall unit when charging multiples- and the results are the same.

Andy

 

[Kez]

Thanks all for stopping by and sharing your thoughts and experience. I actually have a Sigma AC/DC peak charger for my E-planes. The problem is that the charger would only peak detect in fast charge mode. In trickle charge mode, the delta peak detection does not work.

When I posted the question, I just bought a 5 cell pack and was getting ready to test my new boat on the weekend. I tried to use my peak charger but the lowest rate the charger can do is 300mA. This is way too much current for the 1100mAHr pack. It gets hot quickly. I am sure a more sophesitcated charger can charge a 4 or 5 cell receiver pack just fine. The only other option was to use the wall charger but I was not sure if it would fully charge the pack, hence I posted the question.

I will try to measure the charge current of the wall charger on a depleted pack and a fully charged one and report back here. This would tell us how long it would take to charge a 5 cell pack.

Thanks,

kez

 

[RaceCraftBearings]

The problem with some boaters is the fact that they turn this hobby (or everything they do) into rocket science, Its TOY BOATS prople thats all!!!

The fact of the matter is plain and simple as I stated in my earlier post every Futaba wall charger I have (10 of them) even though rated at 4.8 v on the reciever side will put out enough voltage to charge a 6.0 volt pack NICAD or NIMH it does not matter which!!! Been doing this for years and never had a pack let me down! I only charge the night before I go to a race, Running open water on Friday with racing on Saturday and Sunday without a recharge.

I also have a Hobbico Charger/Cycler that was given to me. I have never cycled a pack (see below) but I have charged packs on it and the resulting fully charged voltage was the same as the wall charger.

Electricity does not know the differance between a $20 Futaba wall charger or a $100.00 special charger, They both pack the charge needed provided they have the proper output capability.

Cycling batteries is nothing but wasted time and wasted battery life it will speed the death of that pack more than a simple charge, use, charge, use cycle! BTW I have NICAD packs nearly as old as Joe Warren :lol: Whom btw started in this hobby way later than I did...............

Charge it up (NICAD or NIMH) and be Happy on that $20 Futaba Wall Charger!

 

[Joe Warren]

The problem with some boaters is the fact that they turn this hobby (or everything they do) into rocket science, Its TOY BOATS prople thats all!!!

The fact of the matter is plain and simple as I stated in my earlier post every Futaba wall charger I have (10 of them) even though rated at 4.8 v on the reciever side will put out enough voltage to charge a 6.0 volt pack NICAD or NIMH it does not matter which!!! Been doing this for years and never had a pack let me down! I only charge the night before I go to a race, Running open water on Friday with racing on Saturday and Sunday without a recharge.

I also have a Hobbico Charger/Cycler that was given to me. I have never cycled a pack (see below) but I have charged packs on it and the resulting fully charged voltage was the same as the wall charger.

Electricity does not know the differance between a $20 Futaba wall charger or a $100.00 special charger, They both pack the charge needed provided they have the proper output capability.

Cycling batteries is nothing but wasted time and wasted battery life it will speed the death of that pack more than a simple charge, use, charge, use cycle! BTW I have NICAD packs nearly as old as Joe Warren :lol: Whom btw started in this hobby way later than I did...............

Charge it up (NICAD or NIMH) and be Happy on that $20 Futaba Wall Charger!

Ron, Your 6 Volt battery In my Twin would last about 3 1/2 laps...... There are applications out there that require high Mah batteries.. A new $20 battery Charged Correctly in a $5000 Twin hydro is Not asking too much........... if Your not checking loaded Voltage (drain or discharge)??? Your Gessing on how the battery will Perform............... You correct... I`am still a Rookie & I dont care to Guess on when my battery will fail. I Bet 50% of YOUR BATTERIES WOULD NOT PASS A DISCHARGE TEST AFTER BEING CYCLED 3 TIMES !!!! JUST BECAUSE THEY ARE OLD DOES NOT MAKE THEM BETTER. :lol: :lol: :blink: B)

 

[RaceCraftBearings]

Ron, Your 6 Volt battery In my Twin would last about 3 1/2 laps...... There are applications out there that require high Mah batteries.. A new $20 battery charged correctly in a $5000 Twin hydro is Not asking too much........... You correct... I`am still a Rookie

I would be willing to bet that it would last you 3 - 1/2 days! They last just fine in my Single 90 Rigger.

Just because some are old and still in working condition proves my point! Bring on your discharger! If my packs make the grade I get your Tween LOL!

If I had $5000 in one boat I would find an insurance carrier for that boat! Even though I am sure my packs would last in your twin as they do my boats I am sure with $5000 in the boat I would check to see if they needed a recharge after each day. Once I saw they were lasting fine and since the radio box is open I would zap em for a bit since the Progreesive Insurance whom claims to insure anything turned down my $5000 TOY Boat WOW!

Its not ROCKET SCIENCE Joe!

 

[Joe Warren]

Ron, Your 6 Volt battery In my Twin would last about 3 1/2 laps...... There are applications out there that require high Mah batteries.. A new $20 battery charged correctly in a $5000 Twin hydro is Not asking too much........... You correct... I`am still a Rookie

I would be willing to bet that it would last you 3 - 1/2 days! They last just fine in my Single 90 Rigger.

Just because some are old and still in working condition proves my point! Bring on your discharger! If my packs make the grade I get your Tween LOL!

If I had $5000 in one boat I would find an insurance carrier for that boat! Even though I am sure my packs would last in your twin as they do my boats I am sure with $5000 in the boat I would check to see if they needed a recharge after each day. Once I saw they were lasting fine and since the radio box is open I would zap em for a bit since the Progreesive Insurance whom claims to insure anything turned down my $5000 TOY Boat WOW!

Its not ROCKET SCIENCE Joe!

Good point Ron....... & If you started out with a 100% charged battery. The Current Hobbico Elite charger will tell you exactly how much life you have used out of the battery for the day. You can look @ the total Mah & How much charge up time needed (Mah) & you will see what is needed to fill the battery back up 100% & you know then know much of the battery you are using per day. Todays servos are being rated for new Li -poly techonolgy & total voltage of 7.4 & we will see 11 plus volts one day & We are talking about Nicads that are as old as donkey dung..........? I run Li-Poly Batteries in all radios & fixen to be in all of the receiver batteries too. soooooooooooo it is Rocket Science...... Google what a Lipoly battery is made of & tell me its not rocket science... :lol: :blink: :unsure: B)

 

[Daniel's Racing]

Futaba FBC 19B wall charger supplied with a Futaba 3PKS Fasst system of which requires 6 volt batteries for the reciever has the dual charger with 4.8 volt output. They do advertise it as fine for charging Nicad or Nickle Metal Hydride batteries but since the radio receiver combo only has the rechargeable nicad factory supplied transmitter battery and no 6 volt rechargeable pack for receiver I guess it don't mean much as it could be designed for transmitter only not the fasst compatible 6 volt battery. I have heard several people say they will charge fully. Futaba does have one that is dual voltage plug-in and it has 5.8volt listed as the receiver output voltage. I like to use a quality charger that I can see just what a battery is doing and how much ma charge it is taking to fully charge.

Lipo in the transmitter and Life for the receiver and you'll always be ready without having to charge the night before and they will go for literally months between charges 3 or more months in the transmitter sometimes.

 

[RaceCraftBearings]

Ron, Your 6 Volt battery In my Twin would last about 3 1/2 laps...... There are applications out there that require high Mah batteries.. A new $20 battery charged correctly in a $5000 Twin hydro is Not asking too much........... You correct... I`am still a Rookie

I would be willing to bet that it would last you 3 - 1/2 days! They last just fine in my Single 90 Rigger.

Just because some are old and still in working condition proves my point! Bring on your discharger! If my packs make the grade I get your Tween LOL!

If I had $5000 in one boat I would find an insurance carrier for that boat! Even though I am sure my packs would last in your twin as they do my boats I am sure with $5000 in the boat I would check to see if they needed a recharge after each day. Once I saw they were lasting fine and since the radio box is open I would zap em for a bit since the Progreesive Insurance whom claims to insure anything turned down my $5000 TOY Boat WOW!

Its not ROCKET SCIENCE Joe!

Good point Ron....... & If you started out with a 100% charged battery. The Current Hobbico Elite charger will tell you exactly how much life you have used out of the battery for the day. You can look @ the total Mah & How much charge up time needed (Mah) & you will see what is needed to fill the battery back up 100% & you know then know much of the battery you are using per day. Todays servos are being rated for new Li -poly techonolgy & total voltage of 7.4 & we will see 11 plus volts one day & We are talking about Nicads that are as old as donkey dung..........? I run Li-Poly Batteries in all radios & fixen to be in all of the receiver batteries too. soooooooooooo it is Rocket Science...... Google what a Lipoly battery is made of & tell me its not rocket science... :lol: :blink: :unsure: B)

Not interested in LiPO I value my Home and or boat trailer to much to burn it down! $5000 dollar Twin on lap 6 in lane one for the win but wait that Lipo caught fire before the finish line that would be heart wrenching! Google Lipo FIRES !

Or watch this...

My link

 

[Daniel's Racing]

Lipo's used for main motor used with high amperage draw brushless motors is going to burn things up every now and then. Using them on receiver and transmitter is a very low draw comparatively when you nail throttle on those brushless setups you might as well be shorting out the battery. Many times it is the ESC that blows and actually does short directly out causing the batteries to go nuts.

LiFe batteries are much safer than lipo's and can be plugged directly in without any need for a voltage regulator.

 

[Joe Warren]

Futaba FBC 19B wall charger supplied with a Futaba 3PKS Fasst system of which requires 6 volt batteries for the reciever has the dual charger with 4.8 volt output. They do advertise it as fine for charging Nicad or Nickle Metal Hydride batteries but since the radio receiver combo only has the rechargeable nicad factory supplied transmitter battery and no 6 volt rechargeable pack for receiver I guess it don't mean much as it could be designed for transmitter only not the fasst compatible 6 volt battery. I have heard several people say they will charge fully. Futaba does have one that is dual voltage plug-in and it has 5.8volt listed as the receiver output voltage. I like to use a quality charger that I can see just what a battery is doing and how much ma charge it is taking to fully charge.

Lipo in the transmitter and Life for the receiver and you'll always be ready without having to charge the night before and they will go for literally months between charges 3 or more months in the transmitter sometimes.

A-men Brother........ Man said.......... A Quality Charger. I love my Lipo`s