Ion Cube 12v power supply

[GooseF22]

	Quote: Originally Posted by khedge
	I charged my 3 2500mah li-po pack for my transmitter with a 12v battery hook to a battery charger a I didn't have and problems. Now my triton would say error input voltage. From my understanding the Cube does care how to provide the voltage(battery, power supply , etc.) as long as it gets it. I do agree that a 13.8(like the one am using now) or 12.5 power supply is better because it provides a consent voltage. The cube is power hungry, and when charging 3 li-ion it will drain a field box battery pretty fast.

The ion cube will draw exactly what it is showing plus 250 MA for the fan. I have torn my test unit apart and checked it, prodded it, and messed with it alot. Kurt let me fully test the new A123 cards for the ion cube.

If you charge at 2.99 amps on a LION, and 2.5 amps for the A123, just add the settings up, and add 250 milli amps, and that is what your drawing from your power supply.

The problem is most batteries and supplies that are not rated for 15 amps allow the voltage to drop too much. I use 13.6 volt power supply, but my 33 amp/hour mower battery works well. A typical field battery is 4-7 amphour's, so if you pull 7 amps out of it, and its full, you will get onehour BUT...when its lower than 1/2 full, the voltage depresses and the ION cube is more sensitive to 12 volts, so it kicks off or tops.

So try this:

Keep your field battery in your box.... and make a heavy duty connector to a separate battery, and when you charge, charge off the big battery or hook em together. I have a deans connector on my big battery, and put the mate in my kit hooked to the field batt. It keeps it from being drawn down, but when I grab the kit for a glow plane, I dont lug it around. My field box has a power supply too though. Hobbico makes a small solid state power supply that will fit in your field kit so I find a plug and keep my charging battery topped off.

I also charge A123's at `6-10 amps for main power cell.

But the ion cube is still my favorite for receiver packs and small tiny lipos.

So for the record, it needs 12.8 volts and delivery capability One amp above your demand. 13.8volt systems work best. Use good quality Batteries that are in good shape.

By the way, on e last thing. On your big field battery.....make a cord and plug it into your cigarette lighter on the way to the field, and it will top off your field battery with 13.8 volts....thats the rating on your car's alternator. I charge my field battery all the time this way.

[ajiwrajka]

Hey Guys,

I got myself a Ion charger with 3 boards for charging, the problem i am facing is that when i connect my batteries for charging the blue light keeps flashing.

can someone help me find a solution.

thanks

Alok

[Fromeco]

Hi Alok,

We need you to call us, we think we know what your issue is.

I hope?

Kurt Cook
Fromeco Scale Avionics LLC

[Azhar]

Anyone tried the jacked up power supply for use with ion-cube? Not sure what the output voltage is (12.5 or 13).

http://www.sincityjets.com/store-accessories.htm

Azhar

[jimlang]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Fromeco
	Hi Alok, We need you to call us, we think we know what your issue is. I hope? Kurt Cook Fromeco Scale Avionics LLC

Kurt,
Can you let the rest of us know what to do about this?

At the IMAC contest in Griffin, Ga. I saw this problem when using a battery as the power source. I am using a dedicated battery in my trailer to power the charger, so I don't care if it is depleted. The problem seemed to be worse when using a 16 gauge 20 foot 12v extension cable.

Also, an other pilot saw the fast flashing blue light(s) and said he was having the same problem.

What is the minimum voltage (for proper operation) the charger can use?

Thanks,
Jim Langford

[yufasa]

Did anyone get an answer on this?
I just got a lipo card for my cube (I have 3 a123 cards) and it will not work on a 12V PC power supply. The blue LED just blinks all the time.

[SunDevilPilot1]

I use a 35A power supply purchased from Radio Shack. It powers my Ion Cube with three cards just fine. Output is 13.8V. I believe it was about $99.00.

SunDevilPilot

[yufasa]

I certainly have enough current capability. I use this power supply all the time with my other chargers. (Triton, FMA 4S etc.)
I don't understand why the card will not even try to charge a battery. The blue LED just flashes all the time, plugging and unplugging a battery has no effect.

[yufasa]

I have had this charger for a couple of weeks now and it is simple to use, and you can charge up to 5 batteries at the same time. The downside is that you have to set the charge rate manually everytime and you cannot charge at more than 2.9A. For A123 cells this is a big drawback.
I also got the Fromeco power cable for this charger. The charger does not ship with one The cable comes with 18 gauge wire (not very flexible, but decent), bannana plugs on one side and crockodile clips on the other. The cable can certainly handle the current that the unit will draw (max of 15A) and the bannana plugs are nicely molded. My problem with it is the crockodile clips. If this is supposed to be a field charger then larger clips would be more appropriate as you would want to clip it to a deep cycle battery or even your car battery. Just a thought.

[GooseF22]

for those that have blinking lights try hooking your power supply directly to the car/marine battery and hooking the cube to the same battery to act as a current buffer. check the output voltage to make sure its above 13v.

If it still blinks, then......
pull the cards and clean the tabs and reseat them.... a pencil eraser does good clean job.
do the same to the brain.

If that doesn't fix it, then call fromeco.

[chevydad008]

Charger; Ion Cube, brain, 3 charging ports. Power source; Pyramid model PS21-KX. Works great for me for over a year now. I charge (2) 5200 and (1) 2600 Fromeco's all at the same time with the power source, or with my 12v deep cycle battery at the field. Works with both very well. One point of confusion I've noticed with a lot of guy's that get the Cube is that you HAVE to power up the charger FIRST. Then you plug the leads into your batts you want to charge or it won't work. It's like anything, there's an order to it. Follow the order and WALLAH!

FROMECO ROCKS!!!

[3daviator]

I Run Mine with this set-up. Works great, I don't have any 123's, but have charged up to 5 lipo's at once w/out a problem.
Fromeco was pretty specific in the included user guide about nec pwr supply. Mine is a Bulldog 55 which may be a little overkill but If I take it to the field and plug it in I can share it with anyone there.