battery charger 4 ion batts

[yfz450]

what charger do i use for a 2000 2 cell 7.4 v ion batt

[Flyfalcons]

If you plan on getting more lithium batteries for receivers, the Fromeco Ion Cube is a good charger. It will let you charge up to 5 batteries at the same time if you order one with five charge cards. Because of the slow charge nature of Lithium Ions, charging more than one at the same time is a huge plus.

[yfz450]

cool thanks where can i get one

[Flyfalcons]

www.fromeco.org

I have one with three charge trays for lithium ions and have ordered two of the new red charge trays for charging A123 type batteries with the 4th and 5th slots. The charger does not balance the cells.

[yfz450]

thanks looks like a prety cool charger can you do lipos and ions at the time also found one from multiplex that will charge all batts think would a good charger also.my batts in the new plane i got dont have balance leads heres a pic of yhe plane

[Flyfalcons]

As I understand it the blue charge trays will do 2-3S lipos and li-ions. I'm just using mine to charge receiver packs now but I could solder up a few Deans connecters and charge foamy packs as well. I'm just getting into larger electrics and purchased a separate charger for my larger flight packs (up to 6S lithiums, as well as A123, Nicads, Nimhs, and Lead Acid). The Ion Cube's setup is ideal for charging multiple small packs such as receiver or foamy packs.

[yfz450]

i was looking at the triton2 any thoughts on it iam having a hard time making a deside and want to fly this weekend the shop here in town has the triton to many choices to little time

[yfz450]

	Quote: Originally Posted by yfz450
	i was looking at the triton2 any thoughts on it iam having a hard time making a deside and want to fly this weekend the shop here in town has the triton to many choices to little time

i thought ions were 3.6v per cell making the pack a 7.2v ?

[tailstrike4]

I recently got a triton 2 and when I try to charge my Fromco 2600mah Ion's
it times out after an undetermined time (I haven't timed it)
I set it up to charge again "setup 2600 capisity 7.2v" it will charge for a while then I get a error message again "time out."
I put it in my cube it will cahrge it no problem.

On the triton 2
The charge current will start at .5ma then it will go down and up and down
doesn't stay constant.
I thought Ion's were supposed to charge at a constant current and voltage?
Larry s

[yfz450]

yaeh thats what i thought mine does nt time out just wont fully charge them and my ion batts are 7.4v ? dont get think i am gonna go with duralite batts & charger

[tailstrike4]

my fromco's are 7.4v also but the truton 2 doesn't have an option for 7.4 only 7.2 ?

[Zeeb]

	Quote: Originally Posted by yfz450
	i thought ions were 3.6v per cell making the pack a 7.2v ?

There appears to be a bit of confusion going on here...

The Triton will charge Li-Ion's and Li-Po's through their two lead discharge wires but will not balance charge them. You set the battery type which IIRC is Li-Ion but will do both them and the Polys. Then select the nominal voltage i.e. 7.4 or 11.1 etc. depending on your pack, then select the amperage which should be at 1C max or 2.2 amps on a 2200 mah pack. It'll start slow and gradually build up to the max charge rate, then taper off as it gets close to topping off the battery. The Triton does have a timer function that you can set or disable, if it's timing out then your timer needs to be re-set or turned off.

Now, the 3.6 volts per cell or 7.2 volts per two cell pack that you may have seen referred to is for the new A123 type Lithium batteries. These are referred to by the various companies as "Lithium Ion" which technically they are, but they are actually a Lithium/Iron Nano Phosphate chemistry vs. Lithium/Cobalt Oxide for Li-Po's. Not sure what the chemistry is for those batteries we usually refer to as "Li-Ion".

The Triton WILL NOT charge these batteries, just cook 'em. You'll need a charger with settings for A123 type Lithiums to work. The Fromeco has updates for this type battery, so do many other manufacturers.

The A123's are really starting to get popular as they can discharge continuously at 30% above a Li-Po, 30C with burst capability to 60C without the danger of burning down your house. And they'll charge in 20 minutes or so if your charger can put out enough current. Li-Ion's do not have anywhere near the current discharge capability of either the Li-Po or the A123. The disadvantage to the A123 is weight as you need 4 of those cells to replace the voltage of 3 cell Li-Po's on say a 2200 mah system. So that's the break point on where you can use them. Smaller stuff is still better on Li-Po's if electrically powered.

Now, flight packs are a whole different story. Some guys use Li-Po's, others won't due to the fire danger. Li-Ions are much safer but won't put out the high amperage needed for bigger models with huge servos unless you get a really big mah rating to get enough continuous discharge capability. Also, both Li-Ions and Li-Po's require voltage regulators to cut the power to something the servos can handle. The rx's are okay with the higher voltage in most cases, but the servos don't like it. Some will work but wear out/fail sooner, others just flat get nervous or burn out with that much voltage. A123's don't require regulators as the voltage of a freshly charged pack at 7.2 volts drops quite quickly to it's usual of 6.6 volts and will maintain that voltage for approximately 80% of it's capacity.

Does that clear things up any, or just muddy the waters????