I just read that Astroflight is coming out with an A123 Blinky balancer and a 109 charger that will support A123 cells (not sure on the specifics, though).

that will make brian happy!

Me too! I was planning on getting the AF-109 soon, and doing a certain hardware hack to it that would cause it to charge to 3.6v/cell. But if this can be done through software in a way that won't void the warranty, then I'm all for it :D.

So these M1 cells must be pretty good to go through all this eh?

Newe: If you already have resistors on there, it's probably enough. You generallay want to draw about 1A or a tad more. Just be sure you size them appropriately to take the heat!

Well, now that I know the LBA10 will balance the M1's OK, I really don't need another balancer. Whatever charger I get will have a high cell count capability (10s), high current charge (~10A), able to have an adjustable peak v (for any future chemistries), and higher power limit (preferably about 400w).

I would love to send you a pic of the inside, i know there are adjusters (2 I believe) but my camera sucks at close ups. Anywho, my resistors are about a 1/2 inch apart and right under the fan on the PS. So I think they are ok. If I add one to another set of 5v lines, would that hurt anything?
The 989 can do 10s and has the 10amp PS, I know that it's not adjustable though. You are looking for an adjustable PS?

Brian, you're going to need to spend at least $350 for a charger with a 400W output. But at that point it might be more worth it to get a lab-quality CC/CV variable-voltage variable-current power supply. You could get something like a 30v 20amp one for less than the cost of a 400W charger.

Yeah, I figured, but why is that? There's not much different from a 120w charger and a 400w charger except bigger wire, a couple extra turns on the step-up coil/transformer, a few extra support components, and a couple extra FETs for the current handling. :sigh: I guess I'm electronically jaded. It's rare that I buy something electronic and not disgusted at the quality to price ratio when I take it apart.

The advantages of a dedicated charger vs a CC/CV power supply are pack memory functions, the algorithm to verify cell count, the auto switchover from CC to CV for Li batts, peak detection for Ni batts, etc. The closest charger I've seen that meets my wishes is the TP1010D.

Just because I have a pic doesn't mean I know which one does what. I'm not a god you know. :dft012: One of my converted PS units had two pots. What I did is attach a meter to the 12v line and S L O W L Y turned one of the pots and watched for a change in voltage. If there was none, I returned the pot back to the exact setting it was at before I adjusted it. In my case, one pot was an adjustment for the voltages (it adjusted them all up or down a few hundred mV), the other I still don't know what it does.

A CC/CV power supply will automatically switch from CC to CV like many chargers do (like the ICE). This is just another option for you that is the cheapest way. Several of the LiPo-experienced airplane guys do this as a way to get past the (relatively) low wattage of commercial chargers.

Here's another charger, it's possibly the best for it's price:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=592368
$300 is a lot, so maybe you would end up spending at least $450 for a 400watt charger.

While I'd actually love a power supply like that for other uses besides battery charging, it doesn't have some of the features found in dedicated chargers. I think I'll just wait. My current charger has its issues, but it does do the job.

I was looking at the Xtrema charger and while at the website, entered in the drawing for a free charger. Shortly after entering, I got an email for a coupon to get this charger for $189. It's pretty tempting. It doesn't have the exact specs I was looking for, but it's still pretty good.

Anyone here have this charger? From what I've read at RCGroups, it seems pretty nice. I like the future proof firmware updates.

It would have been nice if it had a NiMH capacility though. Lipos have a CC charge cycle, so the base functionality is there...

EDIT: Where's MetalMan tonight??

Brian, you can get the Xtrema from Tower Hobbies for $189. Then, Tower Hobbies has a $15 off deal if you spend $150-200.

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXMUL4&P=7
http://www.towerhobbies.com/

I sure wouldn't mind getting this charger for $170 :D. Only problem is, I don't have any money for it :019:.

Working at the LHS, then prepping my $5 TC4 to take in to work tomorrow.

Seems like a nice charger.

How many watts can it do?

On their website they say it can charge at 4000ma max at 10 cells. From that, it can put out about 170watts.