simple lipo and charger questions
 

i sent the following email to alex@maxamps and am waiting for a reply. just thought i'd copy and paste it to hear to see what some of you guys think. these are some of the questions that i've searched for alot and still can't find , so pleas edon't say "do a search!" thanks

HERES THE EMAIL I SENT:

Hi i just had a few questions b/c i'm looking order a bunch of stuff from yall soon. First, i would like to run a 4s Lipo in my 1/8 brushless truggy. Was going to get probably a 5000 or 6000 mah 14.8 from yall. My question is, i was looking also to get the Hyperion EOSO610 DC charger from yall too.. but what power supply would be good for that?? Can it just be a 12 volt 10 amp max?? I guess my question is, how do you figure out what kind of output your power supply needs to make to meet the charger's requirements?? I was looking to find a power supply under or around $100m, so if you have any ideas can you steer me in the right direction. Second question is, and i have read alot about LIPO's and safety, but after a day of running my truggy where i've recharged the lipo maybe 3 or 4 times, what do i need to do? I know not to let them go below 3.0 volts per cell, and the ESC has the cutoff for that. My question is, after my ESC hits the LIPO cutoff on my last run and i am done running for the day, do i need to put like a half charge in it for the night, or maybe for the next 4 or 5 days? I don't run my cars everyday ya know, so i just can't find an answer on how to store them for about a week or less w/o letting the voltage drop below the damage level. Last question and i swear i'm done, what if i wanted to charge two 6cell NiMH batt's on the EOSO610 charger? Could i use the parallel deans connector that yall sell to hook both of the batteries up to the charger and just call it a 12 cell 5000mah (if thats what they were) and it would charge? Sorry this turned into such a long questionaire.. i just couldn't find these answers anywhere. Thanks you greatly for your time.

To charge 2 6 nimh cell packs as 12 cells you need a series adapter.

I would charge your packs to at least 50% after you run if you plan to let them sit for a while. I fully charge my packs after a run. Lipos do not drop voltage very fast, so they are usually ok for a few days. I would raise the lvc to 3.2v per cell. Gives you addl protection and will not affect runtime by more than 1min, probably less.

Neither of the 2 maxamps packs you mentioned will survive an 1/8 brushless truggy. If you must use maxamps stick with their 8000 14.8v pack... I would buy a polyquest 6000 14.8v myself. Maxamps have good advertising and ok products, much better stuff out there...

And if you want to charge those 4s 6Ah packs at the normal settings, the power supply you'll need is at least 14A at 12v (figuring in charger efficiency and a little extra headroom). To utilize the full 250w limit of that charger (for any future packs down the road), you'll need a 12v power supply capable of around 26A.

Listen to the Pimp! I have run MaxAmps until the past month, there are def much better batteries out there in the same price bracket, just look around. Go here http://scriptasylum.com/rc_speed/_top_speed.html this is a VERY useful tool. On the left hand side there is a link for lithium battery chargers. This will help you to choose a power supply for your charger, I'm guessing the OFNA 18 Amp would be a suitable supply and can be found at decent prices. Not sure if Neumotors.com is still having a sale on their batteries but if so I highly recomend them, they are Enerland based cells which are considered to be the best. MaxAmps is a good source for the charger and connectors, but if your serious about this hobby stay away from there batteries till they come out with something better.

thanks for the info! Keep it coming b/c i'm learning stuff! I've had nitro for like the past 8 years on and off so all thing electric are pretty new to me.