EOS 7i Charger

[neweuser]

OK. I received my lipo's today and charger. pretty self explanatory. But what power supply's are you guys using for the charger?
thanks

[BrianG]

I'm using a modded computer power supply. It works well, but I should've gotten one with a higher current 12v rail as it won't let me charge my 14 cell pack at 6A.

[squeeforever]

I use a Novak N-Power.

[MetalMan]

I'm not using that charger, but here's a link to the power supply that I use:
http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bi...A,_5_35A_.html
That's two 12v 30amp power supplies in one unit. They can be detached easily, and they only need 2 pins shorted out to work. For 60amps at $40, it's a STEAL. I already sold the other supply, since 30amps is way more than enough.

[squeeforever]

Yea, the N-Power is way to expensive and I wish I woulda known about stuff like the one Metalman uses...Then again, it was 5 years ago...

[neweuser]

That's nice Metal, but can you find something in a store around the same price? I need to run it so ican charge my lipos, one 2s and one 3s. Thanks guys!]

How do you convert it Metal? Will it do well?

[neweuser]

Would this work? http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=search

[BrianG]

The RadioShack power supply will only work for up to about 40 watts. On the picture, I can see "3/5 Amp". I presume it means it can supply 3A continuous and 5A peaks. You would need a power supply capable of about 150W to be able to fully utilize the 7i charger (it's rated up to 120w).

That PC power supply in MM's link will be about the best thing you'll get for the price. You just have to connect the green wire in the motherboard connector to a ground wire to turn it on.

[rchippie]

This is the radio shack power supply i use. http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=search

[neweuser]

Hey Brian, can you send me pics "of how to" by any chance???? troynelson_672@msn.com

Are there any other mods? Just find the green wire and connect to a black wire or groung it on the side or something?

[BrianG]

Neweuser: I just responded to your PM.

rchippie: Yeah, that is a nice one. A bit pricey, but has plenty of power and should be able to get up to 300w.

[neweuser]

what about this?? http://cgi.ebay.com/Novak-Black-Box-...QQcmdZViewItem

[BrianG]

That one will be right at the edge of the minimum power since it can deliver 108W. The 7i can charge up to 120W. At 108W, the largest Li pack you can charge at ~7A is 4s (actually will be about 6.5A). Or, if you want to charge a 5s pack, you can only charge at about 5A. Charging at a lower current is fine, it will just take longer.

[BrianG]

Here, you can see what I did. The green wire is soldered to a black wire. I also cut the connectors off and soldered a Deans on each rail. I only use 12v (yellow), but the 5v (red) or 3.3v (orange) might come in handy someday. I then re-braided the wires so it looks nice. All the other loose wires are individually folded over and heatshrunk. You'll notice that I actually have two sets of 12v outputs. This PS actually has dual 12v supplies, which is what a lot of current units have now.

This is actually a pretty wimpy looking supply. Most decent ones (Antec, Entec, etc) have beefier guts and probably better performance.

[neweuser]

Ok. This is if i want to charge both packs right? Otherwise, what if i want to charger my packs in single? charge my 2s2p, then charge my 3s2p....would that be better? That box you show looks different than the one that MM has?
But i understand most of what you said. But it sounds like that you're trying to explain that i can do both packs at once? That would be cool!!!