auzzie
New Member
NRPH and Fairlawn forever...
Posts: 523
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Post by auzzie on Apr 11, 2014 11:38:03 GMT -5
I have a Hobbico AC/DC Auto Charger 900 that has clamps to attach to a car battery from the looks of it. Could I attach the charger to my Jeep's battery for a few minutes to top off my battery? If I can, how should I do it? Take the clamps off the battery then attach the charger's clamps or what?
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Post by Gunslinger on Apr 11, 2014 16:00:19 GMT -5
You should be able to just clamp the appropriet colored wires to the terminals and it should be fine. Don't just "top off" your battery though if it is a nicad battery you will create memory in the battery and thus shorten the life of the battery. If it is a lipo battery you will mess up the battery the same type of way. You are supposed to totally discharge a battery before you charge it other wise you can ruin the battery.
But to answer your question you can just toss the positive clamp on the positive terminal and neg. on the neg. terminal and let it run the cycle of the battery, be careful not to turn your jeep on unless the chargers manual says its ok because you might pop the charger. When your vehicle is running the charging system send back 14 volts or there a bouts to charge the vehicles battery. But some are safe to work that way.
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Post by X on Apr 11, 2014 18:58:50 GMT -5
NiCD/NiMH batteries should be discharged but LiPos should not be. Topping the battery off won't hurt it if you discharge/charge when you get home. If you NEVER fully discharge a NiMH or NiCD then you will start running into the memory issue.
When you attach your charger just leave the car connected if you disconnect it you will likely loose all your radio presets and any other settings your in your cars electronics. It won't hurt anything really but I would never do it without a good reason as it resets everything.
Sent from my XT1080 using proboards
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Post by dizzyshot (Bad Company) on Apr 11, 2014 19:11:08 GMT -5
Sorry to thread jack for a minute, but I always thought you only needed to discharge NiCD's? Or are you guys saying it needs to be discharged because he's using his car battery?
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Post by Pagan on Apr 11, 2014 19:26:51 GMT -5
Sorry to thread jack for a minute, but I always thought you only needed to discharge NiCD's? Or are you guys saying it needs to be discharged because he's using his car battery? NiCD/NiMH batteries should be discharged but LiPos should not be. Topping the battery off won't hurt it if you discharge/charge when you get home. If you NEVER fully discharge a NiMH or NiCD then you will start running into the memory issue. He's saying they should be, but if the OP wants to top them off for use at an event, then discharge when he gets home it would be fine. |
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auzzie
New Member
NRPH and Fairlawn forever...
Posts: 523
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Post by auzzie on Apr 11, 2014 23:41:45 GMT -5
It's one of those simple 15 minute quick chargers. I am just trying to figure out how I can keep my batteries filled up at No Limits next weekend. I'm planning to convert to lipos soon because they will last much longer. But that's not going to be for anytime soon.
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Post by Pagan on Apr 12, 2014 6:14:54 GMT -5
It's one of those simple 15 minute quick chargers. I am just trying to figure out how I can keep my batteries filled up at No Limits next weekend. I'm planning to convert to lipos soon because they will last much longer. But that's not going to be for anytime soon. Unless you're using incredibly low MAH, your batteries should last a days play. If you fully charge them the night/morning before and have to worry about them making it through a 7-8 hour day, you really need to get new batteries. |
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Post by Gunslinger on Apr 15, 2014 15:16:34 GMT -5
I thought I read some place you need to cycle the lipos down to .03 Millieamps to keep them up to par. Maybe I read wrong. But I have read it's good to fully cycle all batteries to keep them at peak performance. I didn't think it was good to just top off any type of battery.
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Post by Tank on Apr 15, 2014 17:59:23 GMT -5
It is bad to run a LiPo battery down too low. You run the risk of permanently damaging your battery. If you ever do run it down real low, your only chance of saving the battery is to charge it immediately.
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Post by cqbr on Apr 15, 2014 19:41:55 GMT -5
Not to offend you, but that Hobbico charger is pretty bad considering the lack of features you're getting for the high price. (Given it'll only do NiCad packs according to the manual)
If you're planning on getting yourself some LiPo's in the future you'll wanna look into getting a 5-7A charger with a balancer built in for your NiCad, NiMh, and LiPo/LifePo cells. Something like that will give you the options and ''topping off'' features you're wanting in a charger. That and they're very affordable for $20-50 depending on the model/brand you choose.
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auzzie
New Member
NRPH and Fairlawn forever...
Posts: 523
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Post by auzzie on Apr 15, 2014 23:41:20 GMT -5
I got the hobbico years ago when my dad and I did r/c boats. Didn't know anything about them. I'm planning to get a new one soon. I just want to make sure I can keep my batteries charged this Saturday.
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Post by guitardrumr on Apr 16, 2014 4:09:32 GMT -5
I thought I read some place you need to cycle the lipos down to .03 Millieamps to keep them up to par. Maybe I read wrong. But I have read it's good to fully cycle all batteries to keep them at peak performance. I didn't think it was good to just top off any type of battery. Lithium based batteries do not like being pulled below 3.2V/cell. Doing so once or twice on occasion probably won't do much damage, but doing so repeatedly will damage the battery and potentially cause the cells to 'puff'. Once the cells have puffed, you should monitor the battery closely during charging and use, and should be disposed of if they show any sign of heating up (typically, Lithium batteries do not become more than faintly warm to the touch, even under load or when charging). However, Lithium chemistry shows none of the cell memory issues that Nickel batteries do. Topping them off will not cause any issue. They should, however, be discharged/charged to nominal voltage (4.2V/cell) for long term storage (anything more than a week or so). NiCd batteries will form really bad cell memory if not discharged fully before each charge (though as stated earlier, once won't hurt it if a full discharge is done later to stop the cell memory). There is also an old trick to help get rid of cell memory. Run down the charge on the battery till it hits the cell memory (where it will seem to suddenly 'dump' it's charge, and lose power), let it cool at room temp, then toss in the freezer for an hour or so. Let it warm up to room temp, then charge as normal. Should help to bring back old cells, and eliminate some cell memory. NiMh will also form cell memory, but is more resistant to it than NiCd. Typically, as long as they are fully discharged every few charges, topping them off won't do any harm. If they do form cell memory, the same freezer trick should bring them back. |
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