Possibly the stupidest question ever!

[gravityguy]

This is probably going to be the most stupid question ever asked but i see no other way of finding out (without going to the shop and looking even more stupid! lol).

I bought a trex 500 and then went to the helicopter shop and bought a tx and rx, along with a charger. All good so far

Now... the batteries for my last heli which was a twister bell could be charged using the mains. The charger that i now have (thunder power) only has a connection to connect to a 12v source. The only 12v source i have (other than on my car) is a spare 12v car battery. Problem is, the connectors on the charger are nowhere near large enough to fit on the + - terminals of the battery??

Am i missing a fundamental point here or is there some other input source that i could use?

Again, apologies for being a total muppet but i have ran out of ideas.

Thanks
Mike

[Boggy]

screw a self tapping screw into each terminal and fasten the clips to them

[Unsung Hero]

Not stupid lol better than powering it up on 240 and a huge bang lol. go to maplins and get a 12 Volt 5 to 10 amp stabilized power supply . Job done cheers J

[gravityguy]

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=219129

Would something like this be suitable?

[gravityguy]

screw a self tapping screw into each terminal and fasten the clips to them

If using the car battery method with the self tapping screws, does the car battery need to stay on charge whilst the lipo battery is charging? i read somwhere that if it wasnt then the car battery will soon die?

Thanks for the help so far

[Unsung Hero]

Yes it would but over complicated see the one i have
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CB-RADIO-5-7-A...2em118Q2el1247

[Boggy]

If using the car battery method with the self tapping screws, does the car battery need to stay on charge whilst the lipo battery is charging? i read somwhere that if it wasnt then the car battery will soon die?

Thanks for the help so far

no just charge it up at regular intervals

[brin]

This is probably going to be the most stupid question ever asked but i see no other way of finding out (without going to the shop and looking even more stupid! lol).

I bought a trex 500 and then went to the helicopter shop and bought a tx and rx, along with a charger. All good so far

Now... the batteries for my last heli which was a twister bell could be charged using the mains. The charger that i now have (thunder power) only has a connection to connect to a 12v source. The only 12v source i have (other than on my car) is a spare 12v car battery. Problem is, the connectors on the charger are nowhere near large enough to fit on the + - terminals of the battery??

Am i missing a fundamental point here or is there some other input source that i could use?

Again, apologies for being a total muppet but i have ran out of ideas.

Thanks
Mike

if it was me i would just change the crocodile clips for bigger ones at least thats the ones i think you are refering to

[gravityguy]

Right, thanks for your help everyone. I think i'm going to put some self tapping screws in the car battery and use that. Cheapest option at the minute i think. I'll look at getting one of those 12a power supplies at a later date (ie when the other half has half forgotten how much i've spent so far.

Regards
Mike

[richieclarkie]

Personally I'd charge off your car for now with crock clips and then buy one of these.

http://www.aurorra.co.uk/aurv2/productDetails.php?id=19

Quite a few of the members use these and Mike at Aurrora is a very helpful.

Most model shops can also supply you with cheaper 12 volt power supplies. J Perkins do a 10a 12v power supply too. It's not amazing but it works.

[gravityguy]

Personally I'd charge off your car for now with crock clips and then buy one of these.

http://www.aurorra.co.uk/aurv2/productDetails.php?id=19

Quite a few of the members use these and Mike at Aurrora is a very helpful.

Most model shops can also supply you with cheaper 12 volt power supplies. J Perkins do a 10a 12v power supply too. It's not amazing but it works.

Thanks, will do.

i now have another problem. The charger i bought was a thunder power charger (TP-610). Ive come to connect my lipo up but it doesnt seem to fit any of the connections that go into the balancer. There are also 2 'output' sockets but there are no other leads in the box. The manual is pretty useless unless you already know what you're doing!

Do you have to have thunder power batteries to use a thunder power charger? If so i'll be very annoyed with the shop as they didn't mention this.

People have said that you need a lot of patients with helicopters but i never thought it would have anything to do with chargers and batteries! lol

Mike

[handthrottle]

Hi all
How many 'amps' do you really need to charge a battery using a power supply, I use cellpro4s. I know people recommend this and that (propeak/Aurrora /even computer power supplies), 40amp 60amp etc but what is a nice middle of the range power supply??
(sorry to hi jack thread).

[waveydavey]

The Cellpro 4 requires a 5A/100% duty cycle supply as this is all it will supply for charging. Hope this helps

[gramey]

This is what I use, it's 240v - 13.8v power supply with a continuous 20A rating, I've used one for years as I originally had it for electric touring car racing.

http://www.f1hobbies.com/shop.php?id=588

They do a twin outlet one for £10.00 more although I've got banana plugs on my charger which you can push a second set through and connect something else as well if you want.

[chugga-bug]

i now have another problem. The charger i bought was a thunder power charger (TP-610). Ive come to connect my lipo up but it doesnt seem to fit any of the connections that go into the balancer. There are also 2 'output' sockets but there are no other leads in the box. The manual is pretty useless unless you already know what you're doing!

Do you have to have thunder power batteries to use a thunder power charger? If so i'll be very annoyed with the shop as they didn't mention this.

Unfortunately there isn't a standardised connector used on lipos. What you need is an adaptor board/cable. Best bet is to ring one of the bigger shops (any of the advertisers on here will do), tell them what batteries you've got, and ask them for an adapter to go with your TP charger.