LiPo Charger Confusion

[JonHC]

Hello everybody!

I'm looking for a bit of advice regarding my LiproPlus5 battery charger. At the moment it is being powered by a 12v 4.2 amp adapter which charges and balances an 11.1v 1800mah 3 cell LiPo battery in just over an hour. I have read that ideally I should have a minimum of 10amps of power running into the charger.

The labels on both my batteries state that the charge current should not exceed 1 amp so my question is, if the maximum amp output I can use is 1 amp, what difference does it make whether I use a 4.2 amp or a 10 amp input?

If I should be using a 10amp minimum adapter, does anyone know where I can get one for less than the £28 I keep seeing online? I've already paid £40 for the charger!

I know nothing about the physics of electricity but I'm sure it will be a no-brainer to someone here!

Thanks everyone.

Jon

[waveydavey]

If you were to charge the battery at 1C it would take 1.8amps from your supply. I wouldn't worry about it what you've got is fine.

[JonHC]

Thanks for your help. So having a bigger adapter won't speed up the charge process?

[ddracer]

No it's not how much current it will supply It how much current you can draw through it. So as long as you packs are no bigger than 4200mha and you try to charge at 1c you will be fine. The only way to speed it up is to charge at greater than 1c but be careful some cells will, others burst in to flames and burn your house down.....

[JonHC]

Good stuff. So am I ok to set my charger to charge at 1.8amp rather than just 1.0amp without calling the fire brigade out?