Hi,
I'm just getting started in this hobby, and realized today that my knowledge of batteries needs some work. I'm building a quadrotor and I have purchased the following:
Turnigy Accucel-8150 Balance Charger/Discharger
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__7523__Turnigy_Accucel_8_150W_7A_Balancer_Charger.html
As well as three of these batteries:
Turnigy nano-tech 2200mah 3s 45~90C Lipo pack
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__11951__Turnigy_nano_tech_2200mah_3S_45_90C_Lipo_Pack.html
Today when I went to charge the batteries for the first time, I realized that I have no idea what I'm doing! The charger lets me chose how many amps to charge with, 7 being the highest. I have looked through the document and it looks like the charger suggests that I refer to the battery specifications for what to charge it with... The battery specifications don't clerify anything for me.
I also don't know things like why I would discharge it with the charger, what the balancer does and when to use it, and the difference between charge and fast charge is as well as what implication it may have on the quality of the charge and lifetime of the battery....
Can someone please recommend a good resource where I can go to educate myself on all of these topics? It would be very helpful. :-)
Thanks!
Matt Christenson
Replies
The charger should auto-select this stuff. You should just tell that it you've got a Lipo and select balance charge, then tell it what voltage and capacity. Everything else should be automatic. If it's asking you to pick the amperage, you probably have it on the wrong battery type setting (NiMh rather than LiPo)