Because of my need for increased energy density I'm moving into Lion and need a charger. After a bit of reading and searching I may :thinking: have the beginnings of a reasonable understanding. To help the next person follows is an attempt to summarize today's Lion charger answer. Or as best I can tell (ya'll been warned). A caution: If you're a true "Newbie" you may be better served by sticking with Nimh or LSD until you've gained some seat time. Otherwise puns below like "where there's smoke there's fire" and "blazed the way" may take on a bit too literal a meaning.
None of the following facts are my own. :wave: Props to the RC community and the candlepower devotees that have blazed the way for us all.
A brief comment on safety: Li based batteries are sitting in chargers being ignored around the globe and around the clock; Laptops in corporate America that never leave the charging cradle to construction trailers with packs in chargers at all times - be assured it's common. I'd also wager they are engineered in some way to protect the user from such abuse.
You, as an experimenter building your own "sets", must at minimum accept the responsibility to be safe. I strongly suggest you use protected cells and chargers known to be safe.
Your first charger:
http://www.flashlightz.com/product.php/pila/bc01-ac01/?product=171829&category=1225
This is the most broadly respected charger of it's size and price point and can be used at home or on the road. Should you outgrow it it's portable nature will ensure you never regret owning it. Yes, I've ignored the truly inexpensive WF-139. Some users of it are happy but others aren't and "where there's smoke, there's fire" is too uncomfortably real to save $30 over.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=254213
You've outgrown the Pila:
May I suggest buying another Pila? If not, the hobby charger is the next move but you'll need to be moderately capable with a dremel and a solder gun. It's not going to be completely simple, but the trail has already been blazed. You're going to be buying a hobby charger, a power supply to plug it into, and probably wiring up a battery holder to put the batteries into so the charger can be connected. I found this helpful:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=161694
What the Sam hill!? Yes, I suppose so. Maybe read it again, and maybe refer to some of the links mentioned in the opening post.
The charger?
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=217567
Hopefully you can read this diagram:
http://www.all-battery.com/tenergytb6balancingchargerfornimhnicdli-poli-fesla-1.aspx
You're going to need to understand what a balancing charger is to make that holder/cradle/caddie (call it what you want). If you see and understand what all 11 wires from the above drawing are doing I think you'll be good to go. One more link to help:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=246963
Once you read and study those links I think you're ready to build the needed caddy. I suppose you could use the magnet only idea. It does make me nervous, but it's also an interesting start. If you do go that way I kinda wonder about an inline DIP package that would allow you to switch off the leads not in use. Course I don't know if they can handle the current needed.
I hope the links and suggestions help you figure it all out. Anybody find better links to add, why have at it.
None of the following facts are my own. :wave: Props to the RC community and the candlepower devotees that have blazed the way for us all.
A brief comment on safety: Li based batteries are sitting in chargers being ignored around the globe and around the clock; Laptops in corporate America that never leave the charging cradle to construction trailers with packs in chargers at all times - be assured it's common. I'd also wager they are engineered in some way to protect the user from such abuse.
You, as an experimenter building your own "sets", must at minimum accept the responsibility to be safe. I strongly suggest you use protected cells and chargers known to be safe. Your first charger:
http://www.flashlightz.com/product.php/pila/bc01-ac01/?product=171829&category=1225
This is the most broadly respected charger of it's size and price point and can be used at home or on the road. Should you outgrow it it's portable nature will ensure you never regret owning it. Yes, I've ignored the truly inexpensive WF-139. Some users of it are happy but others aren't and "where there's smoke, there's fire" is too uncomfortably real to save $30 over.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=254213
You've outgrown the Pila:
May I suggest buying another Pila? If not, the hobby charger is the next move but you'll need to be moderately capable with a dremel and a solder gun. It's not going to be completely simple, but the trail has already been blazed. You're going to be buying a hobby charger, a power supply to plug it into, and probably wiring up a battery holder to put the batteries into so the charger can be connected. I found this helpful:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=161694
What the Sam hill!? Yes, I suppose so. Maybe read it again, and maybe refer to some of the links mentioned in the opening post.
The charger?
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=217567
Hopefully you can read this diagram:
http://www.all-battery.com/tenergytb6balancingchargerfornimhnicdli-poli-fesla-1.aspx
You're going to need to understand what a balancing charger is to make that holder/cradle/caddie (call it what you want). If you see and understand what all 11 wires from the above drawing are doing I think you'll be good to go. One more link to help:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=246963
Once you read and study those links I think you're ready to build the needed caddy. I suppose you could use the magnet only idea. It does make me nervous, but it's also an interesting start. If you do go that way I kinda wonder about an inline DIP package that would allow you to switch off the leads not in use. Course I don't know if they can handle the current needed.
I hope the links and suggestions help you figure it all out. Anybody find better links to add, why have at it.
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