Hobby chargers-- How to set up and use ?

[z_gray wolf]

Edit to say

I just downloaded the user manual for the Triton 2 EQ and found a lot of information. I didn't know I could do that, Duh. Any info. is appreciated as to my questions.

I will not ask any more until I do more reading. I don't ant to waste the valuable time of our experts.



GW.







I need some info. on the use of a hobby charger. I have done a search and don't seem to find what I need.

Lets say I spend 50-$60.00 on a hobby charger and another 10 or 20 for a brick to run it. I have a bunch of AAA--AA--and D cells,

also some 18650 Li Ion.

Can I use the battery holders like the ones that are used for home made electronic gadgets to hold the batteries ? and then connect the +- wires ?

Lets say one for 4 AAA, one for 4AA , along with one for 2 D cells. The 18650 would be charged as one or perhaps 2 at a time.

I know the hobby charger will deliver V and I (current). But I think it would be up to the user to tell the charger what I wanted in the way of V and I . Along with the time of the charge cycle. Or do they cut off automatically?

I guess my question is:

OK, I get home and unpack the charger, plug in the brick to power it, spread out all the wires and clips, what do I do next to safely charge all my batteries.

How do I tell the charger what I want it to do.



Thank you for any insight and information about this.



Sam---------GW.

 

[KiwiMark]

I need some info. on the use of a hobby charger.

How do I tell the charger what I want it to do.

Hobby chargers are very confusing until you get one and hook it up, then within 5 minutes they are pretty easy to use.

You hook up power and turn it on, you connect a battery and then you use the menus to get to the right settings.
To charge a Li-ion battery - let's say a 2600mAh 18650 cell:
select LiIo or LiPo mode with the 'select' or 'menu' or 'Batt type' button - it'll be the button on the left.
Usually the first option is charge, if not then use the middle two buttons to cycle through the options.
Once you are on LiPo charge you press the right most button and the settings parameters will flash: one press and the amps settings flashes - use the < and > (middle 2) buttons to set it to what you want (maybe 1.3A for the 2.6Ah cell).
Another press of the right most button and the # of cells setting flashes - change this the same way to 1 cell/3.7V.
Then once set you just hold the right most button down for a couple of seconds and the charging starts.

Other settings aren't much different, for NiMH batteries you go to NiMH and charge and set the amps you want then start - the charger knows how to handle it from there.

 

[CKOD]

If youre charging NiMH and NiCD cells in series, they need to be in the same state of charge, or trickle charged ((if the battery supports that, some newer cells have very low trickle charge handling, .01 C or something really low like that))

Oh and if youre going to get a variety of Li-Ion cells that you want to charge 1 or 2 at a time, here is a handy way to connect to the cells

(LiFe PO4 F cell pictured)

No fiddling with spacers, shims, magnets, clips etc, and it gives nice contact pressure. I mainly use that for 18650's one at a time from my IFE2, or for testing purposes. If I had a light that used a bunch of 18650's or other cells at once, I might make a cradle for that.

 

[HKJ]

Check my write up about hobby charges: What is a Hobby Charger
I have included a couple of examples on how to connect LiIon batteries.

 

[pae77]

If you would like to use unsoldered magnets to hook your charger to your batteries, here's a thread that discusses how to do that and has some photos: CandlePowerForums - View Single Post - Turnigy Accucell-6...Am I missing something?