Power supply for Lipo Charger

Good questions.
E-mail the manufacturer, there is no point in trying to guess. One bad judgment call can cause a fire........

sweetdiesel said:

I have an Apache 2020 lipo charger and plan on charging a 3S 1200mah battery.....

Click to expand...

The power supply will be fine to power the lipo charger but don't even think about charging directly from the power supply. Basically the charger will use what it needs. Other functions post minimal draw. I use a powergate 15 amp P.S. for all my charging.

Charge at 1C (1x capacity) or less for lipos, use **only** lipo chemistry chargers. for a 1200 mah this is 1.2 amps or LESS.Do not charge through the power jack, charge through the taps which does individual cell charging. Cell balance is so much more important with lipos than any other chemistry. If you have the ability to set voltage, the voltage should equal the cell count:
1S 3.7
2S 7.4
3S 11.1
4S 14.8

The absolute best setup I've found for 2-4S lipos is offered by Common Sense RC. They have a lipo charger for $89 that balance charges 1, 2, 3, and 4S packs. Plug 'em in, choose amperage at or less than capacity, and go. My test show all packs to be perfectly balanced at the end of a charge.

Second to that (actually better, but more expensive) is the Hyperion LBA6 balance charger/discharger. The LBA balance discharges packs as a standalone unit and when connected to any lipo-capable charger balance charges them. The LBA6 can handle up to 6 amps (I think) and charges 1-5S packs. I use it connected to a Dynamite VisionPeak.

At any rate after a run, any lipo cells should have no less than 3.6 volts per cell (I shoot for 3.7, this equates to 3.0 under load) and should be within .01 volts of each other. When they start to go out of balance they are being overdischarged and this can lead to puffed packs and fires.

I know it's a different charger but I believe the ICE states that it requires a power supply capable of 14 amp to charge LiPo's. HTH

Thanks for the info gentlemen. I'm waiting for a reply from BPP (the Apache distributor) as a double check, but based upon your posted info I'm leaning towards getting a beefier power supply. Better safe than sorry.

I've been using the Dynamite Vision Peak Ultra charger for the past year or more without incident. It was the best at the time without breaking the piggy bank.

http://www.dynamiterc.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=DYN4053

Don't fool around with guess-work this time, do as Eddy suggested and contact the manufacturer.

Here is the reply I received from Troy at Bishop Power Products

"3 amps is the recommended minimum so it sounds like your power supply will work just fine. Remember to always charge in a non-flammable container like a large ceramic bowl or Battery Bunker when charging inside for safety precautions."

I'm going to use the radio shack power supply for now, since my batteries are 1200mah that will be charged at 1.2 amps max. In the future if I decide to upgrade my packs to higher mahs, I will pursue getting a larger power supply.