12V battery

hobie

What's the best size 12V battery I should get for use with a 12V Lipo charger ....

Lipo battery itself is 1800 mAh and I would guess be re-charged say 4/5 times max, on a day out ....

I know some of the guys use a regular full size car battery ..... I don't want anything bigger than it has to be ....

T-Maxx

I have a 12v 7Ah sealed lead acid battery for my heli's starter motor which I would think should do the trick.

BUT, why not just use your car's battery? (Comes with a quite handy portable charger as well...;) )

NitroCruiser

I use a 12v 7ah battery also for my heli, nitro car and electric planes and cars. works fine.

hobie

T-Maxx wrote:

I have a 12v 7Ah sealed lead acid battery for my heli's starter motor which I would think should do the trick.

BUT, why not just use your car's battery? (Comes with a quite handy portable charger as well...;) )

good point .... infact I think some chargers actually plug into the car ciggy lighter .....

but ..... :rolleyes:

I've been warned to keep Lipo's and 'real' cars well away from each other ...... danger of explosions and car going up in flames etec etc ....

e.g.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCrzL82fiJ0

coolwings

hobie wrote:

... I've been warned to keep Lipo's and 'real' cars well away from each other ...... danger of explosions and car going up in flames etec etc ....

If treated correctly, it won't happen.
A fully filled fuel tank, filled with model fuel, represents the same kind of danger.
Both contain energy which if released all at once makes a lot of heat, and is therefore a fire hazard.
With the liquid fuel you must avoid leaks, sparks from static, and naked flames.
With a charged lipo you avoid the cheap makes, overcharging, badly balanced packs, and dead shorts.

trudnai

I agree with that, I've always used my car battery, not from the lighter plug though. I attach the charger to the battery directly using crocodile pins therefore everything is outside of my car. But I think a battery never should be charged unattended, the same danger is there when you charge it on your desk. Anyway, I do not use Sony batteries, so I'm pretty much in safe

Tamas

syl77

it may also be important to note that continuous charging of lipos from your car battery will shorten its life span...

loopingfred

Hi ya,
I'm charging my lipos (well, and the radio, gliders and so on on the field , with often 2 chargers at the same time...) from my car battery for the past 3 or 4 years, and so far, no problems.

trudnai

syl77 wrote:

it may also be important to note that continuous charging of lipos from your car battery will shorten its life span...

I assume you mean when you do not use proper charger but connect the battery directly to the car battery? Otherwise I could not see the difference, so that the charger is a high quality one used together with a cell balancer same used at my desk using a 12V PSU?

Cheers,
Tamas

syl77

Sorry, I mean your shortern the CAR batterys life span. Iv see a car battery die first hand from continous charging of a 22.2v 4500mah lipo pack. Your cycling your battery more often, so it will reduce life span.
I have a 12v 4400mah battery that I got from work, and when that goes dead (seldom does), I do tend to pop the hood of the jeep.
Sorry for confussion.....:)