[kyleservicetech]

Originally Posted by C-Three

Sorry if this is a semi-duplicate thread... all the reading of charging large or small LiPos at high or low rates, of various sizes, deep-cycle amp hour ratings, etc. is getting too technical for even my way of thinking. I'd like to short circuit (pun intended) the massive volumes of technical reading and get straight to what the members here think would be a good solution to one particular situation:

We dry-camp at a number of fun-flys throughout the summer season. Length of trips usually runs between 2 and 5 days. I need to charge a variety of packs at the field. On the small side, we're flying a lot of the $.99 ParkZone and HobbyZone micros, and on the big end I've got a few 2,800mAh 4S 14.8V LiPo packs for the CZ Yak. I may go slightly larger in the future, but for the 25% GP Yak I've elected to go gas as the electric setups are just too expen$ive. There are also a variety of ignition and receiver NiCd, LiPo, LiFe, and NiMH packs. To top it all off, I've had to charge both Spektrum and Futaba radios at these events in the past (I've since learned to lock up the Tx and prevent curious 3-year-olds from flipping switches!)

What I'm looking for is a portable hobby-bench AND field charging station/system. A charger (or two) that can do multiple chemistries, and possibly multiple packs at a time... at the fastest possible rate while still maintaining a high degree of safety, balancing, etc. Most of the good computer chargers I'm seeing are DC, so I'm also looking for battery suggestions. Then, while we're dreaming and engineering perfection, how about a 110v inverter or power supply so I can plug the whole mess into the outlet at the bench at home to both recharge the big battery(ies) and use the computer charger(s) on the bench. Cherry on top of all this fluffy icing? Is there some sort of switch (or auto-switch) to use the 110A/C when available (plugged in) or the big battery when the 110 is unplugged?

Discuss and let's see if I can put together a parts list for a build to get this thing together.

Thanks!
-Case

That's kind of a tall order. You're looking at a big deep cycle battery, something on the order of a 70 pound 120 Ampere marine battery, or RV backup battery. Especially if you want to put in several days of flying.

They can be hard to find, but look for a deep cycle battery, not one that is a "Deep Cycle/Engine Starting" type of battery.