I need a field charging setup

[skillett]

I know ths is old thread, but I've bought a small gas generator from Harbor Freight. Plan on using for field use charging batteries. Just got to get the energy to get it out of the box and start it up. Looking like for handling one man will do. Plan on sitting on ground, to reduce vibration, maybe a small table to set charger, and a cooler for soft drinks and ice.

[MikeT]

The Harbor freight Tailgator is a noisy little thing. They work, You have to carefully maintain (and often repair it) the engine or it doesn't last. And do not expect it to survive long if you are demanding max rated power output from it.
Use it one year and expect to throw it away.

The Honda of about the same size is a MUCH better generator. It costs more, but its worth it. Quieter, more powerful and more reliable. They can last many years.

The Harbor Freight one is "disposable" ( as with most of the stuff they sell) saw way too many just die after a few uses. That's why I went with the Marine Battery.

Mike.

[fhhuber]

I was at Harbor freight this weekend and spotted this guy.

https://www.harborfreight.com/900-Max-Starting700-Running-Watts-2-HP-63cc-2-Cycle-Gas-Generator-EPACARB-63025.html

Very small! I would have tried it, but I have a 2300 watt ryobi that I used for fields with no electricity.

The Harbor freight Tailgator is a noisy little thing. They work, You have to carefully maintain (and often repair it) the engine or it doesn't last. And do not expect it to survive long if you are demanding max rated power output from it.
Use it one year and expect to throw it away.

The Honda of about the same size is a MUCH better generator. It costs more, but its worth it. Quieter, more powerful and more reliable. They can last many years.

[DaleP]

I was at Harbor freight this weekend and spotted this guy.

https://www.harborfreight.com/900-Max-Starting700-Running-Watts-2-HP-63cc-2-Cycle-Gas-Generator-EPACARB-63025.html

Very small! I would have tried it, but I have a 2300 watt ryobi that I used for fields with no electricity.

[OV10]

Thanks for your primer on batts and amps, I ought to be able to buy what I need now. One more question; can I charge a deep cycle marine battery with a regular battery charger such as one would find at an auto parts store or do I need something bigger? And again, thanks for your help! Bill

Any of the new technology automotive battery chargers can and do well on charging automatically lead acid and AGM(absorbent glass mat) constructed batteries.
ffhubber's comment regarding low amp charge rates to these batteries is more in line to the basis of charging Lithium where high current charge rates can be damaging.
The plate construction of lead acid/AGM batteries is designed for charge currents much higher than the average 25A charger sold at department stores.
The alternator on boats will put out 75+ amps.;)
ffhubers's recommendation of the Schumacher is a really good recommendation. Let it loose at the 15A charge rate and a couple hours later a half drained 60Ah marine battery is back to full capacity.
The recommended B&D is only a 1.2A max charge and would take 24 hrs+ to bring the same 60Ah battery back to full potential. It is essentially a "maintainer" type charger.
Another equivalent 15A charger to the Schumacher that I have been using for 5 years now is the Stanley.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/STANLEY-15-Amp-Battery-Charger-with-40-Amp-Engine-Start-BC15BS/38243759

Both of these chargers have a good healthy high rate charge capability as well as the ability to switch to a maintenance level charge when done with the high power charge.
Bottom line............no fear on using a regular battery charger acquired at a auto parts or department store.:Cool:

[MikeT]

This is what I've been using for the last 3 years. 18 bucks at Pep Boys.

Mike

[fhhuber]

Depends how fast you want t charge the deep cycle. I recommend generally using 5 amp rate. They can take higher but it can be hard on the battery.

Also an automatic charger that changes to a low "trickle" rate is good.

The charger I use for my boat's deep cycle battery (and as needed for car or lawn tractor) is discontinued
Closest I can find : https://www.walmart.com/ip/Schumache...rger/563031222

Higher rate is available, but that is for getting the car started if you left the lights on.

[Bill Wakeley Jr.]

Thanks for your primer on batts and amps, I ought to be able to buy what I need now. One more question; can I charge a deep cycle marine battery with a regular battery charger such as one would find at an auto parts store or do I need something bigger? And again, thanks for your help! Bill

[MikeT]

Mike...........your comments are ambiguous with regard to providing insight to those that have little/no electrical understanding of what to acquire for a reliable field charging setup.
The reason I say this is because the important factor to consider is the amperage drawn on the battery charging system, the voltage of the Lipo is of no relative concern.
You say you do 10 to 12 6S but don't indicate what Amp size. If they are say 5000mAh packs, that equates to 50-60Ah(Amp hour) of drain on the deep cycle marine.
Most standard marine batts fall into a BCI group category of 24M which is equiv in physical size of a average car battery.
A $100 version is in the 550CCA (ColdCrankingAmp) range. This number is more relevant to short burst starting currents.
The more important number on the marine battery is the Deep Cycle Capacity which again in the $100 version runs on average 65-75Ah.
As fhhuber indicated earlier, you can not repeatedly draw down a deep cycle without causing damage.
The voltage on the marine battery will drop off to 10.5 - 11.5vdc at 75% draw down of it's Deep Cycle Capacity.
Most high capacity (4S or greater) chargers will usually shutdown/error code when the input voltage gets to those voltage levels.
I'm not a wagering person but I gotta believe that you have yourself a pretty pricy marine battery with much higher deep cycle capacities.
I also have a kick butt high capacity marine deep cycle that is in the $300 range but I also have a brother that is in the battery business where I get a get a "family" rate. ;)

So to sum this up for those wondering, a $100 price range deep cycle marine will get you about 8-10 charges on a 5000mAh Lipo or approx. 20 charges on 2500mAh.
I tried not to get too techy here, so hope this helps those inquiring minds that have a DC powered charger.

I can charge all day long at 2 or 3 C with my set up but always do 1C to increase the life of my batteries. I dropped $275 on my battery and would do it again tomorrow. As far as explaining the technical side of this I'm no expert and will let you handle that. I've found most don't understand it anyway. They just care about the results.That's on thing I've learned from the few days a week I spend at the LHS helping others with these kinda questions. "Don't give me the labor pains just give me the baby" basically sums it up how 99% view it..

Mike

[rifleman_btx]

I just went to harbor freight and bought a tailgater generator for my field ops, nice and small fits well in the trunk along side the planes and gear, will run all day. Generator is for $90:) just get the 2 stroke mix fuel and rock on.

[OV10]

"or a few charges of 12S 5000 mah."

I've done 10 to 12 6S charges every time I go out on my set up and sure I could get more. My Hyperion 720i duo can do 2- 6S @ 1amp.all day long After 3 years of heavy use my Deep Cycle is still going strong. While a bit pricey it's well worth it.

Mike

Mike...........your comments are ambiguous with regard to providing insight to those that have little/no electrical understanding of what to acquire for a reliable field charging setup.
The reason I say this is because the important factor to consider is the amperage drawn on the battery charging system, the voltage of the Lipo is of no relative concern.
You say you do 10 to 12 6S but don't indicate what Amp size. If they are say 5000mAh packs, that equates to 50-60Ah(Amp hour) of drain on the deep cycle marine.
Most standard marine batts fall into a BCI group category of 24M which is equiv in physical size of a average car battery.
A $100 version is in the 550CCA (ColdCrankingAmp) range. This number is more relevant to short burst starting currents.
The more important number on the marine battery is the Deep Cycle Capacity which again in the $100 version runs on average 65-75Ah.
As fhhuber indicated earlier, you can not repeatedly draw down a deep cycle without causing damage.
The voltage on the marine battery will drop off to 10.5 - 11.5vdc at 75% draw down of it's Deep Cycle Capacity.
Most high capacity (4S or greater) chargers will usually shutdown/error code when the input voltage gets to those voltage levels.
I'm not a wagering person but I gotta believe that you have yourself a pretty pricy marine battery with much higher deep cycle capacities.
I also have a kick butt high capacity marine deep cycle that is in the $300 range but I also have a brother that is in the battery business where I get a get a "family" rate. ;)

So to sum this up for those wondering, a $100 price range deep cycle marine will get you about 8-10 charges on a 5000mAh Lipo or approx. 20 charges on 2500mAh.
I tried not to get too techy here, so hope this helps those inquiring minds that have a DC powered charger.

[Alpha]

Honda generators are nice!

Another way to price out the problem is cost vs convenience. At Apollo in California, there are charging stations we use, so we're lucky in that regard. But here in China, we figured that for the cost of a generator, we could just buy more batteries, enough to fly our entire testing afternoon. It's easier to cart out more batteries to the test field, fly them until they're all dead and the sun has gone down, then drive back to base and recharge them in wall sock power. I recognize that's a rather specific use case, but it works.

In a pinch, I've never charged larger than a 4s 4000 on my van's battery. But as MikeT pointed out, it really depends on the quality of your battery and if it's that important to you to get that one last flight. If you're a club at your car battery dies, you can get a jump start from a buddy. But if you're out on the salt flats flying all alone 5 miles off the interstate, I personally wouldn't risk it.

[MikeT]

"or a few charges of 12S 5000 mah."

I've done 10 to 12 6S charges every time I go out on my set up and sure I could get more. My Hyperion 720i duo can do 2- 6S @ 1amp.all day long After 3 years of heavy use my Deep Cycle is still going strong. While a bit pricey it's well worth it.

Mike

[fhhuber]

Hi Mike. Thanks for the input. So, you hook up your charger to a marine battery with alligator clips? I just bought a Kia Serento and it has 12 volt hookups everywhere. Can anything you know of plug into these?

What to use depends on what you need.

The plugs in your Kia :
The power outlet is designed to provide power for mobile telephones or other ... Only use 12V electric accessories which are less than 10A in electric capacity.
(That is better than most other automotive power ports I have checked)

A typical deep cycle marine battery is 120 amp-hr, 12V nominal. If you consistently drain it below 50% you are damaging the plates.
You can do a lot of charges of 3S 2200 mah packs from that, or a few charges of 12S 5000 mah.

Your car battery is lower capacity and is made for short burst current, not deep discharge, so it will give far fewer charges without being damaged.

Connecting the charger directly to the battery is usually preferred, because any length of wire acts as a resistor at high current and you can find your charge rate limited by the resulting voltage drop.

[MikeT]

Hi Mike. Thanks for the input. So, you hook up your charger to a marine battery with alligator clips? I just bought a Kia Serento and it has 12 volt hookups everywhere. Can anything you know of plug into these?

Yep alligator clips are fine. I don't advocate using your car battery's system. Those batteries just aren't designed for that and can't take it especially during the summer heat. I killed 2 car batteries using them to charge lipo's.
Mike

[Bill Wakeley Jr.]

I use a deep cycle marine battery. Has all the power I need and I don't have to worry about killing my car battery..

Mike

Hi Mike. Thanks for the input. So, you hook up your charger to a marine battery with alligator clips? I just bought a Kia Serento and it has 12 volt hookups everywhere. Can anything you know of plug into these?

[MikeT]

I use a deep cycle marine battery. Has all the power I need and I don't have to worry about killing my car battery..

Mike

[Bill Wakeley Jr.]

Okay, I'm at the field and I need to charge my batteries. I pop the hood and then what? I have a short cable that plugs into the back of my Dynamite Prophet Sport Plus. I can plug this this cable in and hook the alligator clips to the field battery in my field box and all the lights come on and everything seems to be working. (12 volt battery - I have 2...) . Is it enough juice to power my charger? Can I simply plug my charger to my car battery with out some sort of regulator? I have a $89 generator I bought from Harbor Freight, loud as hell and not very reliable. Should I use that? Do I need to buy a car battery strictly for my charger? I'm sinking here guys. It's sunny and 75 with light winds - I want to fly all day but need a little coaching. Any thrifty reliable sources of charge anywhere in this paragraph?

[NoDirt!]

This is no Honda, but it's about the cheapest you can find.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sportsman...hoCtvYQAvD_BwEl[/URL]

These can be had at Home Depot when they're on sale for $180. There is three of us at my field using these. I had to return my first one, but my second one is working fine and the other two guys have had no issues for the past couple years.

Paired with a new Christmas gift, a Pulse PLC400D charger, it makes for a easy to transport and set up charging station.

[davecee]

I like the way ASECERTIFIED is doing it but sources are telling me that the only way to get the best performance out of my charger [406 DUO charging twin 6s 5300 packs] is to get a 30+ volt supply. I have wired up servo power supplies for 24v but not seen anything greater available. I'm shopping 2200watt inverter generators but would really appreciate an alternate idea....just don't want to deal with the generator if I don't have to......ideas?

I prefer a generator to a storage battery for field charging where AC power is not available. I own Honda 1000 watt unit that has been flawless.

You don't need 2200 watts for that. Simultaneously charging two 6S, 5300 mah packs at 2C requires less than 600 watts by the numbers, although some head room is preferable. A 1000 watt inverter generator, and a 24 volt power supply will do the jobnicely

This is no Honda, but it's about the cheapest you can find.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sportsman...hoCtvYQAvD_BwE

24 volt power supply at a reasonable price
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-...vdc-50amp.html