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RC battery charger questions...

I've gotten my hands on a box full of those smart chargers for RC cars etc... They're the Dynamite brand Vision peak and the peak plus pulse chargers for 5-7 cell nicad's(the plus also does nihm.) I'm pretty sure the answer is no but can these chargers be used to charge SLA's? I have several 12v SLA's that I use in various apps and it'd be nice if I could use these chargers to get longer life out of these SLA's. The model #'s are DYN-4045 for the peak and DYN-4046 for the plus model. charge rates are 1 and 4 amps for the plus and 2 and 4 for the standard peak. I believe the volt range is from 5v to as much as 24. These units test for cell # and condition and are twin pulse chargers. If they can't be used for lead acid I can use 'em for what nicads I have.

Reply to
none
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You're assumption was correct, you can't use these chargers for SLA batteries. The charge characteristics, and more importantly, the termination characteristics for SLA cells is much different that NiCd.

Reply to
w2aew

No, SLA's have completely different requirements, the good news is that they're much easier to feed properly, a 12v wall wart will usually do the trick.

Reply to
James Sweet

Thanks, I'll stick with nicad and nimh with these chargers.

Reply to
none

But you have to make sure they can't overcharge, as they can't gas safely like a wet type.

The convention is a 13.8v constant voltage charge.

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    Dave Plowman        dave@davenoise.co.uk           London SW
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Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

No they will not do a 12 volt battery of any type. They are a 120VAC or

12VDC input charger for home or field use. They can be used with a 12 volt SLA or car battery as a power source.

IIRC they can charge 8 cell Ni-Cad or NiMh batteries but no more. Some models only go to 7 cell and do only Ni-Cad cells.

For detailed help call 1-877-0233 and talk to a service technician at Horizon Hobby. He can tell you the specs for the models, may be able to point you to a web page with the instruction booklet.

He probably will not have a schematic or will not release one. Last time I looked these are PIC based chargers. They have a very good record for low return / repair rate at our shop.

The top end models will also do Li-Po cells.

Hugh

Reply to
Hugh Prescott

Thanks for the info. I did manage to find the specs and diagrahms on these yesterday. One will handle any battery up to 16 volts and all cell #s. I was hoping I could mod one to smart charge all my SLA's. More trouble than it's worth though.

Reply to
none

Right I use a 13.4v/1amp wall wart currently. Problem is overcharging. The smart chargers they make for sla's work much like the pulse chargers for denser battery types. start with a pulse peak rate and ramp down during the charge cycle. The better ones will also adjust the charge to form the cells on a weak or sulfated battery and run rapid discharge cycles to increase battery life... Problem is they cost so darn much.(My local supplier's SLA chargers start at 79 bucks and go up.) Using the walwart I'm lucky to get 100 cycles out of a battery rated for as much as 250.(United Battery or Powersonic.)

Reply to
none

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