Originally Posted by everydayflyer

Yes a EU2000i

Charles

Congratulations! You did it!

Will you be using it for field charging or will you still be using your Pb setup?

I logged about 200 hours on my EU2000i during Sandy. I get about 9 hours on a gallon in Eco mode.

newTOpro, depending on your needs it could very well be that a smaller 25Ah or so AGM would serve your needs.

Since you posted that you have plenty of trunk space a flooded cells Deep Cycle inside of a marine type battery holder may be the most practicel cost wise.
A flooded cells Deep Cyle of approx. 125Ah is around $90 while a 48Ah AGM is close to $200

I used two 125Ah flooded cells ones for over 5 years and I used them a lot more in 5 years than most would in 10 years or more. One point however is that an AGM tends to live alot longer in years than a flloded cells does. The AGM in my Generac generator is 10 years old and still works fine but then I never deep discharge it either. Generator starts in under 5 seconds and battery gets recharged righ away just like a typical car starting battery.
Charles

With a total electric house & well of 400'.

A 5.5 KW & a 17.5 KW Generac keep the LIPOs charged.
I used $ 550 of gasoline during Sandy in 9 days.

Originally Posted by Ohmic

Congratulations! You did it!

Will you be using it for field charging or will you still be using your Pb setup?

I logged about 200 hours on my EU2000i during Sandy. I get about 9 hours on a gallon in Eco mode.

Covered here

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...0&postcount=39

I rigged up a 2 gallon aux. fuel tank for mine so with 3 gallon on tap should be good to go.

Charles

Originally Posted by cyclops2

With a total electric house & well of 400'.

A 5.5 KW & a 17.5 KW Generac keep the LIPOs charged.
I used $ 550 of gasoline during Sandy in 9 days.

Even my 7Kw Generac uses to much gas thus the purchase of the little Honda 2000. 125 watts for TV / entertaiment center , 130 watts total for both computers,modem,wireless router, Net Phone , which leaves 1300 to be shared between two refrigerators and microwave as needed. Generac can be ran for a couple of hours from time to time for water heater and such. Propane space heaters for emergency heat.We camp so have Coleman stove ,laterns and such. 7Kw unit was required at my former location to run our well but have county water here and my 5HP Honda powered pumping station down at the branch.

Charles

Originally Posted by everydayflyer

Covered here

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...0&postcount=39

I rigged up a 2 gallon aux. fuel tank for mine so with 3 gallon on tap should be good to go.

Charles

I'm using a BERGS 6 gallon aux tank system. I should be good for 60+ hours straight when necessary.

Originally Posted by JIM CALDWELL A

Start the car, hook up charger and charge, will not damage car battery!
I am chargeing up to 6s 2P 5000mah at 20 amps this way.

Yes!. Buy a deep cycle marine, keep in drunk. Charge that from the car when needed. Now you got a double buffer. Plus you can jump yourself when needed always having a fresh 12v in the trunk.

Also, you don't have time to be charging bats at the field. +-1hr per pack at recommended 1C rating, you will be waiting all day. Buy more Lipo packs for the planes. Done.

1C charging of LiPolys is extremly out of date. I first started charging at 3C over 7 years ago. Most of my LiPolys get charged at 3 to 5c and a few up to 10-12C. A 3C charge is under 20 minutes. Three LiPolys and two chargers or one dual output charger and a plane can be flown non stop all day long. Typical flight time for me is 5 minutes which is really closer to 6 min. if you count take off and landing. Time walking to and from pits and swapping Lipolys places the satrt of each flight at 10 to 12 minutes between flights.

It is so much simplier to manage a few LiPolys than a box full and every year better and less e3xpensive Lipolys are available.

Charles

Originally Posted by JIM CALDWELL A

Start the car, hook up charger and charge, will not damage car battery!
I am chargeing up to 6s 2P 5000mah at 20 amps this way.

At four bucks per gallon this may not be an attractive option, and if you live in EU, double that cost.

Originally Posted by everydayflyer

1C charging of LiPolys is extremly out of date. I first started charging at 3C over 7 years ago. Most of my LiPolys get charged at 3 to 5c and a few up to 10-12C. A 3C charge is under 20 minutes. Three LiPolys and two chargers or one dual output charger and a plane can be flown non stop all day long. Typical flight time for me is 5 minutes which is really closer to 6 min. if you count take off and landing. Time walking to and from pits and swapping Lipolys places the satrt of each flight at 10 to 12 minutes between flights.

It is so much simplier to manage a few LiPolys than a box full and every year better and less e3xpensive Lipolys are available.

Charles

Am sure you have good success. But for others, you can't confuse the discharge C rating with the safe charge rate. If the battery does not explicity state a max *charge C rating (i.e. is silent), then it is 1C or lower. In any event, charging at above 1C dramaticly reduces your cycle count and IR of the battery and ends up costing you more and increasing failure points in the pack. I suspect, that most lipo explosions/fires are from repeated abuse of the 1C charge rate. Not worth your plane or house going up in smoke or worse.

The 1C max. charge rate was for back when LiPolys were rated atr max. of 6C discharge and there were no balancing leads ,balancers or balancing chargers.

CAre to see a bit of my Blancing / balancers / balancing chargers experience?.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...0&postcount=29
I and many others have charged at 3C and greater for many years and tens of thousands of charges

I have posted controled trest where a single 3S LiPoly was charged at 5C and discharged at 17C for over 300 cycles with no ill effects.

I have facts / data to back up my claims while you have ..............................

Sorry but I tend to get annoyed when those with little to know real LiPoly knowledge or experience come alone and post such BS.

1-3C charge test from yeras ago. That member still charges at greater thna 1C

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...&postcount=483

300 cyckles at 5C charges and 17C discharges

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1142882

Battery graph vault first post has many years of my LiPPoly test in it.


Charles

Originally Posted by everydayflyer

The 1C max. charge rate was for back when LiPolys were rated atr max. of 6C discharge and there were no balancing leads ,balancers or balancing chargers.

CAre to see a bit of my Blancing / balancers / balancing chargers experience?.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...0&postcount=29
I and many others have charged at 3C and greater for many years and tens of thousands of charges

I have posted controled trest where a single 3S LiPoly was charged at 5C and discharged at 17C for over 300 cycles with no ill effects.

I have facts / data to back up my claims while you have ..............................

Sorry but I tend to get annoyed when those with little to know real LiPoly knowledge or experience come alone and post such BS.

1-3C charge test from yeras ago. That member still charges at greater thna 1C

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...&postcount=483

300 cyckles at 5C charges and 17C discharges

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1142882

Battery graph vault first post has many years of my LiPPoly test in it.
Charles

Have no argument with you, your data, your knowledge, or your batteries. I have no dog in the fight. However just the other day in battery forum a guy lost his garage charging at 5C and many other actual cases their. Would same thing have happened at 1C? No way to know for sure. However one thing is clear and not disputed, watts and heat exploit any weakness in cells, solder joints, connectors, and wire. The unknown variable is cell manufacturing defects and unseen cumulative damage which charts can't really help with. Does it even matter as long as you take all proper storage precautions? Maybe not. But I would tend to error on the side of caution.

All my lipos are rated for 2c charge rates with discharge of 20-30c. They are small modest packs.

When at home, I always charge at 1c just because I have the time and no need to push it. I plan to charge 2c at the field. But I also parallel charge so it shouldn't take much time either.

I've decided to try the LiFePo's from headway. A small 4s10ah pack just to start. If all goes well I will increase as needed and add more in parallel.

I have trunk space but I don't have room for a larger AGM in the apartment. The cost of the LIFePo's I think give me about 100 usable Wh since they can be deep discharged.

For now I've decided I only need to charge the 2200 packs a couple times or the smaller ones a few times, which led me to my decision.

Originally Posted by wjs

However just the other day in battery forum a guy lost his garage charging at 5C

So what? Many have claimed they had fires while charging at 1C. Many have claimed their lipos spontaeneously combusted. Many have claimed fires started while charging their Pb batteries with a commercial battery charger. Lots of stupid things get done. Lots of excuses get made, I suspect few are related to what actually happened. Posting nonsense on you-tube has become an industry.

Originally Posted by newTOpro

All my lipos are rated for 2c charge rates with discharge of 20-30c. They are small modest packs.

When at home, I always charge at 1c just because I have the time and no need to push it. I plan to charge 2c at the field. But I also parallel charge so it shouldn't take much time either.

I've decided to try the LiFePo's from headway. A small 4s10ah pack just to start. If all goes well I will increase as needed and add more in parallel.

I have trunk space but I don't have room for a larger AGM in the apartment. The cost of the LIFePo's I think give me about 100 usable Wh since they can be deep discharged. I would need a 200ah deep cycle to match it. If I'm not correct please let me know.

For now I've decided I only need to charge the 2200 packs a couple times or the smaller ones a few times, which led me to my decision.

I might concider Shorai LiFEPO4 racing batteries then. Around 10 to 16 charges on one of these. Nice 12v format and light (3-4lbs). Use a normal 12v charger to charge them back up. Almost a perfect solution imho. Various sizes depending on need and wallet. Add more in parallel as you wish.
24mAh
http://www.batterymart.com/p-shorai-...n-battery.html
36mAh
http://www.batterymart.com/p-shorai-...n-battery.html