I have a Peak Sirrus Li-Po charger and it is very easy to use but I also have a Triton charger that charges several types of batteries and I wanted to charge up a Li-Po battery today and was not sure how to do it even after reading the instructions as I don't know what setting to enter into it. I figured out how to enter the voltage in but not sure what to set the charge amperage. For example: I wanted to charge a KoKam 3 cell 700 mah Li-Po battery. How do I determine what amperage to set the Triton for? Thanks.

Hi
If you use 3 cells of 700mah each then you have to set up the ampers to 2100mah.In this case the triton needs apprx. one hour to charge your pack without damaging your lipo pack.

speedyk51, it asks for amps I believe such as 1.2 or 1.3 up to 2.5 charging amps.. so how do I enter it for 2100 mah's ? thanks, Don.

I think you can set it for 2.1..just spend more time to search for.If it is not you can set it to 2.5 .It doesn't make any difference

I can make it to either one so I will do that..Thank you Speedy!!!!

Synthetic,
Try posting this question in the Batteries and Chargers forum. I think you will get a quick answer there. If it is a 3 series 1 parallel (three cells in a row for 11.1 volts) then you have to charge it at 700 ma or .7 amp. More than this can harm the battery.
later,
Mel D.

Mel is right. Don't charge more than One times the capacity. ie 700 mh battery don't charge at over .7mh. I'm a bit more conservative and don't charge any of my LiPo's at over .5 or .6. Ok so it takes a little longer to charge. NOTHING gets hot or even warm and they do indeed get charged.

Jim

Synthetic, whatever you do, do not take advice from Speedyk51 on charging Li cells. At best you may only destroy your pack. At worst you may set fire to your house. Never, ever take any advice on charging Li cells unless you know the person giving the advice knows what they're talking about. It is extremely dangerous for people who do not understand Li cells to be giving advice on them, however well-intentioned the advice may be.

You should always charge Li cells at 1C or less. For 700mAh cells in series, no matter how many cells are in series, a 1C charge is 700mA or 0.7A. Only when the cells are in parallel do you multiply the 1C charge current setting by the number of parallel sets.

Don't forget my earlier advice on Li cells, now. Since you don't know if I know what I'm talking about, wait until you hear from some other people before pulling the trigger on that charge. With Li cells, never act on the advice of one person. Li cells are very unforgiving of incorrect advice.

Thanks guys. Well it seems like it is similar to regular settings in that it is about 1/10 of mah hrs. For example a 500 mah nicad should not be charged at over .50 amps and a 3000 mah battery not more than 3.0 amps correct? So that a Li-Po 1500 mah battery should not be charged at more than 1.5 amps? So in this case of a 700 mah hr Li-Po no more than .7 amps correct? Thanks again...

When charging Li-Po's I use a "Nomex" fire retardent sock and I put the battery down into the sock and wrap it kind of lose in the sock and charge outdoors on a concrete pad and I set the battery/nomex sock on top of a brick and away from anything that is combustible....Does this sound like a good practise? Thanks, Don..

Don, you are a wise man. Some people will say you are going too far with safety. But that's OK. It's your safety, not theirs.

Depending on the type of NiCd cell, they can be safely charged at much higher rates than 1C. I'll leave it to the NiCd experts to tell you how high they've gone without problems. NiMH cannot be charged as fast as NiCd. Some people use a 1C charge limit with NiMH, others suggest no more than 2C. I've charged NiMH as high as 3C with no problems.

Li cells are different. They are easier to push into failure mode, and that failure mode is often venting with flames. So they should not be charged at >1C unless recommended by the manufacturer. There are some new Li cells and chargers on the way that promise safe charging at >1C. But that higher charge rate is not retroactive to older Li cells and chargers.

While it's not necessary, I personally charge my Li cells at 0.7C just to have a little extra safety cushion. There are reports that charging at <1C can result in slightly longer life for Li cells.

Thanks Dave. I also check for any heat during the charging process also. The Sirrus charger I have seems like a very good Li-Po charger as it asks you how many cells and what the mah is and then it takes over. If you tell it the wrong thing it still won't charge at the wrong setting. It's a very good charger and so is the Triton but I don't think as foolproof with the Li-Po's....Don

Do you mean the Sirius charger by Peak Electronics? I've never heard of a Sirrus.

You've mentioned a lot of good safety tips for Li cells. Another one is periodically checking the individual cells in a pack for balance. If the cells become too far out of balance with each other, it's possible for one or more to fail during the charging process. I suspect you already do this as you appear to be well-versed on Li safety issues.

Yes it is Sirius not a Sirrus. Mixing chargers and servos I guess. I have seen the videos of the Li-Po's when they go south and I don't like the looks of it very well. I can't imagine charging one in the back of my van and having one start burning. Not good...Don