bitPimps.lixlink.com

as I said in the bit-zap thread here it is, probably one of the kwikest and simplest multi-battery chargers;

Radio shack part #270-409 "AA" Battery holder w/ on/off switch [charging pad not included]




switch close-up


charging pad close-up

4bucks put to work nicely.

hogjowlz wrote:4bucks put to work nicely.

you couldn't be more correct!

Oh and i forgot to mention, I gave my single cell 160mah a one minute charge on this thing, not too sure if it's a good idea pumpin' this much juice into it, and got a 13 minute run-time !!
Had to try it and see...

just charge until it starts to get hot. thats the easiest way to know when its done.

That's my project for sure... Very cool kwik..



silla

payaso wrote:That's my project for sure... Very cool kwik..



silla

Yeah it's really sweet bro! everyone needs one of these mofo's, and there's nothing to it either... just add solder

that is very cool kwik - finally getting some good runs outta those batts?
now I've gotta try!

Alright, I'm sick of telling people how BAD an idea it is to use a 4xAA alkaline battery pack as a charger. So I pulled out my 4xAA battery holder and Multimeter and once and for all tested to see what kind of Amperage that bitch puts out.

Well, it ain't as bad as I'd thought it would be. The 4 batts in series were only cranking out ~2.7Amps. (2,700mA)

That's still aggressive as hell, but not as bad as I thought.

As long as you CLOSELY monitor the temperature (as the Hog already said)...You all have my blessing. Who wants me to 'bless' them first?

Sidenote: When I first started using my peak charger, I was improperly setting the charge rates. My first charge test was on my Epoch, I set the charger to 3.6(thinking that was the voltage) and it stopped charging the car like 20 seconds later...Come to find out I was actually setting the AMPERAGE!!! It was charging the car at 3.6amps! (no wonder the batteries were HOT)...But I got over 10 minutes runtime!

I was waiting for you to chime in Namuna, well that 1 minute charge on a single 160mah didn't even cause the battery to break a sweat! [Thank god I didn't fry another set ]
And late last night I added the 2nd cell that I was speaking of and gave it charge this morning.

2min. charge / Runtime = 8min.

Again the cells didn't even break a sweat, the reason i waited till this morning is that they were fresh cells with juice in 'em already and i was sleepy...

Well, I just ordered up a peak charger. My little 4AA box has served me well, but I just almost had an accident with it. Like I always do, I sat down to the computer to check the RC boards, and put my dual cell ZZ/MS hybrid on the charger to charge. I forgot all about the car while checking the boards!!! I don't know how long the car was on the charger (maybe 4 minutes), but the chassis was red hot when I pulled it off. The car still works and everything, but it was a big wake-up call, using a charger that doesn't turn itself off.

Within five minutes of this happening, I was on the phone with Tower Hobbies. I ordered the DuraTrax Piranha AC/DC Digital Peak Charger NiCd/NiMH. It looks sweet. It has 10 programmable charges, musical alert, and AC adapter. It can handle single or multiple nicad or nimh batteries. This charger looks like the berries, and the price was definitely right. Only 50 bucks!!! Here's a link.

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wt ... LXCLD5&P=7

that does sound sweet, most chargers with that many options are quite a bit more expensive.
I don't think this one self-adjusts itself when charging, but sounds like it does just about everything else!
great find buzzbait

I was thinking about mounting one of those into the pit stop of my track. The fun would never stop.... well... once the batteries ran out but that doesn't happen often.