Ultra-reliable duel (and more) cell charger

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Gfunk
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Ultra-reliable duel (and more) cell charger

Post by Gfunk »

If you want a super ghetto looking (atleast mine does 8-) ) charger that can charge many cars, uses and even number of cells, and has a 90 second timer, read on!

Well, I had recently fried my Nakamichi car trying to do some crazy mod, so I thought of a use for my controller. Well, I had always wanted a stand-alone charger, so I thought of ways to use my nak since it has the 90 second charge time. My only complaint was how the controller took 3 cells, which always leaves you with a funky number, so I bought a 4 AAA holder with switch from RS for about $2 and soldered it where the 2 wires came from the PCB to the battery holder (on the battery holder's metal) and it works (as long as you get a good connection with the wires from the new battery holder and the tabs on the old one, because if it is a cold connection, it doesn't give power to the wires going to the PCB). Sometime soon I might rig a little AC adapter plug to the controller, so I could just plug my controller in, too. That is really all you need to do and you can get an excellent working charger with timer and that doesn't use a funky # of cells.

I might get some pics up a little later.
-=GfµnK=-
CaboWabo
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Post by CaboWabo »

oh yea! :-D
I wanna see pics :-)
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noxorc
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Post by noxorc »

sounds neat...

I want pictures too..

-nox
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Gfunk
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Post by Gfunk »

Gather 'round kiddies, I gots me sum pics!

overall view:
Image
backside: :eek: (no, not like that, unless you are a charger yourself =)
Image
inside overall view:
Image
Close-up of contact points (remember to not get a cold connection on those metal tabs!!)
Image

Hope you all enjoy! 8-)
-=GfµnK=-
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Post by CaboWabo »

nice Gfunk!
great job - so have you been able to test it out yet?
how's the charge it gives?
Dear Life Cereal, Where do you get off? Part of a balanced breakfast and delicious? Who do you think you are? By now you may have guessed I'm speaking ironically and have nothing but good things to say about what you do. Life cereal do not change a thing.
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Gfunk
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Post by Gfunk »

It charges EXCELLENTLY. I once got about a 20 minute charge from a single 90 minute charge to an Extreme Micro's 150 battery.
-=GfµnK=-
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crazydave
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Post by crazydave »

That's a really great idea using the switch between batteries. I'm going to use that technique to rig up one charger for single, dual, and triple cells, but my one criticism, from my experience with the testing I've done, 3 cells is way overkill for a single cell, and 4 cells is slight overkill for dual cells.

I've found you get punchier more consistant from beginning to end runs when you charge at a slower rate for a longer time, ideally until the battery is peaked. I prefer 2 cells to charge 1 cell, 3 cells tocharge 2 cells, and 5 cells to charge 3 cells.

I also hate timers, and rip those right out, and use my volt meter to watch for peak, but if your using a timer, chargeing at a faster rate will get you longer run times with the same charge time, it's just not what I consider ideal. I get 20+ minute runtimes from the stock Tomy cells, and 45+ minute runtimes from 150mAh cells.
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flatlander757
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Post by flatlander757 »

i did something similar, i hooked up a 4.5v AC/DC adaptor to my ZZ controller and did the direct charge wiring so my controller worked by throwing a 4.5v signal and a 4.5v 600mah charge :-D it kept glitching though, i took it off. but i have a regular stand alone charger now though :smile:



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