Charging Duralites on a Schulze charger?
03-13-2005, 10:20 AM
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RE: Charging Duralites on a Schulze charger?
Go ahead and charge them without the duralite charger, just dont come crying to momma when they wont accept a charge and you are at a jet meet with awesome weather all week long :-). You WILL damage the circuit w/o the Duralite charger.
03-13-2005, 10:29 AM
#27
RE: Charging Duralites on a Schulze charger?
ORIGINAL: berthoud
Go ahead and charge them without the duralite charger, just dont come crying to momma when they wont accept a charge and you are at a jet meet with awesome weather all week long :-). You WILL damage the circuit w/o the Duralite charger.
Go ahead and charge them without the duralite charger, just dont come crying to momma when they wont accept a charge and you are at a jet meet with awesome weather all week long :-). You WILL damage the circuit w/o the Duralite charger.
I have 4 duralite packs, 3 aircraft and 1 transmitter, that have never been charged with the duralite charger. I have flown a whole season using them and they are still perfect. Not sure where you got your information....but it's wrong.
BTW, I'm using an Orbit V6.3....it's very similar to the Schultze. I charge through the safe (yellow) lead.
03-13-2005, 10:39 AM
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RE: Charging Duralites on a Schulze charger?
Berthound,
Since you appear to know Duralites, Do they have smart circuitry tied into the output leads that plug into radio gear side???
If so that would suck a fusible link as such, on the output side, hmmm....
If no then you would always be able to charge them thru these leads with any charger.
Since you appear to know Duralites, Do they have smart circuitry tied into the output leads that plug into radio gear side???
If so that would suck a fusible link as such, on the output side, hmmm....
If no then you would always be able to charge them thru these leads with any charger.
03-13-2005, 11:10 AM
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RE: Charging Duralites on a Schulze charger?
Dont really know duralites, just know what happens when you use the wrong charger. I too used a Orbit v6 to charge mine and they lasted almost a season untill, one day, the voltage would spike as soon as the charging sequence began. This would happen seconds after I plugged it in. Of course, as the voltage spiked the safe circuit terminated the charge regardless of the fact that the packs need some mah's.
I was told that the way these "better" chargers charge/initiate the sequence results in damage that could occurr at anytime. After that, not even the stock duralite charger would charge the pack. Like I said, mine lasted just about a season worth of flying untill it started doing this.
So go ahead, charge your hundreds of dollars of packs with your big fancy know it all charger but, like I said, don't come crying to momma when none of them accept the charge becuase you didnt want to spend another $30 (or $80) for the specific duralite charger. And really, whats another few bucks after youve ALREADY spent thousands on your project?
I was told that the way these "better" chargers charge/initiate the sequence results in damage that could occurr at anytime. After that, not even the stock duralite charger would charge the pack. Like I said, mine lasted just about a season worth of flying untill it started doing this.
So go ahead, charge your hundreds of dollars of packs with your big fancy know it all charger but, like I said, don't come crying to momma when none of them accept the charge becuase you didnt want to spend another $30 (or $80) for the specific duralite charger. And really, whats another few bucks after youve ALREADY spent thousands on your project?
03-13-2005, 01:13 PM
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RE: Charging Duralites on a Schulze charger?
Guys, I really dont care one way or another how, or what you use to charge your Duralites. I simply saw this thread and thought I would share my experience with hopes of preventing people from going through what I went through.
Best of luck whatever you choose.
Best of luck whatever you choose.
03-13-2005, 02:15 PM
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RE: Charging Duralites on a Schulze charger?
Bottom line :
LiIon and LiPo's are charged in two phases, Constant Current (CC) and Constant Voltage (CV)
Provided the max voltage limit is not exceeded nor excessive charge current is selected the cells will not take damage from the charger at all, unless they are bad to begin with.
Berthoud - your Duralite failed, why do you think it was the chargers fault? Because it didnt put mAh's into it? Li-xx chemistry is very finicky compared to NiCd/NiHM and Li-xx packs going astray (inbalance) over time is no rare occurance. A proper charger is supposed to abort charge on Li-xx if it see unexpected voltage fluctuations, so as far as I can see your Orbit did what its supposed to do, protecting you.
I appreciate your consern but factwise its flawed, thats all. I wish you happy flying.
LiIon and LiPo's are charged in two phases, Constant Current (CC) and Constant Voltage (CV)
Provided the max voltage limit is not exceeded nor excessive charge current is selected the cells will not take damage from the charger at all, unless they are bad to begin with.
Berthoud - your Duralite failed, why do you think it was the chargers fault? Because it didnt put mAh's into it? Li-xx chemistry is very finicky compared to NiCd/NiHM and Li-xx packs going astray (inbalance) over time is no rare occurance. A proper charger is supposed to abort charge on Li-xx if it see unexpected voltage fluctuations, so as far as I can see your Orbit did what its supposed to do, protecting you.
I appreciate your consern but factwise its flawed, thats all. I wish you happy flying.
03-13-2005, 04:03 PM
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RE: Charging Duralites on a Schulze charger?
It has been a long time since I spoke with the Duralite people regarding this and I don't remember specifics but what I was told was that the problem had something to do with the way these high end chargers intiate the charging sequence and that it can cause damage to the circuit (kinda like a hard-start vs soft-start). After the damage had occurred when I pluged my pack into the Orbit (or, later, a Triton) the pack intially read the proper voltage and charging began. However, within seconds the voltage would spike and the charging would terminate. As of now I have over 20 lipo packs from small 350's to 10s2p's and have been using lithium technology since the days of the qualcomm's so I am completely familiar with them. What happened to my Duralites was something I have never seen before and when one of the tech's at Duralite offered an explanation that was within reason I took it.
03-21-2005, 07:25 PM
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RE: Charging Duralites on a Schulze charger?
Hey Guys - I don't know if this is the correct forum for this question, but here goes. I got a Schulze charger with computer based software and am having a few problems using it. Wonder if anyone has used a computer to follow the charging/discharging process and can help me. Thanks
darryl
darryl
05-09-2005, 12:35 AM
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RE: Charging Duralites on a Schulze charger?
ORIGINAL: p47dman
No matter what version of the charger that you use, it must be set to Li-Ion NOT Li-Po, Duralites are Lithum- Ion's. If you read carefully on the Duralite pkg, it states that you may use any charger capable of Li-Ion cells.
No matter what version of the charger that you use, it must be set to Li-Ion NOT Li-Po, Duralites are Lithum- Ion's. If you read carefully on the Duralite pkg, it states that you may use any charger capable of Li-Ion cells.
Yes, don't charge then on the Li-Po setting or you will overcharge them. Li-Ion batteries are 3.6V/cell while Li-Po's are 3.7V/cell.
05-09-2005, 02:53 AM
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RE: Charging Duralites on a Schulze charger?
ORIGINAL: tfacr
Hey Guys - I don't know if this is the correct forum for this question, but here goes. I got a Schulze charger with computer based software and am having a few problems using it. Wonder if anyone has used a computer to follow the charging/discharging process and can help me. Thanks
darryl
Hey Guys - I don't know if this is the correct forum for this question, but here goes. I got a Schulze charger with computer based software and am having a few problems using it. Wonder if anyone has used a computer to follow the charging/discharging process and can help me. Thanks
darryl
If you still have a problem PM me !
05-09-2005, 11:13 AM
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RE: Charging Duralites on a Schulze charger?
Slightly off the Schultze thread, but I have been using Duralites for my ECU's, RX, and TX since they first re-appeared a couple of years ago......chargers I use interchangeaby include Powerflite(no longer has a website) with 1 TX(3S) output and 3 RX/ECU (2S)outputs.....charges at about 800-1000ma......Graupner Ultra Duo Plus 30 (very similar to Chameleon)...I use the Li-Io algorithm at either 1 C or C/2......and a Sirius Lithium Charger......initial charge rate is adjustable between 50ma-1500ma......
All of these chargers appear to bring the packs safely up to at least 95% capacity.....2S come off the chargers at 8.35- 8.4v and 3S come off at 12.5-12.6v....
I have had zero problems with these chargers.......I always use the safe charge circuitry input on the 2S packs......none available on the TX pack, so that one goes directly to the cells.....I would guess over 500 recharge cycles on my various packs....they do not feel at all warm during even the highest charge rates....
I haven't made up my mind about pack balancers for the Duralites.....seems like balancers are more critical in the very high charge/discharge lipo packs the electric guys are using....minor imbalance in the 18650 can, Li-Io Duralite cells seems to be a non-issue.....but, they are relatively inexpensive, so I may try one out in the near future.....
Tom
All of these chargers appear to bring the packs safely up to at least 95% capacity.....2S come off the chargers at 8.35- 8.4v and 3S come off at 12.5-12.6v....
I have had zero problems with these chargers.......I always use the safe charge circuitry input on the 2S packs......none available on the TX pack, so that one goes directly to the cells.....I would guess over 500 recharge cycles on my various packs....they do not feel at all warm during even the highest charge rates....
I haven't made up my mind about pack balancers for the Duralites.....seems like balancers are more critical in the very high charge/discharge lipo packs the electric guys are using....minor imbalance in the 18650 can, Li-Io Duralite cells seems to be a non-issue.....but, they are relatively inexpensive, so I may try one out in the near future.....
Tom
05-10-2005, 02:41 PM
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RE: Charging Duralites on a Schulze charger?
Hello guys if you phone and speek to sombody by the name of Mr Jack Price he will tell you only to use the Duralite charger. but who is he? well he is mr duralite. please use the proper charger for the job. Quality comes at a price that why i fly duralites in all my models they are the best this is fact and so is the info about chargers ive just given you. If not well????????????????????
