450 Need A Good Charger...

[Tony]

Exactly what Rob just posted! Great info right there. Basically it takes a sine wave and cuts off the bottom half so that electricity is only flowing in one direction (DC) rather than two (AC). This also can work on square waves as well such as that coming from a cheap power inverter. From there it will be run through some capacitors to smooth out the flow of electricity so rather than being 12,0,12,0,12,0,12,0, it will be a constant voltage so that it doesn't hurt any sensitive DC electronics. I'm thinking those two large ones on the lower left of his picture would be the DC Caps since they look to be on the low voltage side of the board.

But, I know just enough about this stuff to get me in real trouble lol. I always suggest people contact an electrician. As Rob stated, it's been a while for me as well from being hit with some AC, but I remember it well. You invent a new language that resonates at 60Hz lmao.

 

[Rob Lancaster]

Ok guys, still look'n around
What do you think ??

Amazon.com: Buying Choices: 24V 40A 1000W Switch Power Supply Driver Display Switching Power Supply 24v for LED Strip Light

 

[murankar]

here is what I have Chargery S1500 Power Supply - ProgressiveRC



I love it makes for an easy setup. you get one XT60 out for your charger and 3 sets of 4mm banana plug all on common ground. Now one downside is that what ever Voltage output you set between 10 and 32 volts , its set for all outputs. I love it, i can use it on the bench or field.

here are other options under this brand that will work:

Chargery S600 Plus Power Supply - ProgressiveRC

Chargery S1200 Power Supply - ProgressiveRC

 

[Rob Lancaster]

Very nice indeed!

 

[murankar]

The are nice power supplies. The hard core folks like the meanwell brand but those get costly quickly. I like that I can adjust the volts and amps as I want. Plus on mine I have 4 outputs.

 

[Rob Lancaster]

Hey guys, I can't believe this!
I have good news and not so good news...
First the good news.. It seems I figured out why my four chargers were drifting so much. It was the balance leads coming out of the chargers that were bad. Specifically the metal connectors inside the plastic plugs were not connecting well.

At first I removed them from the chargers and checked the resistance. They all checked out perfectly. But in reality, when plugged in their connections were loose and that was the problem. So this is what I did to correct the multiple faults.

I simply made my own balance harnesses. These new harnesses have no connectors, (except on the battery packs)… They are soldered directly to the chargers. The result,, no more weird unpredictable voltage drifting now.

And because of this; it brings me to the not so good news...
Now that their ok , I can't justify the cost of replacement units at this time; DOH! LOL!
I really liked that bump controller and PL charger(s) folks! Oh well, when the time comes, I'll know what to do...

Have a look below to check out the action...……………..

 

[Tony]

That is awesome that you found the issue! The only thing that I would have done differently is I would have removed the pins from the PCB and soldered the wires directly to the board. Those pins are made from a very cheap grade of metal and could have resistance in them even on that short of a run. Is this going to affect the overall value? Probably not in the reading that they come out. I'm thinking somewhere in the thousandths of volt rather than tenths. Either way, fantastic job!

 

[Rob Lancaster]

Yeah, as I was finishing up I was thinkin the same thing. Even my brother, the math/electro-tech guy, said the same thing about the quality of those kinds of pins. He said if the problem returns, just solder strait to the PCB...
Thanks for the reinforcement on that theory...…….
Now back to the Servo Flip thread. Ready?????

 

[Tony]

I'm playing the part of Frog.... Don't read too much into that lmao.