Taking too long to charge

[Gimp]

I'm charging my batteries at 1C and it's taking almost 2 hours. Is it time for a new charger? Batteries are taking almost 4000mah. I notice it drops below 1C charge rate after only 15 minutes or so...

Charger: Onyx 230 with Equinox in-line balancer. Setup is 2-3 years old now.
Batteries: 2s 5000mah Gens Ace (40-80C) and Nano-Tech (45-90C). All basically new.

[srislash]

That does seem like a long time.Are you on a strait charge or trying to balance all the way thru.Mine are never more than an 3/4 hour.

[Fluid]

That's an average of about 2 amps charge rate. It does seem to be taking far too long for the last phase of the charge cycle. Usually the first phase is at a 'high' amp rate (5 amps) takes around 30-40 minutes to put in 95% of the charge, then the last ~5% is a trickle charge at a lower rate.


.

[sailr]

That is normal. Your charger is rated at so many watts. Volts X Amps = Watts. So if your charger is only capable of say 100 watts and you're charging a 4S (14.4V) pack, then the max amps will be 7 amps. However, a lot of chargers are limited to 5 amps. As the charge comes up in the pack, the amp rate will go down in order to maintain the volt input.

If you're running the packs down to where they will take 4000mAh, they only have 20% of their capacity left in them. Balance charging does take considerably longer. Two hours isn't unreasonable.

Finally, why are you charging at only 1C? The packs you have can easily be charged at at least 2C without any harm whatsoever. Some of the newer and better packs, like hyperions, can be charged up to 5C!

[Gimp]

I think the Gens can go up to 5C and the Nano's can go to 10C I believe. I can only charge them at 7amps max, it's all the charger will do. I usually always did 1C anyway because it will fill the packs better than doing them quickly. I'm not charging while at the water so I don't need to charge that quickly, but when it takes upwards of 2 days to charge 8 batteries (cause I can't leave them alone) that's just too long. I'd like to charge them all in an afternoon-evening without spending $200 or needing a power supply.

I was thinking about getting 2 of these - http://www.hobbypartz.com/73p-ac680-accharger.html
They should be able to charge my 2s packs at a true 1C. Hopefully filling them in under 75 minutes, and having 2 will speed it up that much more.

[pyroM!KE]

Can you see the voltage of each cell? all cells should be within .2 volts..If you have one cell that is like .5 volts or lower than all the other cells the charger is lowering the charging amps to balance the lagging cell or cells with the other good cells..In other words watch the cell voltages..all cell voltages should climb at the same time without any cell volts lagging behind..
Try charging a brand new pack and see what it does..If you charge any pack at 1c and all the cells are good and balanced, it shouldnt take any longer than an hour..Sounds to me like your charging old tired packs..

I'm charging my batteries at 1C and it's taking almost 2 hours. Is it time for a new charger? Batteries are taking almost 4000mah. I notice it drops below 1C charge rate after only 15 minutes or so...

Charger: Onyx 230 with Equinox in-line balancer. Setup is 2-3 years old now.
Batteries: 2s 5000mah Gens Ace (40-80C) and Nano-Tech (45-90C). All basically new.

[Gimp]

Charger: Onyx 230 with Equinox in-line balancer. Setup is 2-3 years old now.
Batteries: 2s 5000mah Gens Ace (40-80C) and Nano-Tech (45-90C). All basically new.

The batteries have 3 runs on them, and they're all acting the same. That's what lead me to the charger.

[pyroM!KE]

The batteries have 3 runs on them, and they're all acting the same. That's what lead me to the charger.

Hmm..Could be the charger..Another thing is watch which charger you buy too..Cheap chargers will give false readings which will in turn kill your packs..I bought some of HK's top end chargers and they were decent..The best one I got from there lasted about 1 year before letting the smoke out..I have since decided to get a High end charger that charges dual packs..This is the one I got and it is an awesome charger..I can charge 2x 5000 packs @ 2c..It puts out 20 amps.. http://www.radiocontrolzone.com/showthread.php?p=2447888

Do yourself a favor and get a quality charger..Youll save money in the longrun..I dont want to scare you but Hopefully the charger you have been using hasn't damaged your new packs..

[icelert]

Check the manual for your charger. Some chargers have thermocouple circuitry in them(for safety reasons) that will drop the charge rate back when the ambient air temp goes below a certain threshold. My Cellpro chargers do that when it gets below 50deg F.

[Gimp]

Check the manual for your charger. Some chargers have thermocouple circuitry in them(for safety reasons) that will drop the charge rate back when the ambient air temp goes below a certain threshold. My Cellpro chargers do that when it gets below 50deg F.

No options for that.

Took my charger apart to look at the power supply, here it is. I calculated 60w of output, I'm assuming I can just use this to power a DC charger safely?

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y253/NovaMan69/IMG_0315.jpg

[Gimp]

Will my power supply be enough to handle a Hitec X2 charger (http://www.hitecrcd.com/products/chargers-setup-equipment/x2.html)? Can't find any specs about what it takes to power it.

I would like to charge 2 at a time, 5000mah 2s at 1C.

Thanks for the help!

[Gimp]

Heck, for what I would have invested in that I could have a 4 port charger.

http://www.rcboca.com/hitec-x4-4ch-quad-multi-charger.html?CAWELAID=900514213&gclid=CILtvIP03KwCFU1x5Qodkgggsw
http://www.hobbypartz.com/77p-g350-powersupply.html

[leejason86]

Good day! I think you need to buy another one because there's a problem with your batteries or you can return it to the store and ask regarding about it. I also experience charging my phone and it takes so long to charge so I bring my phone together with the battery to the cellphone repair shop.

Regards,

video spokesmodel ( http://www.junespringmultimedia.com)

[srislash]

Heck, for what I would have invested in that I could have a 4 port charger.

http://www.rcboca.com/hitec-x4-4ch-quad-multi-charger.html?CAWELAID=900514213&gclid=CILtvIP03KwCFU1x5Qodkgggsw
http://www.hobbypartz.com/77p-g350-powersupply.html
That charger looks like the one I have only mine says GT Power.It's been good thus far.I love my 4 port charger but then I've got a few batteries and boats and cars.

[srislash]

Heck, for what I would have invested in that I could have a 4 port charger.

http://www.rcboca.com/hitec-x4-4ch-quad-multi-charger.html?CAWELAID=900514213&gclid=CILtvIP03KwCFU1x5Qodkgggsw
http://www.hobbypartz.com/77p-g350-powersupply.html
That charger looks like the one I have only mine says GT Power.It's been good thus far.I love my 4 port charger but then I've got a few batteries and boats and cars.

[macdon]

I may be in the worst predicament than the OP.
I noticed it last 2 weeks ago - it took 12-14 hours just to charge a single 4s 5000mah lipo pack. It may be a coincidence but it was also the first time I used both packs in a parallel connection with my Miss Geico. After a run, I usually storage charge my packs whether they were used, partly used or not - even if I will use them again the next sunday.
My charger is Extreme Racing R-605 with balancer - it currently charges my 3s 2200mah packs fine, but when it came to charging the 2 4s packs that I used in a parallel connection with my MG, it took 12-14hours each. The ampere reads 0.0A midway - so I guess the charging has topped off but the balancing takes the longest?
After the 12-14hours charge, I do check each cell of the 4s pack both thru the charger and my batt checker and not more than .2 difference between the cells. The packs seem to run fine, so cant tell which may be busted - my charger, my batts or perhaps the balancing section of my charger?

charger - Extreme Racing R-605 (similar to the Imax B6 but with built in fan)
Battery - Turnigy Nano-tech 4s 5000mah 35c
Charging rate - 5.0A (1c charge rate)