Help me Build a charging Case

[aloys24]

Hello all,

I need help building a charging case. I went all out and got a icharger 306B and parallel charing board from progressierc a 1000W power supply from a member on here. Figured I would future proof my charging station even if i'm only going to be flying a 450 for a while!

So I havent even hooked the power supply up to the charger, I'm not entirely sure how to do that, haha!

I'm planning on just buying a cheap tool box for a case. Using the bottom half to store the PS's and the top for the chargers and batteries, like I have seen on here.

But my main questions are:

1) If I install some small fans in the bottom to allow for good airflow and temperatures, how do I power them? Can you just hook them right up to the PS? What kind of adapter/connector do I need to do this.

2) I have 2 PS's in series, each 500W/12Amps. Is it bad to charge smaller LIPO's with a1000W/24Amp power supply? I've seen people that set it up so they can charge with 12 amps and 24 amps, what are the benefits of this?

3) What else do I need to complete a fully functioning charging station? I have the actual power cables to plug in the power supplies. I also have the cords/boards to charge the actual batteries.

Thanks for the help & if their are other threads that discuss this please point me in that direction!!!

[Gregor99]

1) If I install some small fans in the bottom to allow for good airflow and temperatures, how do I power them? Can you just hook them right up to the PS? What kind of adapter/connector do I need to do this.
I believe most people are using 12v fans and connecting them directly to the output of the supply. Also some are just cutting vent holes in the sides of cases and letting the power supply fans do all the work. Server supplies are designed to be installed in a rack and cool the server. So they are a little overkill for only cooling themselves. But you have to provide some kind of ducting to ensure the airflow is from the outside and not from inside the case, just circulating hot air.


2) I have 2 PS's in series, each 500W/12Amps. Is it bad to charge smaller LIPO's with a1000W/24Amp power supply? I've seen people that set it up so they can charge with 12 amps and 24 amps, what are the benefits of this?
I believe you mean volts not amps. There are two reasons to run only off 12v. First is that there are alot of chargers that cannot accept a 24 volt input. The second is because the fan noise can be loud on these supplies and switching one off when not need can be quieter.

3) What else do I need to complete a fully functioning charging station? I have the actual power cables to plug in the power supplies. I also have the cords/boards to charge the actual batteries.

It depends on what you want. This is your project and can be as basic or exotic as you want. You will need some high guage wire to go from the supply to the connector used by the charger. Then you will need the mating end of the connector used by the charger.
Lots of cases have a PC type plug on the outside so you plug into the case. David and ProgressiveRc sells these as well as Frys etc. There's one on my case in my gallery
https://www.helifreak.com/album.php?albumid=8465


Thanks for the help & if their are other threads that discuss this please point me in that direction
Check out some of the examples in these threads. Lots of very creative folks there.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1493834
https://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=306148
http://rc.runryder.com/helicopter/t618155p1/

[aloys24]

Thanks for the reply!

I did mean volts. I am still trying to figure out the relationships between volts, amps and watts! I don't have a lot of experience with electronics like this!

I am going to try to hook a couple fans up to the power supply without blowing anything up!

[Gregor99]

Lots of good reference info here http://www.tjinguytech.com/charging-how-tos