Charging at the track - RC-Monster Forums

11:47 AM

let me get straight to the point, i use my real car battery to charge up my rc lipos at the track and it is killing my gas mileage, i saw other people using big batteries, but on close inspection they were using marine and RV batteries,
I was thinking of doing this, but what type of marine or RV battery?

- how many CCA (cold creaking Amps) should i get?,
-should i get a high end one or cheap?

Because i would like it to last long, also what charger for the boat or rv battery, and how many amps should i be charging it at? is it safe to charge this in my room?

any suggestion would be great, thanks alot.

BP-Revo · 01.12.2010, 12:45 PM

How is it killing your gas mileage? Are you saying the load on the alternator on the way back is really that significant?

01.12.2010, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BP-Revo

How is it killing your gas mileage? Are you saying the load on the alternator on the way back is really that significant?

maybe not that much, by the gas consumed is still a good amount. what do you do to charge your batteries? the car, or an alternate battery, if so what kind?

brushlessboy16 · 01.12.2010, 12:59 PM

Just spring for a small 4 stroke generator..

jhautz · 01.12.2010, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brushlessboy16

Just spring for a small 4 stroke generator..

+1

brushlessboy16 · 01.12.2010, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhautz

+1

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=66619

My track has power... when im out bashing i run my chargers DC off my car battery. and jumper cables just in case i charge too much

junkman · 01.12.2010, 01:23 PM

I don't get the mpg thing. I can't see it making any noteworthy difference on a tank of gas unless you are leaving it running all day while you are at the track! Kinda like not driving at night because it uses more gas to run the headlights. If you wanted you could pickup a jump box, and have it to charge your batteries, and would double around the house if you ever need to give something a jump box. They are nice to have around. A marine battery is just designed to be ran down slowly, and farther than a car battery without damage from doing repeatedly. You can charge off it all day long, and if you run it way down it can be slowly charged back up without damage. As long as you are not killing you car battery should really have a problem with it though. I don't know how many classes you race, I might would just pick up a few more packs so you don't have to do so much charging at the track.

jhautz · 01.12.2010, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by junkman

I don't get the mpg thing. I can't see it making any noteworthy difference on a tank of gas unless you are leaving it running all day while you are at the track! Kinda like not driving at night because it uses more gas to run the headlights. If you wanted you could pickup a jump box, and have it to charge your batteries, and would double around the house if you ever need to give something a jump box. They are nice to have around. A marine battery is just designed to be ran down slowly, and farther than a car battery without damage from doing repeatedly. You can charge off it all day long, and if you run it way down it can be slowly charged back up without damage. As long as you are not killing you car battery should really have a problem with it though. I don't know how many classes you race, I might would just pick up a few more packs so you don't have to do so much charging at the track.

Sounds to me like he is letting the car sit there and idle while he is at the track charging...

Thats the only way I can see it costing any gas milage.

01.12.2010, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhautz

Sounds to me like he is letting the car sit there and idle while he is at the track charging...

Thats the only way I can see it costing any gas milage.

that is what i was doing, i read some of the suggestions, they are great, the harbor freight portable genenator is a good i idea, i will have to look in to that.

thank you so much

E-Revonut · 01.12.2010, 01:31 PM

Buy a decent deep cycle marine battery (about $100). If you have a power supply at home to run your charger off you may be able to charge the battery back up with your RC charger, as long as it has a mode for lead batteries. Charge at about 4amps is good. Otherwise get a decent jumper pack, I like the ones that have built in power inverters, also about $100 for one with an inverter but is very useful!

junkman · 01.12.2010, 05:31 PM

You don't have to let the car run the whole time you are charging, just check it every hour or so make sure you are not running it down too much. If its a little slow to crank let it run for a few minutes. I would have though someone at the track would have let you know there is no need to run it constantly. You may find you really don't need to spend any more money, unless you want too!

redshift · 01.12.2010, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by junkman

You don't have to let the car run the whole time you are charging, just check it every hour or so make sure you are not running it down too much. If its a little slow to crank let it run for a few minutes. I would have though someone at the track would have let you know there is no need to run it constantly. You may find you really don't need to spend any more money, unless you want too!

Me too.. and idling for long periods is BAD for any engine, you risk carbon build-up and other issues. Ideally you should have a separate battery, as mentioned. But try not to idle more than 5-10 minutes per hour while charging.

06:52 PM

should i run the car while charging a lipo battery, and then next lipo charge don't run the car ?, would it be ok to do that. the lipo takes about an hour to charge. i am trying to find out what the most cost effective and efficient way of charging my lipo packs at the track.

wallot · 01.12.2010, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by D8 Driver

should i run the car while charging a lipo battery, and then next lipo charge don't run the car ?, would it be ok to do that. the lipo takes about an hour to charge. i am trying to find out what the most cost effective and efficient way of charging my lipo packs at the track.

car batteries are 50+Ah thats plenty for standard trackside charging. The bigger the car, the bigger the battery.

you dont have to run your car while charging.

however if you are afraid you wont be able to start just get jumpstart cables or spare battery :)

JThiessen · 01.12.2010, 08:59 PM

Ditto that. Do not run your car while charging - it could possibly be bad for your charger, and possibly your cars electrical system. I believe I read in my Hyperion instructions some warnings on this.

To the O.P. have you any reason in particular that you chose to do this? Did you run a battery down? If so, you'd be better off investing in a new battery for your car/truck. If your cars charging system is not re-charging the battery, get that looked at too. Better money spent that way.

If you do get a new battery, I'm a fan of the Optima's.