Large Scale Central

Charger for 14.8V Lithium Ion

Electronics
#1

Okay I think I know the answer to this question but before I buy I want to make sure. I am building a small train consist for my grand nephew. It will be RC/Battery. I have a 14.8V lithium ion battery pack in a battery car. I want him to have a simple plug and play charger that will just plug into the battery car and charge it up and then he can plug it into the loco and let her run.

Now I bought a Tenergy smart charger and that is really all I am familiar with. But I don’t want to give him something he has to think about or program to make work when he will only have one train with one battery to charge. On Amazon I have seen chargers that are basically like a phone wall charger. It is a 16.8V 2A charger, with LED indicating charging (red) and full charge (green). Automatically stops charging when fully charged. I am assuming this type of charger is what I would want to provide him for his charging needs?

Another question I think I know the answer to, can I use the same plug that plugs the battery into the locomotive to also plug it into the charger for charging? I assume I can cut off the end of the charger I buy and wire in the mated connector to the one on the battery car.

#2

Devon, that’s exactly what I do. (Yet, when I first started in battery, I bought a circuit that allows you to switch to charge or switch to run). I find it much easier to take the battery out and hook it to the charger rather than go through all of THAT. The key is to make sure that the polarity is correct AND that you get ends the make it impossible to plug it in correctly. There’s lots of different types out there, so you can just standardize on what YOU like. I ended up using these: LINK

image

Not sure about THAT charger, as it seems designed for 16.8 volts, NOT 14.8. (But I have NO idea what I’m talking about! :weary:)

#3

As to the 16V thing I thought the same thing but it says it’s suitable (made specifically for) 14.4/14.8 lithium ion/LiPo.

#4

Devon ,

You don’t need that you need an electric bowling ball !

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#5

Devon, Check out Robbie’s web page here, RLD Hobbies, LLC - HJE Lithium Batteries

Simple as it gets, install kit top right picture and charger second from bottom right picture. These are what I use and I like things simple and easy.

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#6

Perfect Rick.

Exactly what I was looking for. Between the charger and the wiring harness that’s exactly what I was hoping to achieve.

#7

It’s a little different than what I was originally thinking but I like it because he can keep the battery car and loco coupled and then have a separate charging jack. The on/off/on will be easy for mom and dad to help him with between charging and running. I’ll build him a carrier that will just keep the two as a mated pair that he can load and unload in the carrier together.

I like this better than what I was trying to do.

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#8

If you mess with these 14.4V LiIon batteries much you will soon notice that they are 16.8V fully charged and about 12V discharged - the end points are where the protection PCB cuts them off. So a (nominal) 14.4V battery needs a 16.8V charger and when fully charged will deliver 16.8V for a short while. Just bear that in mind when you connect it to a 14V motor.

I buy chargers like that one you found on Amazon for about $3.50 from Aliexpress in China - but they take 3-6 weeks to arrive. I realized if I was going to sell one of my locos I would have to deliver it with a charger.

I also use 5.5mm power plugs as they are standard on LED strips and therefore there are lots of cheap options. All my Li battery powered trains have a 5.5mm socket, and the charger I bought came with a 5.5mm plug.

Those plugs that Bruce uses are equally good. Just standardize on one type for all your trains!

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#9

Thanks Peter.

Yes I guess I did know about the over charging thing. One of the reasons for my buck converter question in another thread due to this fact and needing to protect against anything greater than 15V.

So that does make perfect sense.

As for standardization all of my stuff is. And will remain so. But I wanted to make sure this was a no brainer for his mom and dad to keep playing. He is 5 or 6 years old so this is something mom and dad has to help him with at least for a few years. So I wasn’t concerned as much with matching what I do but giving him a complete plug and play train. And I think the stuff Rick steered me to is about as easy as it gets and since I am only doing one the cost isn’t much of a concern.