advise on choosing batteries and charger(s)

[Marzipan]

my brain is racing a million miles a second with all sorts of things about batteries, charging, storing and such...so this post may be all over the place as all the questions are spit out.

I don't intend on getting into any big planes any time soon, mostly likely the Mighty Mini's and other UMX craft like what MinimumRC sells...so all 1S batteries of various amperages and capacities. I have one of these 60w 10 port USB hubs from Anker and was thinking I could buy a fist full of USB chargers that wouldn't have any issues with said 1S batteries. is this a sound idea?
https://us.anker.com/collections/hubs-docks/products/a7515

if it's not a good idea, what are some examples of charger(s) should I be looking at and considering?

there are a bazillion brands of batteries with some crazy low and stratospherically high prices. what brands have proven themselves trustworthy and have kept friendly prices for their products?

and lipo bags...are they all pretty much the same or are there things that should be looked / watched for? desirable and not so desirable features?

hmmm...that wasn't as chaotic as I thought it would be. looking for advice about something that happened yesterday. I bought a KF606 airplane on a whim with 3 batteries and was charging them yesterday. I forgot about the third one and it dawned on me after going to bed that it was on my desk charging. It had been plugged in for like 5 hours! when i looked at my desk, the light on the USB charger it came with was off, not red as it was earlier indicating it was charging...and the battery appeared fine. to be careful I put it in a cup and sat it in the middle of the sink. it's a tiny battery...1S, 100mAh and about the size of a nickel, so if it were to go off, it wouldn't be like the firebombs the larger one's are that have been sensationalized and shown as why we must be so conscientious when they're being charged.

I don't have any lipo bags yet, so that will be one of the first things I do after seeing the responses to this post. I'm also going to get a couple ammo cans to store those lip bags in, as the lightweight plastic one's I bought will not be sufficient, LoL. anyhow, was putting it in a cup and in the sink good enough or is there a better way to handle something like that...tiny battery, forgotten about and then remembered after crawling into bed. I didn't put it in the sink because of water, but becasue it was the only 'metal' thing I thought off in my sleepy brain fog that could withstand the heat. everything else was plastic or wood.

Also, is it safe to assume that when the USB charger is no longer lit, that it's cut power and the battery is essentially charged and not overcharging? the instructions say that the USB charger will be red when charging and turns green when the batter is charged. so I'm thinking it shut itself off automatically after reaching full charge? it's not responsible to use that as an excuse to not monitor the batteries, but is a nice back of the mind thought to know as a failsafe incase you mess up like I did.

 

[The Hangar]

Also, is it safe to assume that when the USB charger is no longer lit, that it's cut power and the battery is essentially charged and not overcharging? the instructions say that the USB charger will be red when charging and turns green when the batter is charged. so I'm thinking it shut itself off automatically after reaching full charge? it's not responsible to use that as an excuse to not monitor the batteries, but is a nice back of the mind thought to know as a failsafe incase you mess up like I did.

Leaving them plugged into the charger is theoretically just as dangerous as leaving them unplugged. I charge my Eflite 150mah packs on a usb strip and have left them plugged in for quite a while without any issues. Once the light’s off it’s not being charged any more.

 

[Scotto]

Your big usb splitter might not really be that necessary. This charger (edit- probly a bad idea nevermind) for example does six little 1s batts at one time. If you think you like the mini planes and you want to go to 2s or 3s batteries be careful to get a charger that starts at 0.1 amp and increases in 0.1 increments. I had to buy a new one because my old cheap one only did 1 amp. If I understand this right with a 3s 450 mah battery the most you can safely use to charge is .4 amp. So I could have toasted it with the old one.

 

[PsyBorg]

If you are talking about a multi battery charger you plug into your computer dont do it. Get a real charger and get a parallel charging board.

First and foremost those chargers that plug into a computer usb port are seriously poor quality unlike hobby grade chargers. Second they are not intelligent chargers. They are simply peak detectors relying on the tolerances of the chosen components they are made of. They only know to shut off when a specific voltage is met. It has no way to know its charging too fast or if the battery temp is out of range.. Finally more batteries in one line means more amps and too much amp draw is a very easy way to destroy a usb channel or even take out your whole motherboard.

The standard B6 or B6 clone charger will do what you need reliably, safely and has way use then just a usb parallel charger.

 

[Scotto]

If you are talking about a multi battery charger you plug into your computer dont do it. Get a real charger and get a parallel charging board.

First and foremost those chargers that plug into a computer usb port are seriously poor quality unlike hobby grade chargers. Second they are not intelligent chargers. They are simply peak detectors relying on the tolerances of the chosen components they are made of. They only know to shut off when a specific voltage is met. It has no way to know its charging too fast or if the battery temp is out of range.. Finally more batteries in one line means more amps and too much amp draw is a very easy way to destroy a usb channel or even take out your whole motherboard.

The standard B6 or B6 clone charger will do what you need reliably, safely and has way use then just a usb parallel charger.

Ooops. Good to know thanks.

 

[Marzipan]

If you are talking about a multi battery charger you plug into your computer dont do it. Get a real charger and get a parallel charging board.

First and foremost those chargers that plug into a computer usb port are seriously poor quality unlike hobby grade chargers. Second they are not intelligent chargers. They are simply peak detectors relying on the tolerances of the chosen components they are made of. They only know to shut off when a specific voltage is met. It has no way to know its charging too fast or if the battery temp is out of range.. Finally more batteries in one line means more amps and too much amp draw is a very easy way to destroy a usb channel or even take out your whole motherboard.

The standard B6 or B6 clone charger will do what you need reliably, safely and has way use then just a usb parallel charger.

its a 60w usb hub...if not plugged into a pc its a usb charger for phones / tablets and whatever else u plug into it.

 

[PsyBorg]

its a 60w usb hub...if not plugged into a pc its a usb charger for phones / tablets and whatever else u plug into it.

But it will only supply 2.1 amps per port... Leaving room for safety so you dont fry it from over heating you are looking at 1.8 to 1.9 amps for longevity of the unit. Also you are still just plugging in the stock chargers into that. If you get a b-6 charger and a parallel board you can charge 6 or 8 or however many batteries the parallel board supports in an hour at 1c and KNOW exactly what they get charged to every time. Its just safer and way better for your batteries mate.

Also those chargers are programmable and will charge literally any type of battery you can think of From lead acid to LIFE. Its just the better over all investment. Besides if you are ANYTHING like the rest of us These will NOT be the only batteries you will be charging.

 

[The Hangar]

Your big usb splitter might not really be that necessary. This charger for example does six little 1s batts at one time. If you think you like the mini planes and you want to go to 2s or 3s batteries be careful to get a charger that starts at 0.1 amp and increases in 0.1 increments. I had to buy a new one because my old cheap one only did 1 amp. If I understand this right with a 3s 450 mah battery the most you can safely use to charge is .4 amp. So I could have toasted it with the old one.

I’ve got one of those, as well as the type @PsyBorg was talking about and another type as well. I just find the individual charged to be the most convenient and least trouble to deal with. I can go through and charge my bag of 1s packs then I’m set to fly any of my 1s UMX’s.

 

[Monte.C]

About lipo bags, I did a bunch of research and the result was I bought the cheapest army surplus or used steel ammo box I could find.

It wasn't my idea, but a bunch of sensible people are using this for storage. For me it's a lot more convenient for a bunch of batteries than a purpose-built lipo bag. Of course it'll contain a chemical burn. Anyone has any input on this, please let us know.

I don't tighten down the latch all the way, I leave the lid slightly cracked to allow expanding gasses to vent.

 

[Monte.C]

The whole 1S thing is bothering me a little bit. Personally I think that's a little more of a specialized niche. I mean, you might get started and have terrific success starting that way, but haven't you considered 3S with 1806 motors? I keep trying to build smaller but my biggest successes were with 1806 motors, 3S. (My plane sizes are limited, it would be way inconvenient for me to go much bigger than that.) Things don't scale the way we'd like them to, and it seems the larger planes handle all around better for us. Plus you can build most of - or a whole lot of - the earlier FT planes on 1806.

 

[The Hangar]

The whole 1S thing is bothering me a little bit. Personally I think that's a little more of a specialized niche. I mean, you might get started and have terrific success starting that way, but haven't you considered 3S with 1806 motors? I keep trying to build smaller but my biggest successes were with 1806 motors, 3S. (My plane sizes are limited, it would be way inconvenient for me to go much bigger than that.) Things don't scale the way we'd like them to, and it seems the larger planes handle all around better for us. Plus you can build most of - or a whole lot of - the earlier FT planes on 1806.

Not sure what bothers you about them, 1s is a very niche market. They aren’t very practical for scratch builds, but I have a good collection of UMX’s that are perfect for backyard flying. Most anything bigger than that is too big.

 

[Monte.C]

Not sure what bothers you about them, 1s is a very niche market. They aren’t very practical for scratch builds, but I have a good collection of UMX’s that are perfect for backyard flying. Most anything bigger than that is too big.

Yeah that's what I said, it's more of a specialized niche - that doesn't lend itself to all the other ways we fly. Most anyone here starts with one of the FT kits that runs on 3S or 4S and won't fly on 1S. 1S is great for a tiny plane, usually with a flight controller, usually an off-the-shelf plane. If I go on Youtube right now and try to find scratchbuilders running 1S I won't find many. AND if you plan on scratchbuilding for one cell and without a flight controller you're gonna find your planes pretty darn hard to handle, particularly for a newbie.

 

[Bricks]

Yeah that's what I said, it's more of a specialized niche - that doesn't lend itself to all the other ways we fly. Most anyone here starts with one of the FT kits that runs on 3S or 4S and won't fly on 1S. 1S is great for a tiny plane, usually with a flight controller, usually an off-the-shelf plane. If I go on Youtube right now and try to find scratchbuilders running 1S I won't find many. AND if you plan on scratchbuilding for one cell and without a flight controller you're gonna find your planes pretty darn hard to handle, particularly for a newbie.

This is just one link for micros I can give more there is a whole bunch out there if you really look.

https://www.rcgroups.com/scratchbuilt-indoor-and-micro-models-85/

 

[Scotto]

@Marzipan How windy is it up there in your part of Canuckistan? The tiny planes tend to be a little more sensitive to it than park flyers, generally speaking.

 

[Monte.C]

This is just one link for micros I can give more there is a whole bunch out there if you really look.

https://www.rcgroups.com/scratchbuilt-indoor-and-micro-models-85/

Thanks, I've never looked, because like most of us that isn't what I'm looking for in the hobby.

Good link. As I said, "you might get started and have terrific success starting that way..." and if that's the niche you're after and tiny featherweight indoor models are what you're after then by all means go crazy and have fun.