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Question for Hitec X4 users

What do you think of the venom pro quad?
Looks like a great charger. 100watts is great, I really like the vertical form factor and the USB ports on the back. I would seriously consider this if I was buying another quad charger.

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That's cool. Be a heck of a charger, huh? Even my Kilowatt Ham amp only uses 20 amps.

I don't know about your neck of the woods, but here due to the natural gas fracking, our electric rates have actually come down. Is that progress or what?
 
I just purchased the Hitec X4 charger and reading through the threads on this forum I still don't quite have confidence in all of the setting choices that is compatible with the Typhoon H batteries. Could someone post all of the configurable values they use for their batteries? Thanks!
 
I would contact Hitec via telephone and send it to them. Hitec has always provided excellent service. I've used their chargers, servos, and radios for almost 20 years. The reliability has been so great I keep going back to their products as needed.
 
I just purchased the Hitec X4 charger and reading through the threads on this forum I still don't quite have confidence in all of the setting choices that is compatible with the Typhoon H batteries. Could someone post all of the configurable values they use for their batteries? Thanks!

Better if you did some on line battery research in order to become more knowledgeable with battery chemistries and their limitations. Doing what someone else does can end up having two people doing the same thing wrong by following the same set of instructions. In the links below, Max Amps provides one of the two best Lipo batteries available in America. Unfortunately they don't cater to the proprietary battery case crowd.

Lithium polymer battery - Wikipedia
Li-polymer Battery: Substance or Hype? – Battery University
Lithium Ion vs. Lithium Polymer - What's the Difference?
Lithium Polymer Charging/Discharging & Safety Information
 
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PatR- thank you for the links, I have been researching and have a greater understanding of LiPo technology. Out of curiosity, do you enable the capacity cut-off setting on the Hitec charger and if so, are you configuring it for 5400mah or higher?
 
I do not enable that feature, using an allowable time in combination with balance charging instead. I have an older X2 that employs a separate AC to DC power supply for the X2 charger, which I set to 15.8v to accommodate full charge on a 4s battery. Since I am not certain of the H battery actual capacity, suspecting it is greater than stated on the label, I use a very conservative charge rate of 4.8A. Usually takes an hour or less to fully charge from my personal low voltage level of 14.8v. I know the rate could be higher but what I'm using has functioned well for more than 150 charge cycles across 6 batteries. I use much, much larger batteries in other applications and charge those at 1C or less as well. I really hate buying batteries;)


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I do not enable that feature, using an allowable time in combination with balance charging instead. I have an older X2 that employs a separate AC to DC power supply for the X2 charger, which I set to 15.8v to accommodate full charge on a 4s battery. Since I am not certain of the H battery actual capacity, suspecting it is greater than stated on the label, I use a very conservative charge rate of 4.8A. Usually takes an hour or less to fully charge from my personal low voltage level of 14.8v. I know the rate could be higher but what I'm using has functioned well for more than 150 charge cycles across 6 batteries. I use much, much larger batteries in other applications and charge those at 1C or less as well. I really hate buying batteries;)


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Does this make it a 1/2 c rate? A high trickle kind of affect? Do you check balance post charge? And do you log your cycles? Sorry for all the questions but here in AZ summer heat is a battery killer and I've learned to try to never hit a LVC threshold on any of my drones. I've spent way too much on batteries and hate puffy destruction. My Venom Chroma batteries were awful and became un air worthy.


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A bit higher than 1/2C assuming the battery is in truth a 5400ma battery. If it's a 6300ma battery, and I suspect it is, it's still above 1/2C.

Yes, I check the post charge balance both immediately after the charge and a bit later when the heat from charging has dissipated.

I log every battery cycle, including those used for system maintenance when flight is not involved. Log info starts at the beginning of each flight, listing voltage at time of power up, end voltage under load and no load, flight time using a stop watch for start/stop time in minutes and seconds, charge rate, ma in., time to charge, and end of charge voltage.

It's more work than many want to expend but it provides me info to determine how my batteries are performing, establishes a reasonably accurate estimation of battery life cycle to determine part of my operating costs, assists in tracking total flight time, which helps with insurance rates and potential FAA audits, and helps plan for how many batteries I need for a day's work. It also lets me know when a battery is starting to go south, alerting me that flight time will likely be reduced because of a worn out battery. I have one of those now that charges to full capacity but expends the charge quickly. It was obtained from another H owner and arrived with a charge level of 12.8v, suggesting it had been over flown and damaged by the previous owner. It's now a battery only used for maintenance work.

IIRC, Tattu started making batteries for the Chroma. Very good batteries. I've never put much stock in the Venom line. I'll buy a great battery for a little more $ over a cheap one with a little higher label capacity every time.


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A bit higher than 1/2C assuming the battery is in truth a 5400ma battery. If it's a 6300ma battery, and I suspect it is, it's still above 1/2C.

Yes, I check the post charge balance both immediately after the charge and a bit later when the heat from charging has dissipated.

I log every battery cycle, including those used for system maintenance when flight is not involved. Log info starts at the beginning of each flight, listing voltage at time of power up, end voltage under load and no load, flight time using a stop watch for start/stop time in minutes and seconds, charge rate, ma in., time to charge, and end of charge voltage.

It's more work than many want to expend but it provides me info to determine how my batteries are performing, establishes a reasonably accurate estimation of battery life cycle to determine part of my operating costs, assists in tracking total flight time, which helps with insurance rates and potential FAA audits, and helps plan for how many batteries I need for a day's work. It also lets me know when a battery is starting to go south, alerting me that flight time will likely be reduced because of a worn out battery. I have one of those now that charges to full capacity but expends the charge quickly. It was obtained from another H owner and arrived with a charge level of 12.8v, suggesting it had been over flown and damaged by the previous owner. It's now a battery only used for maintenance work.

IIRC, Tattu started making batteries for the Chroma. Very good batteries. I've never put much stock in the Venom line. I'll buy a great battery for a little more $ over a cheap one with a little higher label capacity every time.


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Thanks for the well detailed response.


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What charge amperage rate are you using for the storage charge option on the Hitec? The selectable range is 0.1 - 1 amp, is there any reason a user wouldn't select 1 amp in this mode when putting a typhoon H battery into storage mode?
 
What charge amperage rate are you using for the storage charge option on the Hitec? The selectable range is 0.1 - 1 amp, is there any reason a user wouldn't select 1 amp in this mode when putting a typhoon H battery into storage mode?
hi
i use the 1 amp setting when putting my lipo's in storage mode or when i wont be using my batteries for a while . before i use the storage mode setting i will discharge my lipos by using a 12 volt auto head lamp untill it gets down to about 3.80 v then i use my 4X storage mode setting at the1 amp setting .
 
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