Battery Question?

I want to get a 12 volt battery (more than likely a car battery) to use when I launch my rockets. I have an Aerotech Interlock Launch Controller. I know I can run it directly off my truck battery and it won't drain it, but I also want to use it to charge LiPo batteries for my RC truck. I just think having one is mobile would be much more convenient. This way I can set up my charging/launch area wherever I want

I'm looking for recommendations. Are all 12 volt batteries the same size such as car batteries or do they make smaller ones that will work well for both launching and charging purposes?

Also how much do they cost. I figure most batteries are around $35-50 maybe? I'm talking maybe a Walmart brand...don't they have Gel type batteries?

AfterBurners said:

I want to get a 12 volt battery (more than likely a car battery) to use when I launch my rockets. I have an Aerotech Interlock Launch Controller. I know I can run it directly off my truck battery and it won't drain it, but I also want to use it to charge LiPo batteries for my RC truck. I just think having one is mobile would be much more convenient. This way I can set up my charging/launch area wherever I want

I'm looking for recommendations. Are all 12 volt batteries the same size such as car batteries or do they make smaller ones that will work well for both launching and charging purposes?

Also how much do they cost. I figure most batteries are around $35-50 maybe? I'm talking maybe a Walmart brand...don't they have Gel type batteries?

Click to expand...

You can get a lawnmower battery for about $40 now... motorcycle/ATV batteries about the same. You can't hardly touch a car battery for less than $90 bucks now...

My recommendation is to get a car jumper battery pack... the fit in the trunk of the car when you're not launching to jump your car off when you inevitably, sooner or later, either leave the lights on or its especially cold and the battery is flat... plus most of them now have additional tools on board, such as light, mini-air compressors, etc... they'll provide plenty of power for launching all day, and they can usually recharge directly from the car cigarette lighter. In addition, they're MUCH lighter in weight than a car battery, and infinitely more portable...

That's what I use and it works great...

Good luck! OL JR

You might want to look into a 12 volt marine battery ,these are made to be discharged and recharged over and over again ,but should never be fully drained and left in that state.I always give mine (4 of them ,as i also use them for my trolling motor while fishing) a full charge then a trickle charge to top them up.

Paul t

X2 on either the jump pack or the Lawnmower / Motorcycle lead acid batteries.

I do use a car battery for my launches, but only because it was free and I did a whole desulfination routine on it. It works great, but it is heavy!

The car starter pack is definately the way to go. I bring mine to every launch. Don't use it very often, but save the launch once and started the prefects van about 5 times. I also use it with my charger to top off the Lipo battery packs.

Jump start batteries are lighter than car batteries, they have a built in charger, and a push of the button tells you how far they are charged. Built in cables make them easy to connect to launch equipment.

If you go the "jump starter" route, look for one of the ones that lets you leave it plugged into charge as long as you wish. The one I used to have required you to unplug it after a few hours or risk overcharging and damaging the battery. Plus, it used an external power supply for charging which was easy to lose.

I bought one at CostCo recently which doesn't have a separate charger. You just hook a standard extension cord into it to charge it. And you can leave it plugged in and it will maintain the charge without overcharging. I haven't used it to power a launch controller, though I'm sure it would work well.

-- Roger

I use Lithium polymer batteries, I use them in my rc boats and work great for rockets as well. The size can fit in your pocket, they produce high amp discharge, last for years and are inexpensive now days. I have some that are over 4 years old and work great for copper heads.

Here is an example of a couple and cost is around $9. I would recommend using a proper Lipo balance charger which will be about another $20 if you go this route.

Here is an example of the discharge rate.
(2200mAH 20C Lipo Battery): 2.200AH X 20C = 44.00Amps Max Constant
(2200mAH 30C Lipo Battery): 2.200AH X 30C = 66.00Amps Max Constant

Ken

I'm a big fan of lipos for launchers too - A 5800MaH 3S battery can also jumpstart pretty much any car/12V truck with the ability to dump almost 400amps these days. 400 amps is a lot of rockets getting launched at once

A 2200mah rocket firing a 3A igniter for 2 second = 0.1mAh per launch, or 22,000 launches per battery. Even 10amps for 2 seconds will get you 6600 launches. Can't go wrong with that!

I've seen people vapourize 12 ga wire with lipos(they didn't intend to)...
rex

I use a jump start pack as well. It is a Duracell DPP-600HD. It has a 12V DC plug and (3) std 110V plugs in addition to the jump jaws. You can plug in and charge indefinely. It is a sealed lead acid AGM style, so it is non-spillable (shouldn't ever leak). It is $170 on amazon, but you never need to worry about hooking up a charger, and being AGM, should last about 2-3x times a std lawnmower/car battery. In addition, nice carrying handle and lightweight. It works great for me.