LiPo Batteries and Chargers for Eggtimer Products

[tOD]

I've got two Apogees that are built and an Ion that is still in pieces. I haven't been doing any rocket stuff for about a year and can't locate the nifty charger for the 1s LiPo batteries for the Apogees(I think I got it from Cris)
I'll be needing a larger battery for the Ion and was looking at Sparkfun's 400mAh #13851. They also have a charger for 1s batteries #14380-ROHS. Is this suitable for charging both type batteries, or can anyone suggest other suitable alternatives?

 

[kswing]

That charger looks like it should work for either of those batteries if you just set it to charge at 100 for the smaller and 400 for the larger.

Be very careful with 1S LiPo batteries with JST-PH connectors because different vendors use different polarity. You should be ok since the ones Cris sells are from SparkFun and the charger is from SparkFun. If you get a different battery or a charger made for an RC plane it will likely have the connector wired with the opposite polarity. The Internet-of-Things (IoT) folks like SparkFun and Adafruit have the positive on the left side of the connector and the RC folks typically have the positive on the right side.

 

[tOD]

That charger looks like it should work for either of those batteries if you just set it to charge at 100 for the smaller and 400 for the larger.

Be very careful with 1S LiPo batteries with JST-PH connectors because different vendors use different polarity. You should be ok since the ones Cris sells are from SparkFun and the charger is from SparkFun. If you get a different battery or a charger made for an RC plane it will likely have the connector wired with the opposite polarity. The Internet-of-Things (IoT) folks like SparkFun and Adafruit have the positive on the left side of the connector and the RC folks typically have the positive on the right side.

Thanks for the reply. I can check the polarity with a meter before I hook anything up. I need a little hand holding with the electronic stuff.

 

[Handeman]

Why not get a charger that can be used for any type of battery, 1S, 2S, etc. and balance the 2S and above.
If you are going to use LiPos for running altimeters, GPS trackers, night flight LEDs, etc. you are going to need to be able to charge multiple types.
You can get ones that work on AC and DC and do multiple battery chemistry types. You can do all of your batteries on one charger.
This one is not the top of the line, but will work pretty well.

Just a thought.

 

[tOD]

Why not get a charger that can be used for any type of battery, 1S, 2S, etc. and balance the 2S and above.
If you are going to use LiPos for running altimeters, GPS trackers, night flight LEDs, etc. you are going to need to be able to charge multiple types.
You can get ones that work on AC and DC and do multiple battery chemistry types. You can do all of your batteries on one charger.
This one is not the top of the line, but will work pretty well.

Just a thought.

I couple of years ago I started building Egg finder kits and
purchased a balanced charger for the larger cells, but the devices that use the small 1s are something I hadn't used until I built the Apogee. Then I got an Ion kit and realized it would need a different charger and different capacity batteries.

 

[cerving]

Most of the larger LiPo chargers do not handle the small 1S Lipo's very well, either they don't have the right connector or they can't go down low enough (100 mA charge current). Adafruit and SparkFun batteries use the same JST-PH connector with the same polarity... we buy their branded batteries from Mouser/Digikey because we KNOW that the polarity will be correct. Ditto for the little USB charger.

 

[tOD]

Most of the larger LiPo chargers do not handle the small 1S Lipo's very well, either they don't have the right connector or they can't go down low enough (100 mA charge current). Adafruit and SparkFun batteries use the same JST-PH connector with the same polarity... we buy their branded batteries from Mouser/Digikey because we KNOW that the polarity will be correct. Ditto for the little USB charger.

So it sounds like I'm good with the charger and battery from Sparkfun. Thanks everyone for your help.

 

[DarthMuffin]

I use this guy. I made some adapter pigtails for it to charge other connectors too. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076WQJQDR

 

[tOD]

I use this guy. I made some adapter pigtails for it to charge other connectors too. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076WQJQDR

Oops! This one looks pretty nice, but I saw your post too late and ordered the one from SparkFun.