Lipo discharger - does not exist in the marketplace?

[gomotomoto]

It's strange to me that there isn't a dedicated discharger for Lipo's on the market.

I know some chargers have a discharge mode, but they seem limited and all need to be connected to a power source in order to discharge.

I've read several posts where, people hook up bulbs/resistors and other do-dads to jury-rig discharging tasks.

So my question, is why isn't there an inexpensive, dedicated discharger -- on that didn't need an AC outlet (works off battery power)?

I would think this would be a no-brainer and easy to manufacture with a nice margin to boot.

With china racing to make anything and everything, why is this not out there?

 

[jbrumberg]

I have seen a couple of videos on the internet explaining how to wire up a couple of lightbulbs and using this setup to discharge batteries.

 

[gomotomoto]

Still strange it's not commercially avail, no?


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[JasonV]

My guess would be the demand is not there.

 

[jbrumberg]

Yes, I would have to agree. This is just too simple and cheap an idea not to profit from. Put some irreplaceable cheap lights in a sealed metal box (make sure no one can open it), fireproof, insulate, and vent it a little, add the connectors for the batteries and sell it for $7.99USD. The component parts and labor would probably cost about $3.00 once production got going. That is ~$4.99USD potentially going into somebody's pocket (before taxes). If I was not so "challenged"; even I could do it:strawberry:

 

[gomotomoto]

My guess would be the demand is not there.

I don't know -- There are a lot of Lipos out there.

I'll do a Google patent search I guarantee there's pattens out the Ying Yang for this.


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[gomotomoto]

Ok, so it does exist:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/230830322793

It looks handmade, but it's the basic idea I was looking for. The bulbs go on/off intermittently so they don't overheat and I'm sure that helps keep the discharge rate reasonable.

I'll do some research to find out how I can determine the discharge rate and share the info if anyone cares to know.

I will be the guinea pig for this, price seems fair - as it's basically a battery medic (20 bucks) and 3 50W halogen bulbs and sockets along with some sort of relay adapter. Now that i write it all out like that the price is pretty fair. Maybe they make a few dollars max.

 

[Benjamin Kenobi]

I have a little Voltz voltage checker. Also balances and discharges. No power connections needed. Admittedly it would take a day to discharge a 6S lipo as it's only 0.1A discharge or something.

 

[gomotomoto]

I have a little Voltz voltage checker. Also balances and discharges. No power connections needed. Admittedly it would take a day to discharge a 6S lipo as it's only 0.1A discharge or something.

I have one of those too, but I've heard they can melt, and like you say, take forever. This device actually looks like it uses one of those things (battery medic), but burns off additional voltage by sending the energy to the bulbs.

 

[nuclear]

I don't know -- There are a lot of Lipos out there.

I'll do a Google patent search I guarantee there's pattens out the Ying Yang for this.


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mainly because it doesn't really serves a purpose
why would you want to discharge a lipo ? storage mode is already in mode charger and would be the main reason to discharge a lipo
it's not like nicd/nimh which had memory effect and needed to be drained before the next charge

 

[gomotomoto]

mainly because it doesn't really serves a purpose
why would you want to discharge a lipo ? storage mode is already in mode charger and would be the main reason to discharge a lipo
it's not like nicd/nimh which had memory effect and needed to be drained before the next charge

Well, I can argue that point for safety sake and also convenience sake.

Read up on LiPo batteries. You'll quickly find that you don't want to store them with a charge.

As far as having a discharge system that didn't require you to tote around a charger, power source is really helpful. Also, the discharge feature on the charger still needs power in to suck power out of the battery. So you'll need an outlet in order to do that. Also small chargers take awhile to run the discharge cycle. These little systems look like they can discharge in 10 minutes or less.

 

[nuclear]

Well, I can argue that point for safety sake and also convenience sake.

Read up on LiPo batteries. You'll quickly find that you don't want to store them with a charge.

As far as having a discharge system that didn't require you to tote around a charger, power source is really helpful. Also, the discharge feature on the charger still needs power in to suck power out of the battery. So you'll need an outlet in order to do that. Also small chargers take awhile to run the discharge cycle. These little systems look like they can discharge in 10 minutes or less.

i've read up quite a lot on lipo, funny that you say that without knowing anything about me
store means long time, not a day so it can wait until you have a power plug near you
and most of the time, if it's full, it's because your charged them and didn't fly
so don't charge them or fly and charge them to storage mode

 

[Benjamin Kenobi]

My lipos are charged daily to be honest. Jobs often come with very short notice so I have to be ready to go. No harm in keeping lipos charged for a few days. Mine are like new after a year, but I don't over-fly them, they come back with 3.8V or more per cell.

 

[Bartman]

use an old motor and esc mounted to a 2x4 and clamped someplace where you can't walk into it and where the noise won't be a nuisance. arrange it to get about .75 for a discharge rate and leave it there.

 

[gomotomoto]

How do you go about measuring the discharge rate?


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[TahoeTim]

+1 nuclear's reply. Why add another step unnecessarily? When you sit down to charge a pack, you are either going flying or putting them away after a day of flying. I either push charge or storage on my charger. I guess if you have many packs and crash early in the day, you will have a pile of unused packs.

Maybe you need another quad :tennis:

 

[gomotomoto]

Mainly weather.


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[kloner]

when i spend the kinda money on electricity that i am ($400-$800 a month) that rig is flying to discharge, even if it's just to check a gimbal tune, make sure the prop rebalance improved, etc.... Last time i discharge on my charger that every body already has, must have been 3-4 years ago... I'm in the sky 2-5 days a week. i can drop a pack to 3.8 a cell in minutes, a discharger takes days on a 10 amp hour pack...