TLP 4000 charger

[Nydilius]

I recently purchased this charger, and it came with a sad sad set of documentation. Fortunately I did manage to find a good post that answered all my questions about it but one.

It came with this 3 pronged DC power cable monstrosity that looks like an oven plug. Now, the outlet in the back of this charger easily fits an old PC power cable I have instead of "The Beast". I have set the charger itself to 110v, and the single piece of paper tells me that if the outlet doesn't match the wall socket then to get a simple adapter, but will this PC cable work just as well? or does the adapter actually alter the voltage somehow? (from AC to DC, or some other doomahicky? )

Would rather not have to go out and buy yet another tidbit if I can avoid it. And I swore when I got it that it was usable on the North American grids.

[Nova316]

I use a pc power cord for my TLC 4000c works like a charm

[Nydilius]

Originally Posted by Nova316

I use a pc power cord for my TLC 4000c works like a charm

Gravy, I thought that was the case. Just thought I would check just to be sure. (Karma hates me, I'm the only person on the planet who could buy a lotto ticket and wind up OWING money)

[Nova316]

Haha just make sure u dont keep it plug in all the time, and it'll be fine
Only have it on when u need it to be on

[Omi-san]

The adaptor from UK plug (Type G) to North American (Type B) only cost 2 or 3 bucks at "The Source".

[Nydilius]

How safe is it to charge a 1200mah stick off a car battery with this charger? I'm assuming that there is no way it will drain a car battery dry off 2 or 3 charges eh? Or should I keep the engine running to avoid a dead battery? (never was good with electronics)

And anyone have probs with this thing undercharging batteries? I charged the aforementioned stick battery using the lowest setting per a battery/charger faq I read earlier. It charged for about 1.5 - 2 hours then went to trickle charge and started beeping. "whee its done" I thought. 2 days later I stick it in the rifle, get through about 2.5 lowcaps and its done. (wasn't subjected to cold temps in the intern)

Haven't managed a full battery charge with this thing yet, and don't want to crank the settings and wreck a battery till I get some more informed info.

[swatt13]

the battery takes all the dumb out of the situation. its a peak charger so essentially you cant over charge your battery. however since its a peak charger, it doesnt "fill" up the battery. the best analogy i got was like filling a glass of beer, the foam makes the glass full, but settles down and theres more room for a charge, so when it peaks and goes back to trickle (beeping) just click it back to fast one more time to fill it all the way up.

i have found with this charger though every couple of times it will do a "dry" charge like you described (charge batt, but will either be dead first shot, or shortly after) dunno why... mostly happens with minis i found.

[Nydilius]

Originally Posted by swatt13

the battery takes all the dumb out of the situation. its a peak charger so essentially you cant over charge your battery. however since its a peak charger, it doesnt "fill" up the battery. the best analogy i got was like filling a glass of beer, the foam makes the glass full, but settles down and theres more room for a charge, so when it peaks and goes back to trickle (beeping) just click it back to fast one more time to fill it all the way up.

i have found with this charger though every couple of times it will do a "dry" charge like you described (charge batt, but will either be dead first shot, or shortly after) dunno why... mostly happens with minis i found.

Ahhh gravy. Was hoping it was just a fluke thing. Thanks muchly.

And kudos for the beer analogy! Assistance with a brewy twist. Gotta love that.

[Nydilius]

Originally Posted by Nydilius

Gravy, I thought that was the case. Just thought I would check just to be sure. (Karma hates me, I'm the only person on the planet who could buy a lotto ticket and wind up OWING money)

And the karma strikes!! A few weeks and the charger just doesnt work now. I discharge and that seems to work, battery is warm after, but i cant charge at all.

I plug in a battery and it just beeps every 2-3 seconds with the trickle charge light on. I fast charge (1-1.5a, tried with both my 1200mah and a new 1400mah intellect stick batteries) and it seems like its doing its thing, but after about 30 minutes it goes back to beeping-trickle and the battery is cold.

I checked the fuses and all is well. This has me totally stumped since it has all of 1 button and the dial on it. Not sure how to even trouble shoot this kind of thing. Have I got a lemon-charger on my hands (ie. time to buy a new one already), or is this some mind numbingly simple doo-dad that is striving to make me look like a gibbering tard?

addendum: After leaving the 1400mah in the charger for a few hours on trickle charge it DID get a partial charge.. didnt warm up at all, but worked quite well through a few low-caps. So the trickle charge is working just the fast charge does nothing.