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San Diego
WINGMASTERS R/C CLUB, INC
AMA Charter #1615
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Sealed Lead Acid BatteriesA 12 volt sealed lead acid (SLA) battery with a minimum capacity of 7 amp-hours is recommended for small lithium based (Li-poly, LiMn, A123, etc) batteries (up to approximately 2500mahr). A sealed lead acid (SLA) battery with a minimum capacity of 12 amp-hours is recommended for small or medium lithium based batteries (up to approximately 4000 mahr). An SLA with a minimum capacity of 18 to 20 amp-hours is recommended for large lithium based batteries over 4000 mahr. The higher charge current used for the medium and larger capacity lithium based batteries demands that a larger capacity SLA battery be used. Also, the larger lithium based batteries require that more "energy" be put into them and a small SLA may only be able to charge a larger lithium based battery once before being depleted. A plug in "wall cube" type charger to recharge the sealed lead acid (SLA) battery is available at hobby shops like Hobby People for about $9.99. That type of charger is adequate to slow charge (15 to 24 hours) SLA's up to about 12 amp-hours. Larger SLA's would require a charger with a greater charge rate. Such chargers can be obtained from Gruber Power Products, Batteries Plus and probably from other sources such as American Battery. A Motorcycle battery type charger would also work for an SLA of 12 amp-hours or larger as long as one selected a charger that was capable of charging at no more than a few amps and automatically went into a trickle mode when the SLA was fully charged. The following is a partial list of sources for SLA batteries:
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