Hitec X4 Charger - "Input Vol Err"

[Drm31078]

Purchased a used Hitec X4 AC Plus and I am trying to balance charge a Lectron 5200 mah 3s Lipo. I have the charger plugged into a wall outlet (AC source). The battery is plugged into the balancing board and a deans power connector. The battery is recognized by the charger and I proceed to start the balance charge. After about 45 seconds of what appears to be charging, I get a "Input Vol Err".

I have swapped out the balance board and the deans connectors to see if it was the cables, but I still get the error message. I attached the charger to my car battery (DC source) and it charges the battery with no issues / no error message.

Did I buy a faulty charger?

Thanks!

 

[binaryterror]

Sounds like the built in power supply is bad, or possibly you have a ground issue at that plug in your house. Try another plug on another circuit, if its the same it's likely the power supply.

 

[svt923]

Sounds like a problem with the internal power supply which is not uncommon for AC/DC chargers. An external power supply to run your charger usually solves this problem (as you saw by hooking it up to your car battery) but that eliminates the convenience of AC/DC. The charger may be faulty but if the original owner always used DC power, they may have never known about the issue.

 

[Drm31078]

I agree with you guys.

I emailed hitec. Do you think they would warranty it? I have no proof of purchase.

I will try some other outlets too.

 

[svt923]

Hitec's support is really good about taking care of issues with servos, even if they are out of warranty or second hand. I'm not sure if they take the same approach with chargers or other electronics.

 

[Drm31078]

I just called them and the customer service rep agreed it sounded like the internal power supply. He basically said to send it in and they will take care of it for free, but "couldn't guarantee it on the phone". Sounds like pretty good service to me! I am going to send it in and see what happens.

 

[USP45]

I have sent 5 year old servo's in to Hitec and they have taken care of them which is one of among many reasons that I run Hitec almost exclusively...