My Esky LiPo charger adaptor blasted (bang+smoke) last night at around 12 pm. And this is the second time it has happened. 
Has anyone experienced this too? Could there be a problem with the Esky charger? The LiPo voltage before I plugged it for charging was 12V.
Both the times all that blew up was a capacitor. I'm guessing it could be because of overloading.
Can I safely use a transformer based adaptor instead?   

Hi Swapnil, I would suggest to buy a PC SMPS @ 300W and make 12V Power supply out of it. You will get 12V 15Amp stable and relaible output. I bout old 450W SMPC for Rs.250 which I am using for my Icharger 106B+

Hello Netsecrets..

Where do you fly ?

So no one has ever faced this problem before???

My adapter didnt blow, but if i dont connect it to anything the light stay, and when i connect it to the charger i106B the adapter flickers and the charger shuts down.
it was an 18V 1Amp adapter and i was charging a NiCd at 1A. so im guessing it blew.

I was hoping for more response from seniors to see if this is a general problem. I guess it's an overloading problem. Hope someone clears this up...

What current was being drawn by the charger ?  In other words, at how many amps were you charging the 3s lipo ?  If the power supply is not rated for those many amps, it would get overloaded.

Swapnil,

Your house is near to the power supply transformer (Actually cable from Transformer length to your house )is less and you got some overvoltage I think. Generally Transformer based adapters are designed to operate upto 250 volt (RMS).

The voltage is higher during off peak hour specially in night. So, next time buy an 12 volt adapter that can operate from 300 Volts (Marked 270 volt) and having more current capacity.

And I recommend you to avoid charging specially at night.

Quote from: anwar on June 27, 2011, 02:03:20 AM
...at how many amps were you charging the 3s lipo ? 

1 A for a 1000 mAH LiPo, similar to the 1st one bought from Sai sir. I think that I should have gone for a higher amp rating. I do have a spare PC SMPS, will try it.

Quote from: KALYANPRODHAN on June 27, 2011, 02:44:41 AM
Swapnil,

Your house is near to the power supply transformer (Actually cable from Transformer length to your house )is less and you got some overvoltage I think...

And I recommend you to avoid charging specially at night.

Yes, indeed! My house is just beside the power supply transformer! I guess that's the real problem. It blew my refridgerator PCB too last month! Should I use a stabilizer for my LiPo charger?

And, charging at night was foolish but I wanted to maiden my plane in the morning. Will avoid doing that from now on.
Thanks sir!

high voltage can b a cause of ur smoking supply..
in past , my 2 smps supplies wasted by  high voltage..
here , normally voltage can reach sometimes 270v+.

Yeah, I guess the nearby transformer's the devil!

should we also use a spike strip or a stabilizer?

Excess voltage on your mains was certainly the cause. A stabiliser MAY help if the voltage changes are not very sudden and will also depend on the type of stabiliser. Stay away from "spikebusters".

O.K. Looks like a stabilizer is the way to go then!
Mr. wallet's gonna have to be rid of another bunch of hundie sticks!   

whats wrong with spikebusters?

A spike-buster is nothing but a power distribution box with a small circuit and a fuse in it. It blocks the spikes (sudden high-voltage changes) which occur while running big motors or any other heavy electric equipment. It cannot regulate or stabilize the incoming voltage. Its output voltage is always equal to input voltage.

A stabilizer stabilizes the output voltage (i.e always gives a constant voltage output if the input voltage is within the range) and ensures maximum life period for the equipments. It also protects from the high voltage spikes like spike buster.

But spikebuster wont do any harm? Added protection?
all said and done i just got my new adapter and i have connected it through my UPS.

UPS... COOL!

I use a SMPS to supply voltage both to the charger as well to the hotwire foam cutter.

Are you referring to a PC SMPS?

Quote from: naatumach on June 27, 2011, 01:17:33 PM
But spikebuster wont do any harm? Added protection?
all said and done i just got my new adapter and i have connected it through my UPS.

It will not do harm but will not help much either. It can only absorb, momentary spikes, not surges.

UPS will not help at all unless it is an "online" type.. And these are expensive.

Quote from: Swapnil on June 27, 2011, 02:54:05 PM
Are you referring to a PC SMPS?

Yes Swapnil, a standard PC SMPS. Normally, these would not function unless they are attached to mother boards, however there are well documented materials on the net that tell you how to bypass this sensor. Any smps works on a wide voltage range and beyond that has some protection features as well.

Quote from: Swapnil on June 27, 2011, 12:02:22 PM

A stabilizer stabilizes the output voltage (i.e always gives a constant voltage output if the input voltage is within the range) and ensures maximum life period for the equipments. It also protects from the high voltage spikes like spike buster.

All stabilisers do not give a constant output voltage. Most of the ones commonly used for appliances just reduce/increase the supply by about 20V as the supply goes out of limits. These also do not protect against spikes.

Servo controlled stabilisers and CVT transformers will give a constant voltage but at a significantly higher cost. A laptop type of supply is a practical option for most of our applications. It will give a regulated output for an input range from about 100 - 270V.

Okay then, will a 12V, 5A 'laptop type of supply' be good enough?