What is your battery charger of choice?

[antigacho]

I'm stuck to this thread because I just order some new batteries so I need an upgrade for my little Imax B6 charger

According to my figures, I need a charger whit charge Circuit Power of 150 to 200 Watts

I don't have a big budget (just around $150 USD)
I don't mind to charge one battery one at the time
I prefer AC/DC charger since I don't want to mess with additional power supplies
I'm considering this options:

1) Hitec Power Peak E7 LiPo/LiHV/NiMH Battery Balance Charger (7S/20A/200W) HRC44265
2) EV-PEAK CD3 2X200W 25A Dual AC/DC 1-6S Lipo Battery Balance Charger Discharger With Touch Screen F1113
3) Ultra Power UP240AC DUO 240W LiPo LiFe NiMH Battery Dual Balance Charger Discharger UP240AC


Which other battery charger do you recommend for Circuit Power of 200 Watts?

final question
besides the longer charging time, Do you see any problem in charge your battery packs under 1c rating using a low wattage charger?

 

[cnk]

It's actually better for the batteries to charge them at a lower rate most times. As long as you have the time and monitor the charging. You never want to charge lipos unattended.

As for chargers, I fly helis as well so I use a Revolectrix PL8 and a DPL8. The PL8 uses a couple Dell server power supplies for 24V DC input and the DPL8 is built into a charging case with a pair of HP server power supplies and a Revolectrix bump controller.

They have a PL6 that is under $200. Revolectrix and the Junsi iChargers are probably the 2 best charger manufacturers on the market.

 

[cadon78]

I have a Reedy 1216-C2 charger. It’s works really well and allows 2 batteries to be charged independently and completely different even. The only thing I wish it had was the ability to display the internal restance for each cell.

 

[mikl]

I have a Hyperion charger that works very well. Not super powerful, but gets the job done for me. I run two classes with two different batteries when I race, so I bought a HiTec Pro2 charger. Works well but a couple of things are odd. On all of my batteries (2s, 3s and 4s) it shows the same cell with higher internal resistance. I sent it in to HiTec for an evaluation but they found no issues. Still seems odd to me. But it works.

 

[RC_User]

After a bit of research i just ordered a revolectrix gt8. My current hobbyking turngy 400w charger (I went cheap years ago) takes hours to balance after around 4.1v which is ridiculous. Today I stopped it before it was completely done with all 4 cells, the charger said cell 2 was 4.20v. my little voltage checker said it was 4.23v. I stuck my fluke rms meter on it for an accurate reading and it said 4.22v. Not cool... decided to get a quality charger but didn't want to spend over 100 bucks. Hope it'll be worth the price... I've heard the revolectrix are really good.

 

[RC_User]

Well the revo gt8 charger arrived but I didn't realize that it wouldnt come with ANY cables, and appears to be an open box return so it kind of left a sour taste. I also order up a Hitec x2 black because I liked the idea of dual port and bluetooth communication, and AC built in.
Unfortunately I didn't realize that the specs on the Hitec saying 100w x 2 is ONLY if you're connected to an ample DC power supply. Using the built in AC it wouldn't charge a 4s over like 3.3 amps... seriously misleading advertising if you ask me.

Help me out friends! I want an AC/DC charger that I can charge two 4s bats at 10A simultaneously with built in AC. I realize that all higher end chargers are DC only. if there is no AC/DC unit to meet my wants then I'll probably stick with my gt8.

Would the Hitec D7 do it?
http://hitecrcd.com/products/chargers/acdc-chargers/power-peak-d7-acdc-charging-station/product

 

[cadon78]

It should be able to do what you are looking to do. Matter of fact it looks very similar to my Reedy 1216-C2 which handles what you are looking for without even breaking a sweat. Also here is a decent run down on that charger from big squid.

Big Squid Rc

 

[RC_User]

It should be able to do what you are looking to do. Matter of fact it looks very similar to my Reedy 1216-C2 which handles what you are looking for without even breaking a sweat. Also here is a decent run down on that charger from big squid.

Big Squid Rc

Hey thanks for the reply. I looked at the reedy too and a protek... according to my calculations the reedy would max out around 8 amps on a 4s battery since its 120w per channel. Are you able to do more?

I just looked in the manual and it says at 4s the max charge rate is 7.1amps. 12a is only avail for 1 or 2s batts... I could still live with a 7amp charge but I may have a 6s bat in the future and 6s max charge rate is only 4.7a. Are you seeing something different?

 

[cadon78]

Hey thanks for the reply. I looked at the reedy too and a protek... according to my calculations the reedy would max out around 8 amps on a 4s battery since its 120w per channel. Are you able to do more?

I just looked in the manual and it says at 4s the max charge rate is 7.1amps. 12a is only avail for 1 or 2s batts... I could still live with a 7amp charge but I may have a 6s bat in the future and 6s max charge rate is only 4.7a. Are you seeing something different?

Well crap your right, I didn’t read the manual. I don’t have a 6s only a bunch of 2s and 4s. I usually only charge at 1c. I should have read the manual before I misrepresented the device my apologies. I do know there is an update for the firmware but I believe it is only for the ability to charge LiHV or whatever it’s called.

 

[RC_User]

Well crap your right, I didn’t read the manual. I don’t have a 6s only a bunch of 2s and 4s. I usually only charge at 1c. I should have read the manual before I misrepresented the device my apologies. I do know there is an update for the firmware but I believe it is only for the ability to charge LiHV or whatever it’s called.

Hey no worries just wanted to make sure I understood! Appreciate the help!

 

[Pauly]

With the amount of charging I do for racing I added this guy to the arsenal. Only 4 x 100W but will get the job done considering I primarily run 2S and 3S packs in large quantities lately and only charge at 1C. My only complaint is no IR testing, but other than that it's a solid charger. I've been using my buddies at the track lately just out of the conveniences that we pit side by side and it's plugged in with multiple ports open

 

[RC_User]

With the amount of charging I do for racing I added this guy to the arsenal. Only 4 x 100W but will get the job done considering I primarily run 2S and 3S packs in large quantities lately and only charge at 1C. My only complaint is no IR testing, but other than that it's a solid charger. I've been using my buddies at the track lately just out of the conveniences that we pit side by side and it's plugged in with multiple ports open

nice. perfect charger for 2-3s. i'm surprised that one doesn't do IR. im eyeballing the 625 duo 200w x 2. i kind of want one charger to do it all. although even with 200w according to my (possibly wrong) calculation would still only charge a 6s battery at around 6.5 amps. that's not bad though but I'd like to be able to do 1c on a 7400mah 6s (if i get one). i'm still on the fence about just keeping my 800w revolectrix so that i can charge at high amperage when i want to, i just really like the idea of built-in AC and charging more than one at a time.
i'm still waiting for an RMA to ship back that wimpy hitec x2. amain's support is really slow via email. ticks me off that it clearly states (6s/10a/100w) but using the built-in AC it's really 50w and 3amps at 4s...

 

[Chevys10zr2003]

. ticks me off that it clearly states (6s/10a/100w) but using the built-in AC it's really 50w and 3amps at 4s...

You would be amazed to find out that a lot of AC/DC chargers only allow full power on DC current. Some DC chargers only give full power above 18 or 24 volts too. You really need to read the fine print and look into them.

Your charger can do 6s and 10 amps....... just not at the same time. I ran into that with my X4 Plus charger and that's when I read up on chargers and started researching them more in depth.

 

[Pauly]

Little lacking on the power output, but nothing terrible. Didn't run the cycle long but it seemed to max out at around 4.3A with 6S. Pushing just under 96W. Bounced between 4.2 and 4.5 so I averaged it at 4.3A. Was charging a 4800mah Hobbystar 6S

Bout all she's got

 

[Toolshed1557]

I have the i charger 308 and is very happy with it. I think the only way to go for racing. It is very easy to use and set up for many diffferent batterys.

 

[RC_User]

i decided to hold onto my revolectrix GT8. After using it a bit I realized it has some nice features with being able to really dial in how it charges, stuff even the $250 protek charger doesn't do. The limit is my cheap 540w power supply but hopefully i'll be able to charge a 6s battery at 2c if the need ever comes.
i've heard the ichargers are super nice. super $ too, he he, probably worth it if you're a hard core racer!

 

[cnk]

i decided to hold onto my revolectrix GT8. After using it a bit I realized it has some nice features with being able to really dial in how it charges, stuff even the $250 protek charger doesn't do. The limit is my cheap 540w power supply but hopefully i'll be able to charge a 6s battery at 2c if the need ever comes.
i've heard the ichargers are super nice. super $ too, he he, probably worth it if you're a hard core racer!

You can purchase one of these and for the cost of a resistor, power cable, some wire and connectors, you'll have a 900W PS. You can wire 2 together for 24V 1800W. This is the same PS that is sold by Motiv or Team Trinity without the vinyl wrap.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-441830-...-437572-B21-/162991493403?hash=item25f30cd11b

 

[Chevys10zr2003]

i decided to hold onto my revolectrix GT8. After using it a bit I realized it has some nice features with being able to really dial in how it charges, stuff even the $250 protek charger doesn't do. The limit is my cheap 540w power supply but hopefully i'll be able to charge a 6s battery at 2c if the need ever comes.
i've heard the ichargers are super nice. super $ too, he he, probably worth it if you're a hard core racer!

Your 540 watt power supply should be good for charging a 6s battery at 21.4 amps in theory. So I would say 18-20 amps to be save. 540 watts/25.2 volts (6s battery at 4.2 volts per cell) = 21.43 amps.

 

[RC_User]

Your 540 watt power supply should be good for charging a 6s battery at 21.4 amps in theory. So I would say 18-20 amps to be save. 540 watts/25.2 volts (6s battery at 4.2 volts per cell) = 21.43 amps.

yep thx for the input, i figured out how it all worked after the hitec came up short. i figure around 18amps @ 6s it would do. hoping my hobbyking power supply hangs in there. the cost of quality ones are really high!

 

[Slevin]

This is what I am using. Seems to work pretty good.