Hota S6 400 watts on AC power!?

[KnowAir]

Hey all, just stumbled acrossed this charger yesterday. Anyone have one yet? Specs are pretty stout it seems..400 watts available for 2 channels from AC power
https://www.racedayquads.com/products/hota-s6-400w-15a-1-6s-dual-channel-ac-dc-smart-charger

 

[dure16]

Great specs. I like my Hota d6 plus for the most part. Only one major complaint - the specs on my charger list a 15W discharge rate and that is simply not true. It will only discharge at a maximum of 5.0W.

Sharing since the charger you linked also states a 15W discharge rate. I wonder if that’s accurate.

Hota customer support is nonexistent by the way. There is only an email address and I haven’t received a single response after trying several times.

 

[KnowAir]

Great specs. I like my Hota d6 plus for the most part. Only one major complaint - the specs on my charger list a 15W discharge rate and that is simply not true. It will only discharge at a maximum of 5.0W.

Sharing since the charger you linked also states a 15W discharge rate. I wonder if that’s accurate.

Hota customer support is nonexistent by the way. There is only an email address and I haven’t received a single response after trying several times.

I believe that.. both of your statements I mean..
The discharge rating is likely unatainable with a multi cell pack which we all use, I mean no one uses 1s in an rc car or truck..not certain about the manufacturers claim vs real world use but sounds like marketing 101 to me..
The other, customer service..well, that costs extra
I'd speculate that this is why we don't really see Hota or ISDT chargers in the LHS, there just isn't any real support with these china direct products?
Still, even with these issues, the available tech and features for the price is just unavailable from companies such as Spektrum or TRX at any price..what's TRX charge for a 200 watt charger? Pretty sure its well over $200.
For that price, I'll forego the support

Edit: My apologies.. the TRA2973 200 watt dual channel charger can be had for a mere $170! 2-4s only though..

 

[Jerry-rigged]

My question -

• Discharge Power:
  • Internal discharge: 15Wx2(balance port 10Wx2)
  • External discharge: 325Wx2

What is External Discharge? Would be nice to have 325w to dump packs after a failed bash session.

 

[KnowAir]

My question -

• Discharge Power:
  • Internal discharge: 15Wx2(balance port 10Wx2)
  • External discharge: 325Wx2

What is External Discharge? Would be nice to have 325w to dump packs after a failed bash session.

It sure would!!
I like this guy's delivery, simple terms..I'm a simple guy
But, based on his analogy, a chargers "discharge" capabilities should match the chargers balance charge current. I suppose it does match, however it's divided by the number of cells connected?

 

[dure16]

What is External Discharge? Would be nice to have 325w to dump packs after a failed bash session.

Using an external resistor. Here's a snip from my charger's manual:

 

[Hector_Fisher]

My question -

• Discharge Power:
  • Internal discharge: 15Wx2(balance port 10Wx2)
  • External discharge: 325Wx2

What is External Discharge? Would be nice to have 325w to dump packs after a failed bash session.

It's more of a DIY thing per the above post. I've done some looking to see how hard it would be to set up. It would definitely be nice to be able to discharge batteries faster. But it's also no small task to get rid of 300 or 600W of heat efficiently or quickly. If you're running two packs on your 6s trucks like me, that means getting a series adapter, several large resistors with heatsink, some way to mount them, and then lots and lots of fans.
https://www.amazon.com/Comidox-Aluminum-Housed-Wirewound-Resistor/dp/B077ZMFZM6/

I gave up on the idea and just use the 15W on the hota to work it's magic over a few hours.

Great specs. I like my Hota d6 plus for the most part. Only one major complaint - the specs on my charger list a 15W discharge rate and that is simply not true. It will only discharge at a maximum of 5.0W.

Sharing since the charger you linked also states a 15W discharge rate. I wonder if that’s accurate.

Hota customer support is nonexistent by the way. There is only an email address and I haven’t received a single response after trying several times.

I'm getting 15W of discharge per channel on my D6+. The amperage obviously varies by what voltage is left on the pack or how many cells the pack has, but the power always stays at ~15W per channel.

 

[KnowAir]

60 amps would bring em down pretty quick?

This guy has some great content IMO

 

[dure16]

I'm getting 15W of discharge per channel on my D6+. The amperage obviously varies by what voltage is left on the pack or how many cells the pack has, but the power always stays at ~15W per channel.

Interesting. Which version of firmware do you have?

 

[Hector_Fisher]

Interesting. Which version of firmware do you have?

Not sure?
It says HW 1.0.1, LD 1.0.4, and SW 1.0.15 on the system info page. Do any of those mean the firmware version?

 

[dure16]

Okay I have software version 1.0.20. I'd assume that is newer, but the only software version on Hota's support page is 1.0.15 like you have.

Does everything work properly on your charger? I may try to upload that software to get the 15W discharge rate.

 

[Hector_Fisher]

Does everything work properly on your charger? I may try to upload that software to get the 15W discharge rate.

Yep
You can load up new firmware? I guess that makes sense, I just figured that these were "dumb" enough machines to not be able to do that kind of stuff. I've never had any issues doing anything I need. Storage, discharge, charge. Changing settings. Etc.

Very curious why you couldn't get 15w. Tbh, 15w isn't that much better. My old b6ac does 15w if I'm not mistaken, and it doesn't even have a fan. Are your fans running when you start a discharge cycle?

Edit: actually looking into it, the b6ac only looks like it does 5w discharge.

 

[Boodaggy]

I have my own discharge bank I built, can sustain 550 watts without issue. I use it on my icharger which supports 1000 watts external discharge.

 

[Hector_Fisher]

Okay I have software version 1.0.20. I'd assume that is newer, but the only software version on Hota's support page is 1.0.15 like you have.

Does everything work properly on your charger? I may try to upload that software to get the 15W discharge rate.

I think you may be on to something actually. Just dropped in to check on the discharge of some batteries this evening. They were at 5w. Then after a few minutes, the amp didn't change, but the "power" went up to 15-16w. Then after 30 seconds it went back down to 5w. If you do the math, P = V x I, power equal voltage times current. Voltage didn't change and neither did amps.... so I'm confused.
Look at the times stamps for the discharge on these pics:

 

[Adiabatic]

I think it uses both the main and balance leads to discharge, so maybe it's only showing the current from one but correctly displaying the total power. I don't remember if mine does the same.

 

[dure16]

I think you may be on to something actually. Just dropped in to check on the discharge of some batteries this evening. They were at 5w. Then after a few minutes, the amp didn't change, but the "power" went up to 15-16w. Then after 30 seconds it went back down to 5w. If you do the math, P = V x I, power equal voltage times current. Voltage didn't change and neither did amps.... so I'm confused.
Look at the times stamps for the discharge on these pics:

Yeah you're only getting 5W like me. Frustrating.

I think it uses both the main and balance leads to discharge, so maybe it's only showing the current from one but correctly displaying the total power. I don't remember if mine does the same.

Interesting point. Hadn't thought of that. Not sure how I'd test it.

 

[Hector_Fisher]

Yeah you're only getting 5W like me. Frustrating.

Interesting point. Hadn't thought of that. Not sure how I'd test it.

I think it uses both the main and balance leads to discharge, so maybe it's only showing the current from one but correctly displaying the total power. I don't remember if mine does the same.

Possibly. I have a sneaky suspicion it's one of those "up to 15w discharge" situations.

If I'm doing the math right here, using my numbers from the picture above that would equate to roughly 0.7 amps, not what is shown. Now if you're around 11 to 12v that's about 8w. So higher, but still not hitting 15w.

Either way. It's slow.

 

[KnowAir]

That's unfortunate that it takes so long to discharge.. i have used my imax to discharge in the past. I gave up,now if I need to bring my batteries down for storage I just put them in a rig and hammer down for 5 or 10 minutes to get them close. I know it's not always feasible, but I don't worry about leaving batteries full for a couple days. Never had a problem(ignorance is bliss)..✌

 

[Skinso]

Just came across this charger too, I’ve the icharger 206b which will charge 2 x 3s lipos but not 2 x 4s the Hota will charge 2 x 4s at a time, whoever can do the math on this what’s the rough charging time for 2 4s 5000mah?

 

[RCnoobfastlearner]

SkyRc makes a 250w discharger. Grabbed one awhile back for around $70-$80 if I remember correctly. Life saver.