Recommend me a battery charger

[NitroStar]

Good grief! I've just gotten through reading this entire thread! Soooooo is the best setup so far been the
"ISDT Q6 Pro Battgo Lipo Battery Charger/Discharger, Balance Charger Discharger 15A 300W"
And one of those big but 24v power supplies??

Or just get the big Prodigy 625?

Let's narrow this down for me! My brain hurts now. LOL I already have a Venom quad but it goes down to .2 amps when getting the last cells to get to 2.4 volts and takes forever to get all at 2.4 sometimes.

 

[PowerDubs]

I would (and did) take the Hota over the ISDT charger.

 

[tjf]

Depends on budget. I use a Junsi icharger duo, not the cheapest but one of the better options.

 

[NitroStar]

Depends on budget. I use a Junsi icharger duo, not the cheapest but one of the better options.

The two options Iisted are not cheap and the Venom Quad is $230 so anywhere in the neighborhood. I see nothing wrong with an iCharger 308 Duo maybe (which is best)? If it is the better option of what everybody has brought up so far. And this is all for 4s and 6s packs for these type vehicles on this board.

 

[NitroStar]

I would (and did) take the Hota over the ISDT charger.

Which model did you go with?

 

[PowerDubs]

I have the Hobbymate badged (same as the Hota) D6 Duo Pro.

If you want just the DC version and plan on using a power supply - about $90

If you want AC as well- they just released a new version that will do 150 x2 on AC instead of the 100w x2 mine does.

But look beyond just the power spec and look at the other features it does. Great package.

 

[tjf]

You need a power supply for the icharger. It is a very powerful charger that has high current drain for balancing making it faster. It is also extremely adjustable and can be set up for high discharge rates (useful if you can no longer run your fully charged batteries due to breakage or weather)

 

[Jerry-rigged]

I already have a Venom quad but it goes down to .2 amps when getting the last cells to get to 2.4 volts and takes forever to get all at 2.4 sometimes.

Yeah, this is normal. If you want this last 0.2v to go a bit faster, look at the spec for "balance discharge wattage " many low end chargers only have 5w or 10w, a few have more. Some of the better chargers have up to 120w. The bigger this wattage, the quicker the charger can balance the batteries.

 

[PowerDubs]

The ISDT Q6 has 1 amp balance current

The Icharger 308 has 1.2 amp per channel balance current.

The Hota/Hobbymate D6 / Duo Pro / D6 Plus family all have 1.6 amp balance current

So yea- power specs for 'charge' make a difference, and specs to finish balance which speeds up charge do was well.

Lots of stuff to consider if you don't want to throw the batteries on at 8am to go play at lunch.

Just like real cars- once you want to go fast, it gets complicated pretty quick. Miss a step and either get disappointing results even though certain parts are powerful- or stuff starts breaking.

 

[NitroStar]

The Hota/Hobbymate D6 / Duo Pro / D6 Plus family all have 1.6 amp balance current

So yea- power specs for 'charge' make a difference, and specs to finish balance which speeds up charge do was well.

Lots of stuff to consider if you don't want to throw the batteries on at 8am to go play at lunch.

Yea this is the only thing that I wished my Venom Quad done well. I bought some of the AOKoda 150w light bulb dischargers to speed the "I got 2 to 5 batteries still charged" fiasco up. Might get a couple more. The Hobbymate looks like the fastest actual finish charger available. I do not take my batts off charge until they are finished at 4.2v/cell. Or maybe it would hurt to take them off sooner due to the slower cells are the best ones and will run down the slowest. Because the fastest charged cells are the weakest ones, correct? That's what I notice.

 

[Saltystevo]

Good grief! I've just gotten through reading this entire thread! Soooooo is the best setup so far been the
"ISDT Q6 Pro Battgo Lipo Battery Charger/Discharger, Balance Charger Discharger 15A 300W"
And one of those big but 24v power supplies??

Or just get the big Prodigy 625?

Let's narrow this down for me! My brain hurts now. LOL I already have a Venom quad but it goes down to .2 amps when getting the last cells to get to 2.4 volts and takes forever to get all at 2.4 sometimes.

Haha , i feel your pain.
I recently have done alot of charger and power supply reading. Basically come up with your budget and they get the most powerful charger and power supply you can for your money.
With the help of the good people here i narrowed my search down to a GT500 DUO charger and Dell 24v power supply by Lipo Connection Solutions. Total price currently is $225 for both units which i think is a pretty good deal for the power you get.

 

[Jerry-rigged]

Yea this is the only thing that I wished my Venom Quad done well. I bought some of the AOKoda 150w light bulb dischargers to speed the "I got 2 to 5 batteries still charged" fiasco up. Might get a couple more. The Hobbymate looks like the fastest actual finish charger available. I do not take my batts off charge until they are finished at 4.2v/cell. Or maybe it would hurt to take them off sooner due to the slower cells are the best ones and will run down the slowest. Because the fastest charged cells are the weakest ones, correct? That's what I notice.

Yeah, if I am in a hurry, I wont wait for that last cell to get off of 4.19v. Sometime my charger will even show them all at 4.20 for 5 minutes before beeping... grrrr...

 

[RCROD]

My main go-to battery charger is the Turnigy Reaktor 20A, 300w, and it works great for the price.

It looks like Reaktor has a new dual AC/DC charger available. Although it is not super powerful, with 2x120w (240w) & 12A charger current for each port, it should be sufficient and easy to use for most users. Here is the link:
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-reaktor-120-duo-2x120w-balance-charger-ac-dc-us-plug.html

 

[Krod877]

Hi-tec black edition works amazing $109 ebay.

 

[Jerry-rigged]

Hi-tec black edition works amazing $109 ebay.

View attachment 31552View attachment 31553

So will it hit 5.2a (1C) charge rate with both of those 3s packs?

 

[Pilotguy90]

I am running an ISDT D2 dual charger capable of 12amps per battery a little more expensive but it has a very easy user interface and you don't have to carry a power supply the power supply is built into the charger. it will charge whatever you want to throw at it will just need adapters for your batteries

 

[Pilotguy90]

isdt-d2-200w10a-dual-charger.html


not sure why this website has it called a 10 amp charger it is a 12 amp charger and the picture shows that

 

[PowerDubs]

So will it hit 5.2a (1C) charge rate with both of those 3s packs?

According to the manufacturers website-

• Total Charge Circuit Power: 100 Watts AC Input / 200 Watts DC Input
• DC Output Power: 10-100 Watts
• Charge Current Range: 0.1 – 10.0 Amps x 2
• Discharge Current Range: 0.1 – 2.0 Amps x 2
• Discharge Current Power: 10 Watts x 2
• Current Drain for LiPo Balancing: 300mA per Cell

So if he is just plugging it into his house, he is getting 50w per channel max.

When they list spec @ 10a x2 who knows if that is ac or dc (prob dc)...

and at only .3 amp balance...going to be a while no matter what.

But hey- the box says Black Edition, Voice Guide, Bluetooth... must be awesome right?

(no ill will directed towards end user, more of a frustration that the manufacturers push flash fluff instead of actual real world important specs... same happens with audio gear, cars, and more...)

 

[PowerDubs]

isdt-d2-200w10a-dual-charger.html


not sure why this website has it called a 10 amp charger it is a 12 amp charger and the picture shows that

Claimed Specs-

Charge Current: 0.1-12.0A*2

Discharge Current: 0.1-3.0A*2

Max Charge Capacity: 200W

Max Discharge Capacity: 5W*2

Balancing Current: 1A/cell*2


Be aware people have had issues with the 2nd channel failing-

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?3008926-Inside-the-iSDT-D2-AC-DC-charger

 

[Jerry-rigged]

According to the manufacturers website-

• Total Charge Circuit Power: 100 Watts AC Input / 200 Watts DC Input
• DC Output Power: 10-100 Watts
• Charge Current Range: 0.1 – 10.0 Amps x 2
• Discharge Current Range: 0.1 – 2.0 Amps x 2
• Discharge Current Power: 10 Watts x 2
• Current Drain for LiPo Balancing: 300mA per Cell

So if he is just plugging it into his house, he is getting 50w per channel max.

When they list spec @ 10a x2 who knows if that is ac or dc (prob dc)...

and at only .3 amp balance...going to be a while no matter what.

But hey- the box says Black Edition, Voice Guide, Bluetooth... must be awesome right?

(no ill will directed towards end user, more of a frustration that the manufacturers push flash fluff instead of actual real world important specs... same happens with audio gear, cars, and more...)

Yeah, this is kind of my point. The charger only makes 50w on ac, but he need about 65w-75w to make 1c for the batteries he has connected. But "It works Great!"... SMH...


But maybe I am too nice. . I see people coming on here all the time and recommending under power chargers. I'm sure they mean well, but for the guy that ends up wasting 100 or $200 on a charger that can't push one see into his batteries, well sucks for them.