Recommend me a battery charger

[BashingBrian]

I've probably said it before I can't remember as this post is getting long..!!

I use the ISDT T6 Lite, I can charge two 3s 5000mAh in parallel in 34 minutes..?
Have yet to charge my 6s 6000mAh packs with it, will report back when I have done so..??

 

[LibertyMKiii]

The gt500 duo?
It's basically the same cost as the I charger.

Great point, that seems to be the better deal. Only problem is I spent all my RC money on a large carbon fiber plate last night. I guess I'll be stuck with slow charging for a while.

 

[BashingBrian]

I've probably said it before I can't remember as this post is getting long..!!
I use the ISDT T6 Lite, I can charge two 3s 5000mAh in parallel in 34 minutes..?
Have yet to charge my 6s 6000mAh packs with it, will report back when I have done so..??

So I charged my 6s 6000mah packs last night, I'm well happy with the charger it did both batteries in parallel and only took 40 minutes..???

The setup I've got works so well I think, it was drawing 314w which as far as I know 6s need about 150w per pack.. its a 600w charger and 400w psu so not running at max and still has some headroom..??

Thanks @Jerry-rigged I read your article and learned a great deal and it paid off for me..???????

 

[slick2500]

So I charged my 6s 6000mah packs last night, I'm well happy with the charger it did both batteries in parallel and only took 40 minutes..???

The setup I've got works so well I think, it was drawing 314w which as far as I know 6s need about 150w per pack.. its a 600w charger and 400w psu so not running at max and still has some headroom..??

Thanks @Jerry-rigged I read your article and learned a great deal and it paid off for me..???????

A 5000mah 6s needs about 150w, so your 6000mah 6s would require a bit more. The simple math is 4.2 x the number of cells x capacity x 20% to account for inefficiency. So in your case about 180w.

 

[BashingBrian]

A 5000mah 6s needs about 150w, so your 6000mah 6s would require a bit more. The simple math is 4.2 x the number of cells x capacity x 20% to account for inefficiency. So in your case about 180w.

Cool..??

Must admit I didn't sit and watch it for the whole 40 minutes the 314w was in about the first 3 minutes, so it may have gone upto 360w..
I'll check more next time..??

 

[Doggpoundsmets]

ttps://www.toemen.nl/skyrc-duo-d100-acdc-lipo-lader-p-20632.html?osCsid=3q5hvek01tub26c71l4rd87ab5

Hello all

I was thinking to order this charger for 4s and 6s lipos .

A skyrc duo 100acdc

Good charger or? Any suggestions
Thanks

 

[Yonic]

note that you’ll only be able to charge one battery at a time. 100W is not enough for two batteries that are bigger than 2s

 

[GMballistic]

https://www.toemen.nl/skyrc-duo-d100-acdc-lipo-lader-p-20632.html?osCsid=3q5hvek01tub26c71l4rd87ab5

Hello all

I was thinking to order this charger for 4s and 6s lipos .

A skyrc duo 100acdc

Good charger or? Any suggestions
Thanks

That charger isn't really good enough for what you need imho.

For charging a 6S battery you will need a charger with at least 150W of power (25W per cell).
Have a read here: https://www.rctalk.com/how-to-choose-an-rc-lipo-charger/

I use this charger myself for my 6S battery: https://hobbyking.com/en_us/0620ac-...charger-discharger-built-in-ac-version-2.html

 

[Doggpoundsmets]

O that's good to hear in some way .

I must look for another charger now.

I thought this one gives me 2 times 100w but I think I'm wrong then.

I've read that article about which charger to buy but it is still difficult to get a good one with enough watt.

My budget for a charger is about 150 euros.

I'm gonna check the turnigy charger

 

[Lazy Bushman]

SkyRC D400 for me

 

[Saltystevo]

ttps://www.toemen.nl/skyrc-duo-d100-acdc-lipo-lader-p-20632.html?osCsid=3q5hvek01tub26c71l4rd87ab5

Hello all

I was thinking to order this charger for 4s and 6s lipos .

A skyrc duo 100acdc

Good charger or? Any suggestions
Thanks

I'd pass on that.

You need 125 watts minimum for one 6s as mentioned above. Pick a charger with 300 watts to 1000 watts and you should be good.

 

[Doggpoundsmets]

That charger isn't really good enough for what you need imho.

For charging a 6S battery you will need a charger with at least 150W of power (25W per cell).
Have a read here: https://www.rctalk.com/how-to-choose-an-rc-lipo-charger/

I use this charger myself for my 6S battery: https://hobbyking.com/en_us/0620ac-...charger-discharger-built-in-ac-version-2.html

The turnigy charger looks good only it's out of stock at hobbyking unfortunately..

And it said you need power supply for some of them models. How that works?

Let's see if I can order an skyrc d400 or similar.

Thanks for the replys

 

[olds97_lss]

The turnigy charger looks good only it's out of stock at hobbyking unfortunately..

And it said you need power supply for some of them models. How that works?

Let's see if I can order an skyrc d400 or similar.

Thanks for the replys

They have a DC only version as well:
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/0620-20a-300w-balance-charger-version-2.html
vs the AC/DC version:
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/0620ac-...charger-discharger-built-in-ac-version-2.html

The DC only is cheaper and probably smaller.

To run a DC charger, you need a DC PSU as well to run it.

This would probably be the bare minimum you would want if you were maxing out that DC versions capabilities:
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-reaktor-pro-350w-23a-power-supply-100-240v-ac.html

 

[Doggpoundsmets]

They have a DC only version as well:
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/0620-20a-300w-balance-charger-version-2.html
vs the AC/DC version:
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/0620ac-...charger-discharger-built-in-ac-version-2.html

The DC only is cheaper and probably smaller.

To run a DC charger, you need a DC PSU as well to run it.

This would probably be the bare minimum you would want if you were maxing out that DC versions capabilities:
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-reaktor-pro-350w-23a-power-supply-100-240v-ac.html

So if I order that DC charger and the power supply, I'm ready to load some lipo?

Do I need an adapter when the lipo got an ec5 or xt60 connection?
Thanks !

 

[olds97_lss]

You will need to make adapters or buy some, yes. Doesn't look like it comes with anything for plugging in the battery:
1 x Turnigy Reaktor 300W charger
1 x Alligator Clip Charge Lead
1 x Charge Lead - No Connector
1 x Large Clip Set
1 x Temperature Sensor
1 x Manual

Looking at the photo's on hobbyking:

The banana to no end leads would be what you would solder your preferred end onto. If you have multiple types of ends, you can get creative with a bit of extra wire and solder multiple ends on like I have done with some of my adapters. I have XT60, XT90, TRX on the banana's in the charger in my car. My bashing buddies ran XT90/XT60 while I ran traxxas, so I made adapters to help them out:

I don't know what the wires coming out of the left have on them. nothing? Alligator clips? 4mm banana? Dunno, but guessing that's where the DC input goes.

Looking at the PSU I linked to, doesn't appear it has any connectors either, just a power cable. Then you have to make/buy your own connector. Guessing 4mm banana to poke into the ends of the output terminals or use some other kind of end to lock down under the thumb nuts.

The charger may have banana type plugs on it already, but they aren't shown, to use with those big alligator clips to connect to a car battery.

 

[Doggpoundsmets]

You will need to make adapters or buy some, yes. Doesn't look like it comes with anything for plugging in the battery:
1 x Turnigy Reaktor 300W charger
1 x Alligator Clip Charge Lead
1 x Charge Lead - No Connector
1 x Large Clip Set
1 x Temperature Sensor
1 x Manual

Looking at the photo's on hobbyking:

The banana to no end leads would be what you would solder your preferred end onto. If you have multiple types of ends, you can get creative with a bit of extra wire and solder multiple ends on like I have done with some of my adapters. I have XT60, XT90, TRX on the banana's in the charger in my car. My bashing buddies ran XT90/XT60 while I ran traxxas, so I made adapters to help them out:

I don't know what the wires coming out of the left have on them. nothing? Alligator clips? 4mm banana? Dunno, but guessing that's where the DC input goes.

Looking at the PSU I linked to, doesn't appear it has any connectors either, just a power cable. Then you have to make/buy your own connector. Guessing 4mm banana to poke into the ends of the output terminals or use some other kind of end to lock down under the thumb nuts.

The charger may have banana type plugs on it already, but they aren't shown, to use with those big alligator clips to connect to a car battery.

Thanks for the excellent explanation !

You self got a very nice charger setup , looks good .

Let's see if I can order those things .
I'm not familiar with solder things but think the local electronic store can help me out on that .

Thanks again !

 

[Boamedt]

I have been reading and reading about batteries and chargers all day. I just bought a kraton v4 and i want to get a 5000mah 6s battery to run it. So im focusing on the charger right now. I like those reaktors 300w 20amp single(needs psu), the smc hota d6 plus duo,
https://www.smc-racing.net/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=541
the ultra power up120 duo
https://www.amazon.com/Ultra-Power-UP120AC-Balancing-Charger/dp/B00VOYR6MQ
or that isdt t6 lite(needs psu). I like the dual ones for later when i buy another battery. Im trying to keep it under $150 for a charger and those all pretty much hit it. Are the ones that use dc power supplies gona be better than the ac/dc(run on ac) ones? Or is their no reason not to go with the smc and add a dc psu later for better perfomance? Thanks guys

 

[olds97_lss]

I have been reading and reading about batteries and chargers all day. I just bought a kraton v4 and i want to get a 5000mah 6s battery to run it. So im focusing on the charger right now. I like those reaktors 300w 20amp single(needs psu), the smc hota d6 plus duo,
https://www.smc-racing.net/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=541
the ultra power up120 duo
https://www.amazon.com/Ultra-Power-UP120AC-Balancing-Charger/dp/B00VOYR6MQ
or that isdt t6 lite(needs psu). I like the dual ones for later when i buy another battery. Im trying to keep it under $150 for a charger and those all pretty much hit it. Are the ones that use dc power supplies gona be better than the ac/dc(run on ac) ones? Or is their no reason not to go with the smc and add a dc psu later for better perfomance? Thanks guys

The AC/DC ones add size/weight/potential failure/cost to a charger. Odds are, if something in a charger is going to die, it's the PSU.

The cheap UP charger is similar to my HTRC 150AC/DC Duo. It's a very cheap charger and I use it as my field charger wired in my car on DC only. It's buttons/screen are a bit flaky, so I don't mess with the buttons other to start/stop charging. At one point, one of the channels got stuck in some weird diagnostic mode and I fiddled with it for an hour of plugging it in, holding buttons, unplugging, etc. Eventually, it went back to normal and I haven't touched the +/- buttons since as they tend to be unpredictable and get stuck. This happened when my bashing buddy plugged his pack in before turning the charger on.

I would not buy it as my only charger.

If I had it to do all over again, I'd get a more capable dual/quad DC charger (probably 2 or 3 duals vs a quad and dual) and a DC PSU for in my home and probably the Hota D6 DC for my car. As it is, I typically charge 6 packs before I go out. Then I charge those as needed while out. I take a big truck and little truck (6S and 3s). I run dual 3S in my big and a larger 3S in my small for fitment reasons (5000/6200 vs 7200/7400).

I still have 2 trucks I run 4S in (dual 2S 7400mah/7200mah packs). I just don't drive them much anymore.

If I were to replace what I have in my house, I'd go with 2 or 3 of these:
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/0620duo-600w-charger-300w-x2-version-2.html

Or more likely 2 or three of these:
http://www.usastore.revolectrix.com/Products_2/GT500_Category/GT500DUO_2

Along with a 24V PSU:
http://lipoconnectionsolutions.com/Dell-24v-71A-1740w-Power-Supply-4mm-Bullet-Output-D2417404MM.htm

And the Hota D6 DC for my car, or be smarter and another one of these:
http://www.usastore.revolectrix.com/Products_2/GT500_Category/GT500DUO_2

I know the urge to go cheap is a nagging one, but in the end, if you think you will stick with the hobby and likely end up with multiple vehicles, it's more cost effective to spend a bit more now than to have to upgrade everything later.

As a starting point, go with this:
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/0620duo-600w-charger-300w-x2-version-2.html

Or this (probably a better option, especially for parallel charging later):
http://www.usastore.revolectrix.com/Products_2/GT500_Category/GT500DUO_2

and a 24V PSU (then you can get max watts out of the chargers), then later you can get parallel boards to charge 4 packs at once, or buy a second charger to add to the mix.

I know it's considerably more than you want to spend, but for $250, you get something that can probably get you by really well for the foreseeable future and know your not wasting your money.

 

[Boamedt]

Im not sure if i will end up with more than one vehicle. Im the kinda guy who will sell what he has to invest in another. Id rather have one badass car than two ok ones

 

[razorrc]

Im not sure if i will end up with more than one vehicle. Im the kinda guy who will sell what he has to invest in another. Id rather have one badass car than two ok ones

It's nice to have two cars in a hobby like RC cars, because usually there's at least one car that's broken!