Recommend me a battery charger

[Boamedt]

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

Im kinda getting followers who want to join the rc world after seeing me have so much fun. My dad and i bought an sct, now i ordered a v4 kraton, my brother in law has been looking at getting one now and my other friend too. Im an oddly over patient person who does mind ordering parts because the local store never has them. I pretty much only have time on weekends to bash around. So if i break a part, i order it monday and its usually here for me by the next weekend so i never really miss any time with the car. I guess thats not the norm, but i can really only afford one at a time

 

[Saltystevo]

Im kinda getting followers who want to join the rc world after seeing me have so much fun. My dad and i bought an sct, now i ordered a v4 kraton, my brother in law has been looking at getting one now and my other friend too. Im an oddly over patient person who does mind ordering parts because the local store never has them. I pretty much only have time on weekends to bash around. So if i break a part, i order it monday and its usually here for me by the next weekend so i never really miss any time with the car. I guess thats not the norm, but i can really only afford one at a time

You don't need to get something expensive. I've been thinking about the 120a cheetah for around $250... Looks impressive and great reviews.

 

[Boamedt]

Well its been awhile since i played with rc cars, so my dad and i bought a redcat camo tt becuse we had never raced a sct and wanted to check it out. Of course i moved on quickly but my dad loves the little redcat. So hes buying me out and i already ordered the kraton. I fell in love with one at a local hobby store and have to have one of course. I think you guys are right and i should just bite the bullet and buy one of those mentioned above

 

[Boamedt]

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.

Ok i bit the bullet and ordered that gt500 duo and the lipo connections power supply u mentioned. Now do i need a balance board or two? Some bannana plugs to what evever connector, to connect the battery? And what connects that power supply to the charger? What cable is that?

 

[olds97_lss]

Ok i bit the bullet and ordered that gt500 duo and the lipo connections power supply u mentioned. Now do i need a balance board or two? Some bannana plugs to what evever connector, to connect the battery? And what connects that power supply to the charger? What cable is that?

Sorry, I don't know what comes with it as I haven't bought that one yet. It has balance plugs on the front, so you can use those, but I usually buy extensions and variable plug boards to use on my chargers so I'm not constantly poking at the ports on the charger.

Since they don't show photo's of cables or anything, it may not come with anything at all except for the ec5 input connector that is mentioned. Which means you need to get banana plugs (also not sure of the size, just found the ones they recommend) and make your own leads to plug into your packs with whatever plug you use.
http://www.usastore.revolectrix.com...rLab-Stackable-40A-Safety-Banana-Plug-Cable_2

I'm assuming a standard banana plug will work too, which you can find with different battery plugs:
https://www.amazon.com/Connector-Banana-Battery-Charge-Adapter/dp/B01MQYFN4T
https://www.amazon.com/Connector-Banana-Battery-Charge-Adapter/dp/B00XQ91LNM
https://www.amazon.com/FLY-RC-Traxxas-Connector-Plated/dp/B07C2QV9WF

If your only going to go up to 6S, you should be able to plug a 6S balance board into the outputs to give you a little room to work. I use ones like these on my 6S charger:
https://www.amazon.com/Apex-RC-Products-Battery-Charger/dp/B01BQUVMZ4

My hitec charger does up to 7S I think and it came with some massive boards that are cumbersome that have 2 types of balance plugs for 2s-7s on them.

Considering the capability of that charger, you may want to go with a set of parallel charge boards from the start:
https://www.amazon.com/Paraboard-Parallel-Charging-Board-Connectors/dp/B0748MHB6R

I'm assuming those banana connectors will plug into the charger directly as they seem somewhat universal. You can find boards like that that have deans, ec5, xt90, xt60 etc on them for use with whatever you use.

 

[Saltystevo]

Ok i bit the bullet and ordered that gt500 duo and the lipo connections power supply u mentioned. Now do i need a balance board or two? Some bannana plugs to what evever connector, to connect the battery? And what connects that power supply to the charger? What cable is that?

Charger doesn't come with anything.
You will need a ec5 plug to connect to power supply or you can just cut it off depending on your new Power supply. Which power supply were you getting?

To charge you only need the 4mm banana to xt90 (or your battery plug type if different)

The balance board is not needed. I would recommend getting balance plug extensions though.... About 18 inches or larger and same length for banana plug.

 

[Boamedt]

Charger doesn't come with anything.
You will need a ec5 plug to connect to power supply or you can just cut it off depending on your new Power supply. Which power supply were you getting?

To charge you only need the 4mm banana to xt90 (or your battery plug type if different)

The balance board is not needed. I would recommend getting balance plug extensions though.... About 18 inches or larger and same length for banana plug.

I ended up with this 24v lipo connections one
http://lipoconnectionsolutions.com/Dell-24v-71A-1740w-Power-Supply-4mm-Bullet-Output-D2417404MM.htm

 

[Saltystevo]

I ended up with this 24v lipo connections one
http://lipoconnectionsolutions.com/Dell-24v-71A-1740w-Power-Supply-4mm-Bullet-Output-D2417404MM.htm

Dude, return that immediately!!
I have the gt500 duo and originally ordered the Dell PS... For some reason it doesn't work with this charger. The guy said I was the third person to have issues with this combo. That PS works fine apparently with most other chargers but not this one. When it happened to me I mentioned to him to update his website so it wouldn't happen to anyone else.

Basically he said if I'm remembering correctly that revolux uses a super powerful capacitor and it puts the dell into safe mode right after turning on.

This is what I ended up with and it works great.

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-1080w-100-120v-power-supply-13-8v-18v-60amp.html

 

[Boamedt]

Dude, return that immediately!!
I have the gt500 duo and originally ordered the Dell PS... For some reason it doesn't work with this charger. The guy said I was the third person to have issues with this combo. That PS works fine apparently with most other chargers but not this one. When it happened to me I mentioned to him to update his website so it wouldn't happen to anyone else.

Basically he said if I'm remembering correctly that revolux uses a super powerful capacitor and it puts the dell into safe mode right after turning on.

This is what I ended up with and it works great.

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-1080w-100-120v-power-supply-13-8v-18v-60amp.html
View attachment 37573

Well that sucks a big one. Im thinking the one you got will have to do. Calling lipo connections right now

 

[Boamedt]

Called and cancelled it, they said there other power supplies should work fine. Should i just get a different 24v psu from them? Or do you think the turnigy would be better

 

[olds97_lss]

Well that sucks a big one. Im thinking the one you got will have to do. Calling lipo connections right now

I'm sorry to send you down that path. Glad I know that now as it's something I would have likely eventually bought.

 

[Saltystevo]

Called and cancelled it, they said there other power supplies should work fine. Should i just get a different 24v psu from them? Or do you think the turnigy would be better

What I like about the turnigy is its basically the exact amount of watts that charger can handle. Those other ps come with alot of watts but you'll never be a me to use them.
My other issue was transportation. You really need to make a case for that power supply on the go. My turnigy just goes in my toolbox with charger. I just feel it's easier to deal with and it's a solid piece.
I would go with the turnigy or any other rc dedicated unit vs the power supplies

 

[Boamedt]

I

What I like about the turnigy is its basically the exact amount of watts that charger can handle. Those other ps come with alot of watts but you'll never be a me to use them.
My other issue was transportation. You really need to make a case for that power supply on the go. My turnigy just goes in my toolbox with charger. I just feel it's easier to deal with and it's a solid piece.
I would go with the turnigy or any other rc dedicated unit vs the power supplies

Bought the turnigy, thanks saltystevo

 

[Saltystevo]

I

Bought the turnigy, thanks saltystevo

Good stuff, no problem. I went through a little hell with choosing my charging setup. A few hicuos but now I'm really happy with my gt500 duo and turnigy 1080.
Feel free to ask me any questions.
Also what wires did you order so far?

 

[Boamedt]

Good stuff, no problem. I went through a little hell with choosing my charging setup. A few hicuos but now I'm really happy with my gt500 duo and turnigy 1080.
Feel free to ask me any questions.
Also what wires did you order so far?

Nothin so far, i figured i can get them locally.
I bought an smc 4500 mah 90c battery...kinda thinking i should have bought the bigger 5400 one...maybe next time. It has the ec5 connection to hook up with the v4 kraton. I guess i need a bannana to ec5, and a longer balance cable, and whatever wires goto the changer and dc unit...im still kinda confused on that but i will figure it out when they show up. Im getting the charger fri, kraton mon, battery tues, and im not sure if there is an eta for the dc psu yet.

 

[olds97_lss]

Good stuff, no problem. I went through a little hell with choosing my charging setup. A few hicuos but now I'm really happy with my gt500 duo and turnigy 1080.
Feel free to ask me any questions.
Also what wires did you order so far?

Just curious, does that GT500 duo put 25A per port out? It's hard to tell reading the specs and the manual that's linked isn't for the duo, it's for the single. And you do need 18V+ to get the 500W per port out of it, don't you?

 

[Captain Dirt]

Just curious, does that GT500 duo put 25A per port out? It's hard to tell reading the specs and the manual that's linked isn't for the duo, it's for the single. And you do need 18V+ to get the 500W per port out of it, don't you?

The GT500Duo is listed as 20A per channel output. To get the maximum output you'd need 24VDC input.

http://www.revolectrix.com/GT500DUO_features_tab.htm

 

[Saltystevo]

Just curious, does that GT500 duo put 25A per port out? It's hard to tell reading the specs and the manual that's linked isn't for the duo, it's for the single. And you do need 18V+ to get the 500W per port out of it, don't you?

It can be used with various Amp supply but 24 Amp would be the best. The charger itself is a 20 Amp output per side. The duo is basically two gt500 chargers side by side in one case. So if you want to charge a battery on 4c you would need 20 amps which is more then enough and I really haven't seen anyone charging batteries on that level.
Don't think of the watts in the charger as it doesn't have any. The charger is just able to charge up to 500 watts. So yes you would want a power supply to be at least 1000 watts to get the most out of your charger.
So what c are your batteries capable of?

 

[Saltystevo]

Nothin so far, i figured i can get them locally.
I bought an smc 4500 mah 90c battery...kinda thinking i should have bought the bigger 5400 one...maybe next time. It has the ec5 connection to hook up with the v4 kraton. I guess i need a bannana to ec5, and a longer balance cable, and whatever wires goto the changer and dc unit...im still kinda confused on that but i will figure it out when they show up. Im getting the charger fri, kraton mon, battery tues, and im not sure if there is an eta for the dc psu yet.

You need these items...
4mm banana to ec5 which goes from charger to battery. The cable is the charging cable.
I recommend 18" or longer. I got my wires in 18" and since I charge in a fire proof box I wish I got longer ones. 24" for me would be great. If you plan on just using a lipo fire bag then 18" is good.

Balance cable. This cable allows charger to monitor and charge each cell in your battery separately.
Goes from charger to battery.
Get a 6s or 8s. I got a 6s since I don't use 8s batteries. The length amount is same as above

Male EC5 connector with wire goes from power supply to charger.
It's not need but recommended.
You can just cut the ec5 connector off your new gt500 charger.... That's not nice?
Or get this and the end with bare wires gets attached with the screw clamp on power supply?
I'd get this at a 12" or 18"
Most likely you'll have to buy ec5 connectors and wire separately. The gauage in this Pic is not correct. You will need a larger gage wire. Email revolux and ask them what gauage wire they use coming out of the charger. The wire you buy should be the same gauge.

 

[DetroitSlim]

HITec Multicharger 2x700 1400w