Recommend me a battery charger

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Lovestricken said:
Man please be careful with a charger like that. It's a big daddy charger. Just because it can jump start a car doesn't mean your lipos can. Only charge at the rate a battery can handle. I wish I had a charger like that lol.
That thing can charge 12 batteries at once easily. Not exaggerating lmao
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Yeah, could safely parallel charge 5 6S 5000mah packs on each port at 1C! (25A/555W total needed)
 
That charger is too scary for a newb like me!
Kindof an OLB too! My last electric is a '91 Tamiya Blackfoot! Recently a nitro guy that fell out of touch for a year or three only to find nitro kindof died. Almost certainly going to buy a 6s Kraton. After hours of research it seems a PSU is the best place to put the majority of my $. If you buy a quality PS, you can potentially power a very nice charger or chargers with it for relatively minimal investment on the charger side of things? Looking at around 1000 watt 50-60 amp PSU to give flexibility for 8s in the future? Fill in the blank on your favorite DC charger. Thinking GT500 DUO and said turnigy PS from PG 19 of this thread. Thoughts or suggestions appreciated!
 
I really wish more companies made high wattage 4 channel chargers, all the good ones are either single or dual channel. Sure you can Para charge but it would just be nicer to actually have 4 channels and like 500+w per channel.
 
slick2500 said:
I really wish more companies made high wattage 4 channel chargers, all the good ones are either single or dual channel. Sure you can Para charge but it would just be nicer to actually have 4 channels and like 500+w per channel.
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While I do agree I see why they don't. If you pull 500 watts off of each channel and there are 4 channels you need a 2000+ watt power supply. So that would be pulling 16.66 amps on a 120v home circuit which could blow some home circuits. The safe way to do it would to make the power supply run on 240v so you are only pulling 8.33 amps.

I know that I wouldn't install a dedicated 240v line for my rc charger and I'm not going to unplug my clothes dryer to charge my lipos lol.
 
chevys10zr2003 said:
While I do agree I see why they don't. If you pull 500 watts off of each channel and there are 4 channels you need a 2000+ watt power supply. So that would be pulling 16.66 amps on a 120v home circuit which could blow some home circuits. The safe way to do it would to make the power supply run on 240v so you are only pulling 8.33 amps.

I know that I wouldn't install a dedicated 240v line for my rc charger and I'm not going to unplug my clothes dryer to charge my lipos lol.
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Well since I wired my house I have all 20 amp breakers in my basement and several dedicated 20 amp circuits at my work station. So I would not have an issue if they made one.
 
BigKid said:
Well since I wired my house I have all 20 amp breakers in my basement and several dedicated 20 amp circuits at my work station. So I would not have an issue if they made one.
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You probably wouldn't, but a lot of people probably would since most breakers have more than just the one outlet on a breaker and you would pretty much need nothing else on that breaker.

Also, with a little google search I found that while most wiring and breakers are good for 20 amps, most outlets are only good for 15 amps unless you have the "T" outlets. I've seen them, but not very common as very few things require that high of amperage from one outlet that I've seen.

But my guess is more that they aren't going to design a charger that may run into problems on most people standard electrical systems.

Screenshot_20191204-155132_Chrome.jpg
 
Lovestricken said:
Man please be careful with a charger like that. It's a big daddy charger. Just because it can jump start a car doesn't mean your lipos can. Only charge at the rate a battery can handle. I wish I had a charger like that lol.
That thing can charge 12 batteries at once easily. Not exaggerating lmao
Click to expand...

Yeah for sure will be safe. I have read the article Rdub posted at the beginning. Will read it again. Will read about the Lipos. Be sure to completely understand how to use the charger. I work on mechanical equipment with 480 volts and hundreds of amps. I know all to well to respect safety.

I started off with Traxxas so everything was basically plug and play. But I am looking forward to the Kraton and Granite.
chevys10zr2003 said:
You probably wouldn't, but a lot of people probably would since most breakers have more than just the one outlet on a breaker and you would pretty much need nothing else on that breaker.

Also, with a little google search I found that while most wiring and breakers are good for 20 amps, most outlets are only good for 15 amps unless you have the "T" outlets. I've seen them, but not very common as very few things require that high of amperage from one outlet that I've seen.

But my guess is more that they aren't going to design a charger that may run into problems on most people standard electrical systems.

View attachment 56216
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Yeah most people won't. My guess is someone will run to home depot and by a 20 amp outlet and slap it not know what they are doing. Then continuously reset the breaker till it fails or a fire starts. I have run into some people at the local hardware store looking to do some stupid stuff.

If anyone has had their kitchen done recently the should have some 20 amp circuits they can use. But would need to run nothing else on that circuit.
 
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JvG said:
I used to have AC chargers but after my 3rd 100 dollar charger i changed to DC. In the end it's even cheaper per watt charge power:
- More power
- Better chargers
- Less heat in the charger
- If a component fails it's cheaper to replace it

View attachment 49585

2 Hota's D6 and 750w power supplies for less than 250 dollars. This setup easily charges 4x6s at 2c.
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What power supplies are these?
Rusty said:
After about a weeks worth of research....lots from this forum! Thanks all!

24V 40A 1000W Upgrade Switch Power Supply Driver Display Switching Power Supply 24v for LED Strip Power Driver https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MKT88P5/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_g5f8DbFEKVY69
80$

Plus the HOTA D6 pro duo 120$

Plus wires and connectors, (xt90s) hope I can make it work, first lipo setup, Kraton 6s on the way!
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Based upon your research...teach me lol

I plan on having a charger that will have DC 200 watts x 2 channels. How many more watts do I need my power supply to be in order to be safe? Is there an amp rule as well?

Thank you!
 
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Cdoebs said:
What power supplies are these?

Based upon your research...teach me lol

I plan on having a charger that will have DC 200 watts x 2 channels. How many more watts do I need my power supply to be in order to be safe? Is there an amp rule as well?

Thank you!
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He said it a post or two later:
https://www.arrmaforum.com/threads/recommend-me-a-battery-charger.1079/post-190415

Look like repurposed PC power supplies. You can find similar ones already modified:
http://lipoconnectionsolutions.com/12v-Power-Supplies_c13.htm

smc offers one too:
https://www.smc-racing.net/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=459

Amazon has quite a few. Found a 12V/80A unit for not too much:
https://www.amazon.com/Switch-Supply-Driver-Display-Switching/dp/B07H3S1TF7
 
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olds97_lss said:
He said it a post or two later:
https://www.arrmaforum.com/threads/recommend-me-a-battery-charger.1079/post-190415

Look like repurposed PC power supplies. You can find similar ones already modified:
http://lipoconnectionsolutions.com/12v-Power-Supplies_c13.htm

smc offers one too:
https://www.smc-racing.net/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=459

Amazon has quite a few. Found a 12V/80A unit for not too much:
https://www.amazon.com/Switch-Supply-Driver-Display-Switching/dp/B07H3S1TF7
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Correct, those are 750Watt HP power supplies.
 
Cdoebs said:
What power supplies are these?

Based upon your research...teach me lol

I plan on having a charger that will have DC 200 watts x 2 channels. How many more watts do I need my power supply to be in order to be safe? Is there an amp rule as well?

Thank you!
Click to expand...

This PS came with almost no instruction other than don't mix up the wires, and don't use more than 80% of the rated power!

I would think amp rating should follow same rule of thumb but I don't know sh**? Maybe someone else can verify my speculation? Charger shows up tomorrow hopefully....have batteries, but the truck is an xmas gift so no update on that till later! Hope this helps!
Powers up nice! Custom cord to charger....(XT60 male 10 awg) probably overkill?
Just cut up an old extension cord for plug in.....black is live, white is neutral, green is ground.
Not tested yet...will post updates. Batts will have xt90 plugs, so making xt60 to xt90 (M to F) wires tomorrow. (HRB 4S and 6S 5000mah) Esc will get XT90 plug out of the box, hope my newb soldering skills hold up!
 

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Powers up nice! Custom cord to charger....(XT60 male 10 awg) probably overkill?
Just cut up an old extension cord for plug in.....black is live, white is neutral, green is ground.
Not tested yet...will post updates. Batts will have xt90 plugs, so making xt60 to xt90 (M to F) wires tomorrow. (HRB 4S and 6S 5000mah) Esc will get XT90 plug out of the box, hope my newb soldering skills hold up!
Sorry for double post, 1 too many!? Yes I wear crocs, please don't judge?
 
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I really wanna drive my Kraton 8s but I can't figure out where the gas goes??☠???

I think I'm going to go with this setup to get me started into electric RC. I'll need the ec3 to ec5 wires, and am researching parallel charging options. This is completely new to me. So suggestions are welcome.
Screenshot_20191213-072905_Chrome.jpg
 
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So I ended up buying this one last night. Anyone have it and have any opinions? We went thru about 10 different options at my LHS and ultimately they recommended this one based upon my needs. I have two NIMH batteries that need to be charged, 2 3S batteries 5000MAH and a 6S 5000MAH battery. I was hoping to find something that would cover all four adequately. The link below shows it at 239 but my LHS had it for $189.

https://www.hobbytown.com/protek-rc...qB79TGC9sCpmDxzqPrA9uZ4CAtjpLu2xoCBZIQAvD_BwE

1576242481125.png
 
Cdoebs said:
So I ended up buying this one last night. Anyone have it and have any opinions? We went thru about 10 different options at my LHS and ultimately they recommended this one based upon my needs. I have two NIMH batteries that need to be charged, 2 3S batteries 5000MAH and a 6S 5000MAH battery. I was hoping to find something that would cover all four adequately. The link below shows it at 239 but my LHS had it for $189.

https://www.hobbytown.com/protek-rc...qB79TGC9sCpmDxzqPrA9uZ4CAtjpLu2xoCBZIQAvD_BwE

View attachment 57106
Click to expand...
I have the dynamite version. I've only used it to charge 2S and 3S lipo packs. I have an old NiMH/NiCAD charger I use for those and another charger (2x20/2x200W) I use for parallel charging.

The only pack it's going to have issues with is the 6S 5000mah pack as that needs 111W to charge at 1C. It won't be an "issue" really, but you will be charging it a hair under 1C.

I charge 4x5000mah and 4x6200mah 3S packs on mine and set the output to 10A on all 4. It doesn't reach 10A though as it hits the wattage limit, but it still does the job pretty quick.

Back when I used to use 2S packs in my 1/8th and 3S in my 1/10th:
2018-1027-ChargerRack01.jpg


Now I only use 3S packs in everything.
 

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