Recommend me a battery charger

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
just upgraded from my GT Power SD4-I to the ISDT K2. what an upgrade lol

Downside to the K2 is the fan noise and hte XT60 connectors but other than that it's pretty good for what I need, should suffice for many years to come.

The SD4 was a good cheap charger for the absolute beginner with an RTR and nothing else, after buying the truck for $550 plus an extra battery you've spent $650 NZD so $80 for a charger is a bit easier to pay and it way better than the included charger.

The main problem I had with the SD4 was it defaults to LiPo every time but it did remember what charge rate you had set. To change the settings you have to press and hold these painful buttons, so to change to NiMH it would take about 15 seconds of scrolling through battery types. There are other versions which have slide switches which would be better provided the rest of the charger is the same.
 
Last edited:
Since chargers change all the time, rather than recommending a specific one since I don't know who it would be for, here's some info on how to make the selection for yourself specifically:
 
Been using a Revolectrix Powerlab 6 and 8 for years. An outstanding charger with 40 amps of charging power. Can charge 6 batteries at a time with the parallel board. I’m able to charge 2 6s packs at 3c in no more that 20 minutes at 30 amps or 4 packs at 2c in under 30 min with 40 amps.
 
Jumping in here…. Finally need a new charger in the near future. I’m not gonna read 50 pages.😵‍💫
Leaning towards this

gens-ace-r-spam Lipo Battery Charger Smart Imars Dual Lipo Charger 15A AC 200W DC 600W Balance Charger Dischager for 1-6S LiPo Li-ion Life LiHV 1-15S NiCd NiMH PB Smart Battery RC Battery Charger(Black)​

🤷
This is the charger I bought 8 years ago with my first RC. Cost me $30 It still works great except for a button starting to stick. So I’m a firm believer that bells and whistles only go so far. So good deal for the money?

image.jpg
 
Last edited:
What do you need? or is that a function of $$$?
To be honest I’m not sure what I need. This will be my first charger purchase since getting into the hobby about 8 years ago. I have a second charger which is a Skymax B6AC that was given to me and it works okay. I have about 18 batteries so dual charger and cell IR display would be nice. Recommendation?
 
6S (~5000mAh) need 150W/channel for a 1 C charge, you can always get a less capable charger but add charge time.
My Hota suggestion is actually the minimum you want 😇

I would only recommend Hota, ISDT or Spektrum. Probably some others, but names escape myself.

Hota clone for a little more i.e. Hota is OEM and sells to many
https://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=ker-up6-300w -
https://smile.amazon.com/HOBBYMATE-...mzn1.fos.18ed3cb5-28d5-4975-8bc7-93deae8f9840


This technology is identical to yours, just a different plastic housing, they have 2 inside but at 150W combined.
https://smile.amazon.com/Charger-Di...mzn1.fos.18ed3cb5-28d5-4975-8bc7-93deae8f9840
Note: Any charger with this small LCD display is literally identical to what you have, just shinier. They work fine.

They can't do IR and have lousy balance currents. If you have time to charge they work just fine.
 
Yeah, get at least 100W for 4S, 150W for 6S.

Basically...
HOTA - most power for 6S
HTRC (touch screen) - easiest to use, but quality iffy
Imars Dual - smallest, highest quality
 
6S (~5000mAh) need 150W/channel for a 1 C charge, you can always get a less capable charger but add charge time.
My Hota suggestion is actually the minimum you want 😇

I would only recommend Hota, ISDT or Spektrum. Probably some others, but names escape myself.

Hota clone for a little more i.e. Hota is OEM and sells to many
https://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=ker-up6-300w -
https://smile.amazon.com/HOBBYMATE-Battery-Wireless-Cellphone-Charging/dp/B07DR8HW19?qu=eyJxc2MiOiI2LjAyIiwicXNhIjoiNS42OCIsInFzcCI6IjUuMjcifQ==&ufe=app_do:amzn1.fos.18ed3cb5-28d5-4975-8bc7-93deae8f9840


This technology is identical to yours, just a different plastic housing, they have 2 inside but at 150W combined.
https://smile.amazon.com/Charger-Discharger-Balance-Battery-Chargers/dp/B07P3ZRTMY?qu=eyJxc2MiOiI2LjAyIiwicXNhIjoiNS42OCIsInFzcCI6IjUuMjcifQ==&ufe=app_do:amzn1.fos.18ed3cb5-28d5-4975-8bc7-93deae8f9840
Note: Any charger with this small LCD display is literally identical to what you have, just shinier. They work fine.

They can't do IR and have lousy balance currents. If you have time to charge they work just fine.
I’m thinking I’ll go with the Hobbymate D6. Nothing but 5 star reviews ( for what that’s worth)🤷
 
Back
Top