Recommend me a battery charger

[slick2500]

Ugh, my first iCharger was the same way, 18V max. My big charger tops out at 30V in, which ruled out high-power 36V solutions. I got a surplus 1500W 24V industrial power supply (well over $1,000 new) for $100 on eBay, and adjusted it up to 28V. It's meant to run 24/7, and is far better quality than any colorfully-anodized supply sold for RC use.

Looking for 18V options for you, this is $75, 18V, 800W: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000184162521.html

Would be nice if the voltage was adjustable, though, to let you go to 17V or whatever you felt comfortable with. I guess if the 18V came in at actually 18.5V or so, I guess you could add a suitably-large diode inline, to drop the voltage a bit. But that's a pain.

15V ($85) and 18V ($75) 1000W options here: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32789770858.html

I find Google lets me down a bit when searching for this sort of thing, since I can't figure out a way to search for something like >750W. So I search for 800W, then 900W, etc, hoping to get lucky. I spent quite a while scouring eBay before finding mine, searching different ways, and hoping something good would turn up. It eventually did.

Note that chargers are not 100% efficient. If you want 800W output, I would plan on supplying >800W. Barring better info, I'd assume maybe 90% efficient, which would require about 900W in.

Yeah trying to find that kind of thing on Google was not getting me much if anything close to what I was looking for. The suggested load on the first charger is 80% of the 800w if I am reading that correctly so the second one might be the better option.

Stupid question with that, how do I add a cord to plug it into the wall, it only has 2 prongs.

 

[RedOctobyr]

Good catch, yeah, looks like they're saying not to use >80% of the rating. So even the 1000W would be pushing that a little bit at full power (800W output needs >800W input).

For wiring it up, it's tough to see from the pictures, but I'm guessing it has wire terminals with screws in each one that tighten the terminal contact down on the wire, to clamp it. I can't see exactly, but I'm guessing there would be 3 AC input wire locations, for hot, neutral, and ground. You would need a suitably-thick grounded cord, either with bare leads, or cut up a grounded cord to make an input cord.

Then it would have the same sorts of terminals for the output wires, to the charger. If you had wire ferrules and a crimping tool (I got a set for maybe $15 on Amazon), that would help keep all the wire stands together, in the terminals. Making the connection more secure, and reducing the risk of a stray wire strand trying to cause trouble by shorting out somewhere.

 

[slick2500]

Good catch, yeah, looks like they're saying not to use >80% of the rating. So even the 1000W would be pushing that a little bit at full power (800W output needs >800W input).

For wiring it up, it's tough to see from the pictures, but I'm guessing it has wire terminals with screws in each one that tighten the terminal contact down on the wire, to clamp it. I can't see exactly, but I'm guessing there would be 3 AC input wire locations, for hot, neutral, and ground. You would need a suitably-thick grounded cord, either with bare leads, or cut up a grounded cord to make an input cord.

Then it would have the same sorts of terminals for the output wires, to the charger. If you had wire ferrules and a crimping tool (I got a set for maybe $15 on Amazon), that would help keep all the wire stands together, in the terminals. Making the connection more secure, and reducing the risk of a stray wire strand trying to cause trouble by shorting out somewhere.

Oh gosh now I see the ground.

 

[razorrc]

What are you guys charging that requires 18V+/1000W+ power supplies?

 

[chevys10zr2003]

What are you guys charging that requires 18V+/1000W+ power supplies?

For me it's 12 batteries in parallel on a 2 channel charger lol.

 

[slick2500]

For me it's 12 batteries in parallel on a 2 channel charger lol.

Sometimes I'll do 18 split between 2 chargers.

 

[RedOctobyr]

It's not as many batteries for me But yeah, multiple good-sized packs parallel charging, on a 2-channel charger. When I was buying, there were very few 2-channel chargers on the market, most were small, like 2x50W. Mine jumped to 1300W, so I wanted a power supply setup that would let me use all of the output, especially in case I bought more/larger batteries in the future.

As-is, I could charge my 7 batteries in probably 20 minutes. For helicopters, flights are short (~5 minutes), so it's helpful if you recharge quickly. Especially when bringing the little inverter generator to the field, to be able to charge "on the go".

 

[ARA8611V5]

I'm sure there's info on here.... But I figure I'd throw this question out there again. I'm an oldie who's becoming a newbie again. Im currently using the old MRC rb 465 charger from the days of late 80's early 90's.
Looking for a charger that will do my Nimh packs and the LiPo's I will eventually have!!!
What do you guys suggest?
Thanks!

How to choose an RC LiPo charger

I have an X CHARGER B6 that I use with an external 12VDC power supply. It will charge NIMH and LIPO and I think also LIFE. It was pretty cheap. about $40.00 US when I bought it.

 

[jkflow]

Yup, same here. Lots of parallel charging. Not as crazy as above, but I typically do 4ea. 6S (~650W) at a time, plus a standard charger for single packs (2ea.) that are older and take longer to balance.

 

[RedOctobyr]

I'd say it also depends a bit on in how you approach things. Some people might want to go out with 10 batteries, and run/fly them all. Lots of batteries, all charged ahead of time, and that's all you bring.

I chose to buy fewer batteries, and more charging capability. I could fly my big heli indefinitely with 3 batteries, the quiet inverter generator, and a good 2-channel charger. Land battery A, put it on channel 1, fly B then put it on channel 2. By the time I finish battery C, battery A is ready, so battery C starts charging on channel 1, etc.

The way I looked at it, chargers last a long time. While packs degrade even just while sitting. So I put less money into packs, and more into charging. The little Honda inverter generator also runs our house during outages, so it provides other benefits too.

I don't mean that my approach is "right", it just made sense to me, for my situation.

Yup, same here. Lots of parallel charging. Not as crazy as above, but I typically do 4ea. 6S (~650W) at a time, plus a standard charger for single packs (2ea.) that are older and take longer to balance.

This sort of thing is why I kept my first, smaller charger. For when I need a 3rd charging channel. Or just want something smaller, because speed is not a problem.

My 1500W PS is somewhat noisy, even after slowing down the fan. But I have a silent 220W supply (a big Dell laptop supply brick) that I can also use with the big charger, when I want 2 channels, but don't need a ton of power.

Plus, keeping the small charger meant I also have a backup in case of trouble with the big one. And I wouldn't have gotten much if selling it anyhow.

 

[KnowAir]

I'd say it also depends a bit on in how you approach things. Some people might want to go out with 10 batteries, and run/fly them all. Lots of batteries, all charged ahead of time, and that's all you bring.

I chose to buy fewer batteries, and more charging capability. I could fly my big heli indefinitely with 3 batteries, the quiet inverter generator, and a good 2-channel charger. Land battery A, put it on channel 1, fly B then put it on channel 2. By the time I finish battery C, battery A is ready, so battery C starts charging on channel 1, etc.

The way I looked at it, chargers last a long time. While packs degrade even just while sitting. So I put less money into packs, and more into charging. The little Honda inverter generator also runs our house during outages, so it provides other benefits too.

I don't mean that my approach is "right", it just made sense to me, for my situation.

This sort of thing is why I kept my first, smaller charger. For when I need a 3rd charging channel. Or just want something smaller, because speed is not a problem.

My 1500W PS is somewhat noisy, even after slowing down the fan. But I have a silent 220W supply (a big Dell laptop supply brick) that I can also use with the big charger, when I want 2 channels, but don't need a ton of power.

Plus, keeping the small charger meant I also have a backup in case of trouble with the big one. And I wouldn't have gotten much if selling it anyhow.

Sounds like a great approach to me. I went the other way with lots of batteries and lots of low end chargers..I'm coming around though now..the cheapo batteries are tanking, along with the cheap chargers,LOL.
I just stepped up to a Hota S6. I like it overall, not too crazy for the one button/wheel thingy though. I see that failing inevitably. Just the location of it alone is bad..dust collects on top. I'm stoked to be able to push 400 watts vs the 50-80 I was using though. Baby steps,LOL. I only bash at home so, having mobility isn't really an issue.

 

[jkflow]

Parallel charging is NOT for the new person, you do need discipline and need to understand the dependencies.
Put a semi charged pack in parallel with an empty one = smoking wires; mix 6S with a 4S - more smoking wires etc. Lots more can and will go wrong, even if you think you know it all.

Don't do it if you have to ask as to how to do it or what needs to be done. That is basically my stance on this.

 

[KnowAir]

Parallel charging is NOT for the new person, you do need discipline and need to understand the dependencies.
Put a semi charged pack in parallel with an empty one = smoking wires; mix 6S with a 4S - more smoking wires etc. Lots more can and will go wrong, even if you think you know it all.

Don't do it if you have to ask as to how to do it or what needs to be done. That is basically my stance on this.

Fair enough. I "only" own mixed garbage brands of stuff so, no questions here,LOL.

 

[slick2500]

Parallel charging is NOT for the new person, you do need discipline and need to understand the dependencies.
Put a semi charged pack in parallel with an empty one = smoking wires; mix 6S with a 4S - more smoking wires etc. Lots more can and will go wrong, even if you think you know it all.

Don't do it if you have to ask as to how to do it or what needs to be done. That is basically my stance on this.

I posted pictures of my mini battery set up once and someone told me that I would burn my house down

It's a ISDT Q6 Nano with these hooked up.

 

[RedOctobyr]

Parallel charging is NOT for the new person, you do need discipline and need to understand the dependencies.
Put a semi charged pack in parallel with an empty one = smoking wires; mix 6S with a 4S - more smoking wires etc. Lots more can and will go wrong, even if you think you know it all.

Don't do it if you have to ask as to how to do it or what needs to be done. That is basically my stance on this.

This is a good point. And even when you know what you're doing, mistakes can still happen.

I'm using "safe" parallel boards from ProgressiveRC, which at least try to offer some protection. The battery leads have 40A fuses, so if you connect a charged and a discharged, you might just pop a fuse. There is a fuse for the leads going to the charger. And all the balance connections have individual self-resetting fuses, in case you do the same thing with the balance leads. Not perfect, but it helps provide some protection, at least.

An example, with EC5, for 2S-6S: https://www.progressiverc.com/colle...s/products/safe-parallel-board-for-jst-xh-ec5

For my aircraft, I changed from 3S to 6S, and then everything that was in-use was still just a single voltage. But cars raise more risks, if you have 3S, 4S, 6S, etc. I am using the same connector on everything. But I guess you could do something like XT90 for 3S packs, EC5 for 6S, to try and safeguard somewhat. That's still very-imperfect, of course, and really highlights the risks you're referring to.

I try to manage everything with simple stuff, like having different bags for Charged, Storage, and Discharged packs. I've seen little sliders you can put on packs, to manually indicate their current charge state. I number all my packs, so I also may know that "pack #5 is the one I ran lower than the rest". But really, the best thing, I guess, is to use a cell checker every time, before connecting a pack in parallel. With aircraft, and flight timers, all my "discharged" batteries would be at very-consistent voltages. But I'm finding a lot more variation, on the ground, since it varies by the surface, how you're driving, etc. So I'm needing to be extra careful, since "discharged" no longer means "they're all at the same voltage".

Thankfully, with multi-channel chargers being more common, there are more opportunities to just charge batteries individually, and avoid the risks of parallel.

 

[jkflow]

Using all of the above, wires and parallel boards with fuses. The small gauge wires act as fuses as well, ask me how I know
Also managed to plug a 6S in parallel with a 4S with QS8 connectors, needless to say my small wires weren't too happy about it and decided to melt.
Those are the QS8 but using 14 gauge, charging only and acts as a fuse. It worked...

No damage, just learned one more time to f..in pay attention to what you are doing.

 

[EJunlimited]

Recommend me a battery charger:
What I want to do:
Balance charge LiHV 15.2v 9000mah batteries quickly.

I've tried a Dynamite Passport already, and it was an absolute joke.

Any suggestions? Favorites? How is that 4 channel Protek?

 

[LibertyMKiii]

Recommend me a battery charger:
What I want to do:
Balance charge LiHV 15.2v 9000mah batteries quickly.

I've tried a Dynamite Passport already, and it was an absolute joke.

Any suggestions? Favorites? How is that 4 channel Protek?

iCharger X8 is on my list along with the iSDT K4, both are solid options around the same price as the Protek.
Both iCharger and iSDT are known for very accurate readings and good power output.

You can get a parallel charging adapter to make it do 4-8 lipos at a time.

iC

 

[chilly81]

Recommend me a battery charger:
What I want to do:
Balance charge LiHV 15.2v 9000mah batteries quickly.

I've tried a Dynamite Passport already, and it was an absolute joke.

Any suggestions? Favorites? How is that 4 channel Protek?

Anything that can supply 20A a channel would cover it. That would be 2C... would you want to be pushing more than that? I recently figured out that many of the the 2 channel chargers have a bridged/combined/synchronised mode where you Y-adapt both channels into one and end up with a higher amp capacity (ISDT P10 10Ax2 goes to 16Ax1, Hota P6/D6+ 15Ax2 goes to 22Ax1)

 

[razorrc]

It's not amps that's the issue, it's the watts. You want at least 150W per channel if you're doing 6S 9Ah batteries.