Turnigy reaktor questions.

[Woodentop]

OK full disclosure.

I'm a nuts and bolts guy. Electrics are not my strong point. Set up I use is turnigy 540w psu & x2 300w 20a reaktor chargers.

I haven't used my charger for a while ( house move, work, family etc). When I came to use it this morning I powered it up and its saying "input voltage too low". In previous use psu is set to 18v / chargers low voltage limit also set to 18v BUT it worked flawlessly.

So I've changed the chargers to 12v and it's working again but during a charge the amps/volts are dancing around wildly whereas before it built up to a steady 5a and didn't fluctuate much.

Is this normal?.
Will this set up charge 6s lipos being as it is limited to 18v max?

Appreciate these seem really dumb questions and apologise for the wall of text.
Thanks in advance.

 

[SrC]

The charger will charge 6s bricks with 12v as long as the charger allows it and provides an adequate 1C rate. Might be slower however if the charger cannot supply a steady solid 1C rate.. I always charge using the highest voltage the Charger allows and the PSU supplies. Minimum of 24 volts. Best case, only if the charger allows.. Most efficient and fastest way for any type of Lipo in general.
I don't know why you have a problem now however. Double check your charger's voltage input settings again.???
How many volts does your PSU supply?
How many volts does the Charger allow?
>On AC alone?
>With DC input of a separate PSU?
IMHO 12v PSU's are not all that.
Most better ones are at least 24v -30 volts.
And most better charger's internal AC PSU's are 24v-30v
You always need to match the voltage and wattage specs of a DC PSU to the Charger in question. To get the most out of the setup. Or a PSU is a usually just waste of $$. Sometimes the charger's Internal PSU being better then the selected external PSU, getting faster charges and consistent amp output without using the poorly spec'ed PSU.

 

[Woodentop]

OK, don't know how I missed notification.

Chargers are dc only am I right they each need 15v in to provide 300w / 20a.
Psu is dual output 540w 12-18v so I suppose there lies the problem.
I can't find what the psu outputs to just 1 of the channels. Split, even at 18v its still only theoretically 9v per charger which is strangling them I suppose. Am I right I need 175 ish w to charge a 6s @ 6.8a?.

Im trying to research the things I'm lacking but it's a lot to take in. I ordered a hota d6+ which arrived yesterday. So I think moving forward I'll get a server psu for the hota to give me full access on dc and I'd like to keep the reaktors and replace the psu. Problem is would I need a 30v psu to get full potential? Which then leaves no " headroom" .

I now have a headache.

Thanks for your help.

 

[olds97_lss]

You just need enough volts/amps to drive the chargers. If your chargers need 20 amps @15V, then you need a 15V PSU that puts out more than 40amps, probably 60 for headroom if you charge at max.

If it's these chargers, they can take 11-28V. Most DC chargers need the higher voltage to put out the most watts. So I'd look for a 24V daisy chained 12V server PSU. You can make one as well fairly cheap, but you have to know enough to isolate the ground on the secondary when you wire them in series.
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-reaktor-300w-20a-6s-balance-charger.html

I bought from this guy before, but got the higher amperage ones that used dell psu's. The stupid fans on that thing ran at 100% until you had at least a 3A load, then they would drop down and climb as needed. Was awful for discharge time to listen to them though as the chargers put very little load on them and the fans just screamed.

I believe this one uses HP psu's though, which are similar to the one I ended up building:
https://lipoconnectionsolutions.com...2a-dc-power-supply-for-rc-charger-4mm-bullets

Mine are 75A though. I run a couple 20A/500W chargers off of them and throw a 3rd 14A charger on them when I need it.

The red charger is AC/DC, so I just run it off AC.

 

[Woodentop]

Now that's a setup!! .

I'll get it contact with these guys to see if they'll ship to the UK. I couldn't purchase one and build it even if I had the knowledge for that price. That's just what I need. There was a similar place in the UK what made those wrapped nicely but I can't find what they are called. Was some time ago. Thank you for the info. Guess I need to put some time and research into my charging setup.

 

[olds97_lss]

Now that's a setup!! .

I'll get it contact with these guys to see if they'll ship to the UK. I couldn't purchase one and build it even if I had the knowledge for that price. That's just what I need. There was a similar place in the UK what made those wrapped nicely but I can't find what they are called. Was some time ago. Thank you for the info. Guess I need to put some time and research into my charging setup.

Maybe you can get them off ebay like I did. Used, they were around $25 USD each. The wire and bullets I had already. The one thing I did have to buy were plastic bolts/nuts/washers to isolate the ground in the secondary PSU.

 

[Jerry-rigged]

I have a Reaktor 2x300 as my primary charger, been using it for years. Never ran it on anything but 12v. Current PSU is a 1050w converted server PSU that I got from SMC. I have never really maxed the charger out though, most I do is 2x4s @10a ~400w total. This charger did kill the first PSU I used with it - a 500W PC PSU that made 350w to the 12v bus. I was careful not to load the charger to more than 300w with that PSU, but still, it only lived about 6 months driving the Reaktor.

 

[olds97_lss]

I have a Reaktor 2x300 as my primary charger, been using it for years. Never ran it on anything but 12v. Current PSU is a 1050w converted server PSU that I got from SMC. I have never really maxed the charger out though, most I do is 2x4s @10a ~400w total. This charger did kill the first PSU I used with it - a 500W PC PSU that made 350w to the 12v bus. I was careful not to load the charger to more than 300w with that PSU, but still, it only lived about 6 months driving the Reaktor.

Is that one 2x20A or 2x10A?

 

[Jerry-rigged]

2x20a, 300w per channel, 600w total.