Charger and Power Supply Advice

[cruisor]

Hello all,

I'm in need of a new charger or chargers and I have to say there are a lot of chargers being offered out there.

I want to charge and maintain at least a couple of sets of batteries at the same time. I'm also interested in learning what's needed to store my batteries when not in use.

I also have a Pyramid Gold series Power Supply model No PS-36K that I'd like to use.

I'm sure you can see that I just don't know very much about charging batteries especially Lipos. I think using two bank chargers would enable me to keep things in order and using two of them with the power supply would be pretty efficient.

Cost has to be kept in the 100 dollar range so any advice on a good sound buy would also really help me out.

Thanks for any and all advice,

Lee

[jkflow]

You would have to provide more info on battery size and capacity (6S? 5000mAh?)
It all matters. For 6S 5000mAh you want to be at a minimum of 120W per charger channel. I'd go 150W minimum, and that selection is very limited.
I would only recommend ISDT or HOTA chargers.

Check this thread, skip to the last 3-4 pages.
https://www.arrmaforum.com/threads/r...-charger.1079/

[cruisor]

I
Hello jkflow

Thanks for responding. The battery packs I'm using right now are the 6000mAh 14.8v 50cc. My biggest interest is in 1/10th scale hydroplanes so packs for this boat are really my focus.

Is the Power Supply of any use for charging batteries?

I'm going to sit down and read the link you sent me and get some prices on chargers as well.

Thanks for helping me get started!!

Lee

[jkflow]

First, you can calculate the required power for s standard charge by multiplying your Lipo voltage by capacity (in Ah not milli Ah). For above is 14.8V*6A=88.8W, round up to 90W. That is the minimum per channel you want.
These values are typically not a challenge.
DC chargers work well, but there is the little (*) that many overlook. In order to achieve the listed watt level, they require a minimum of 24V input.
For you, that shouldn't matter, yes you can use your supply as 90W or 180W for 2 channels is typically not an issue. Don't expect any DC charger to deliver the rated power at 15V though. Each charger is unique and typically list a max input current.
Yes you can use your DC supply. Check the rated DC input voltage and any input current limit. Sometimes it's not even advertised or you have to dig for info.

I recommend this one, feel free to post your choice and I can do a quick sanity check.

$135 with cables but check other sites

https://www.smc-racing.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=113&product_id=541

The sub $100 are ok but they are using horrendously outdated technology from ~ 15 years ago.
You want,
high balance current (greater than 1A)
100W per channel (not a combined 50+50)
DC input capable of more than 15A (15A*15V=225W), you need 180W and can do the math

[tbonemcniel]

I've played around with chargers a bit, and come up with two I really like that I use frequently, that as a bonus, aren't very expensive! The HOTA D6 Pro and D6+. They are essentially the same charger. Both dual channel, can hit up to 650W on DC (up to 30v as well). They can charge up to 325W or 15A per channel, which means for most batteries, you have the power to parallel charge 2, 3, or even 4 LiPo's on one channel. They both have very powerful balance ability (a lot of chargers can't even manage 1 amp through a balance port, these can push 1.6A through the balance ports). They both have 5V USB charging as well, which I use for transmitters and GPS modules. They both can measure the IR of individual cells on battery packs they are charging as well.

So what's the difference between the two? I have both. The physically smaller D6 Pro, has wireless charging on top for your phone. Sometimes handy. The D6+ has twice the AC power. The D6 Pro can only muster 200W on AC, while the D6+ can manage 350W on AC. So I leave my D6 Pro in my garage where it's hooked up to a 1000W 24V power supply. My D6+ is my portable unit. I often use it in the house on AC power (since it's more powerful on AC) so I can be with the family while charging. When I'm prepping for race day, and trying to charge 18 LiPo's at once, I put it in the garage on the same power supply as the D6 Pro where I've charged up to 10 batteries at once between the two chargers on DC power. When I take it into the field on race day, it is the more powerful of the two on AC if I'm tied into shore power without needing to bring an additional power supply, but often, I run it on LiPo power. I have two 6S 10,000 mAh packs that I parallel together to power the charger. Just this past weekend, I re-charged different boats 8 times after a race, without ever plugging into shore power.

So if you're going to be on a power supply exclusively, I recommend the Hota D6 Pro. Smaller footprint and can charge your phone wirelessly. If you need more AC power sometimes, or even all the time, I recommend the Hota D6 Plus. Either can be had for just a hair over $100, and I've had absolutely zero issues out of either.

No charger I've seen, is a very good discharger. I use AOKoda 150W dischargers. A single unit comes with the control box, and three 24V Halogen lights bulbs to discharge. You can daisy chain the bulbs together, and create a more powerful discharger using only one control box. I have two setups. One control box controlling 12 bulbs, that I parallel discharge with. I've taken two 4S 5,000 mAH packs in parallel from fully charged, to storage voltage, in about 16 minutes with this setup. I also have a single control box controlling only 3 bulbs, that I use for smaller batteries or when I only have one instead of a pair to discharge.

These two setups, my Hota D6 chargers and my AOKoda dischargers, allow me to go from storage voltage, to 18 LiPo's fully charged varying from 2S to 6S to go run 9 different boats in under two hours, and when I get back, I can get all 18 LiPo's back into storage voltage almost as quickly, depending on cell voltage variance/equality.

[ray schrauwen]

I love my ISDT chargers.

I really like the Q8 I have now and I use a parallel board wit it. Solid, clean, quiet. Only drawback is you have to make or buy charge cables for it but imo wort it!!
Lots of power!

https://www.banggood.com/ISDT-Q8-BattGo-500W-20A-High-Power-Battery-Balance-Charger-Discharger-for-1-8S-Lipo-Battery-p-1596875.html?cur_warehouse=USA

https://www.banggood.com/ISDT-PC-4860-1-8S-Safe-Parallel-Board-XT60-CNC-Parallel-Charging-Board-p-1087255.html?cur_warehouse=CN&rmmds=search

[ray schrauwen]

I also have a charging case I made for (4) ISDT q6 chargers. Not to forget I also have there battery tester that I really like.

https://www.banggood.com/ISDT-BattGo-BG-8S-Smart-Battery-Checker-Balancer-Receiver-Signal-Tester-Quick-Charge-Function-p-1177825.html?cur_warehouse=CN&rmmds=search

[harper1898]

For chargers and batteries, you must have a look at the Inateck coupon where you will find a variety of chargers and batteries with a wide range of compatibility. I have tried their laptop battery and its quality is outstanding.

[cruisor]

I ended up buying a Hota charger. I really like it and it really gets the job done.

Lee

[jkflow]

Glad it worked out for you. I got a 2nd one for convenience.