High Charge

[Ub Hauled]

So, soon the era of the 1c chargers will be a thing of the past, this waiting for a few hours to charge your 10s1p pack is just straight out annoying...
I was wondering what are the options of Chargers in the market that can charge 5000mAh(+) 5 cells at 2c (or more). It is something that all FE goers should be craving in owning.

[bonewar]

So, soon the era of the 1c chargers will be a thing of the past, this waiting for a few hours to charge your 10s1p pack is just straight out annoying...
I was wondering what are the options of Chargers in the market that can charge 5000mAh(+) 5 cells at 2c (or more). It is something that all FE goers should be craving in owning.

UB Mate I'll buy 2!

[Ub Hauled]

LOL Bonewar...
the link that was posted on #2 is a great start, still, I'd like to know some chargers that will do the job...

[AntronX]

I am thinking about building 24 V to 42 V boost switching regulator, good to handle up to 50A. It will run on two 12 volt, 100Ah AGM batteries. Hardest part will be making current limiter for it, i think. I could use existing stand alone lipo balancer.

But LiPo cells today cannot even handle 2C well. When i charge my packs at 1.7C, they get out of balance quickly, and charger has to drop current and let others catch up. From what i hear, it also shortens their cycle life from fast charging.

[Ub Hauled]

Usually I balance while I charge them... so I guess unbalancing packs would not be a problem to me...
I still wanna find the options that are out there.... it would be nice to hear from a tech savvy guy why we cannot charge a 20C, 30C o even 35C cell at a higher C rate, it seems tom me that the cells could take it... but then again, I am not very familiarized with the chemical aspect of the charging process.

[AlanN]

The harder you charge or discharge any cell the less life it will have. I still charge below 1C rates on most cells and have noticed a little difference from charging at 1C or higher.

Stick with low amp charge rates to protect your investment.

When I started racing any FE stuff; all I had was a 15min timer and no amp adjust rate. Got pretty anoying measuring cell V with a needle voltmeter and having to guess at how many minutes more they would need. Things have come a long way for FE but it is in our nature to always seek some better faster tech.

[AntronX]

but it is in our nature to always seek some better faster tech.

Exactly. I think FE tech is far from being fully mature compared to combustion tech which is already as good as it gets. FE still has great room for improvement in the ease of use department and will surpass gas/nitro in both performance and most importantly to me, the ease of use.

Example of what i mean: Right now I have two 5S lipo packs connected in series in my boat and one 6S capable charger. I have to physically unplug and remove pack from the boat, carry it to the charger, plug wires in, plug in balancing connector, press and hold start charge button for 3 seconds then press again to confirm the cell count. Wait 45 minutes and repeat this process with pack number two. All that for 3 minutes of awesome fun.

Now what i want: Have battery installed in the boat as one waterproof module with cell balancer unit built in. To recharge, i would only plug-in one cable from the charger into the boat. Then charging process should start automatically. Battery should be ready for next run in 15 - 20 minutes, followed by an audible beep from the charger. The charger unit will be a simple and very efficient switching regulator that will take 42 - 60Vdc input and regulate it to 42V 0 - 40A to feed the battery. Power for charger will come from 17 cell 60Ah LiFePO4 pack with its own balancing circuit. This power supply pack will be recharged during the week by three 160 watt solar panels with 60 volt MPPT solar charge controller.