Life the universe & everything......... oh yeah & chargers & batteries.......

yakjock

yakjock

Member
OK I have decided to raise the stakes & spend some of my hard earned cash & change my set ups from 3s batteries to 4s batteries & get a charger that is man enough to do a good job.
The problem is I don't know where to start so at risk of starting some possibly heated discussions
What makes a good battery good as the prices seem to range from cheap Turnigy to expensive Maxamps & others, is it worth investing in expensive batteries or is there not enough of a difference between the cheap & expensive to make it worth while?
Also what about chargers?? all I have at the moment is a 240vAC Overlander RC-6S basic charger. I have been looking at a separate charger & PSU but the info & choices are a little overwhelming so if anyone has some guidance on this it will be gratefully received, as I am willing to spend a reasonable sum on this but really do want to get it right first time.
Which is why I am seeking advice from the collective wisdom.
 

matwelli

matwelli

Member
I can only comment on batteries - use turnigy exclusively for last 3 years, brought about 30, had 1 faulty when it arrived (cell voltage =0) managed to bring it back from the dead, but its not a good performer, they rest have been fine. pushing them near their C rating, they get quite warm, but when used down at 4-10 C (where most multirotors use them a 10 minute flight requires you to draw down the batteries at no more than 6C and 6 minute flight in my ritewing = 10 C ) they have lasted well.

as far as chargers, look at the max watts they can handle, divide teh max watts by 16 volts and thats how many amps they can push into your 4S packs. also look for something that can handle a few watts on discharge, or storage takes a while ( a 15 watt discharge will take approx 2 hours to put a 4S 4000 mah lipo into storage voltage)
 

kloner

kloner

Aerial DP
on batteries, it seems like the freshest packs are the ones you want, these things expire/die. turnigy has a high turnover rate and i've had really good luck with every pack i've bought. the only ones i like better are gens ace but there really hard to catch in stock. same price, better performers

for chargers, it is really hard to beat the icharger. the 306b will do 6 of them 4s packs in about an hour ran 1000watts. i've had really good luck with the dell server psu setup. here we use 2 of them in series on 110 volt service and get 1400 watt to it. when i'm not in a hurry, i use a AT ps that's 750 watt and it does pretty good but is only 12 volt so it uses double the amperage i charge at. 10 amp charge draws around 17-18 amps....... but the at ps is quiet, the server ones are super loud. Sounds like a small hair dryer. last time i looked, 2 power supplies shipped was like $24 on ebay. All you have to do is take it apart, replace metal screws with plastic screws and insulate the pcb from the case at those same screw points. think it's 7 screws and washers a charger, you need 2 to output 24 volt

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-Dell-NPS...=US_Server_Power_Supplies&hash=item19d28d5a7b

http://www.tjinguytech.com/my-projects/diy-24v-47a

http://www.progressiverc.com

That guy is great to deal with. look at the prc case pictures for more ideas on how people run this stuff.
 

mitsaras

mitsaras

Member
I have the iCharger 206B (max 20A & 6S) and the matching 350W power supply. I'm very happy with it, even putting out 20A both fans are much more quiet than other chargers I've seen, e.g. the Turnigy dual 20A sounds like a jet at takeoff compared to the iCharger...
 


yakjock

yakjock

Member
OK so I have had a look at the icharger 306b & the reviews are good & i agree it will do everything i need it to so thank you all for the advice. What wattage PSU do you recommend getting for it i know i can mod a PC PSU but are there any dedicated power supplies that are good & worth the money?
 

kloner

kloner

Aerial DP
theres ton of psu, but there usually in the $400-$600 USD range for 1000 watts, 24 volts. The other way is to connect it to car battery's and just charge them. 2x 12 volt car battery in series. They'll discharge fast though

according to those in the know say the meanwell is the one, I've been more than satisfied with the server ps

if you walked down the flightline at IRCHA, 8 out of 10 of the heli guys are running the server powersupplies in them PRC hardline cases. the other 20% have real PS cause they were given to them. they all run 12s and 14s helis and are the guys going through electrons at record paces

http://www.progressiverc.com/mean-well-rsp-1500-24-power-supply.html


 
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