LiPo battery charger

[Skyguy]

Hi, Guys!

I'm looking for my first LiPo charger and would appreciate your advice based on your own experiences. Ultimately I plan to get a really good, multi-port charger, but for now I'm willing to use something a bit calmer. It should handle 3- or 4-cell units and be capable of charging up to 5,000 or 6,000 mAh batteries. It has to be AC and, of course, have a balancer. I'd also like it to be decent quality; no offense but I'm really not interested in the Hobby King stuff. Remember, it has to be AC. (Yeah I know you can convert server power supplies but don't want to do that yet.) I'm in the States, by the way if that makes any difference. So based on all this, whatcha think?

Thanks,

Bruce

 

[jbrumberg]

I have two (a long story) an iCharger 106B+ and a 206B both can handle batteries up to 6S. They both need a separate power supply unit. Many chargers need a separate supply source. I have a modified Meanwell 350 power unit (350W, 15V, 23.2A) for a power unit.

 

[Skyguy]

Thanks. For now I'm really looking for a self-contained AC power source. Any experience with that?

Bruce

 

[SoCal Blur]

I have two charges as well, an AC powered one: the iMAX B6 charger - they go for around $30 on ebay. and another charger that requires a DC power supply or a car battery. I think the iMax will meet your needs.

 

[PeteDee]

Any AC charger around at the moment is only going to charge your packs at a pretty low rate one at a time, assuming you are happy with that then the iMAX B6 is probably as good as any but there are limitations and you will soon outgrow it.

Personally I use a iCharger 206B and a CellPro PL6, both give lots of extra very worthwhile features but do need an separate power supply, currently just running a 500W 18V supply but researching a 1,000W 24V to use in the future.

Cheers

Pete

 

[Skyguy]

Thanks, guys. I had looked at the Imax B6 AC but wasn't sure. I'm still not clear on all this electric stuff. It looks like the better individual chargers require an AC adapter -- still not sure why. I have looked at a Hi-Tech 4-port AC charger which puts out 50 watts per port and 200 total for the charger. Now that sound like it's barely adequate. So what kind of power do I really need? Ultimately I want multiple ports but thought I could get by for less money with a single cell charger for now. But I'm beginning to think that's not right.

Sorry to be so dense but this is all kinda new to me. From my perspective, good knowledge of electricity is that it comes on when I flip the switch and goes off with the reverse. Guess I still have much to learn, huh?

Bruce

 

[LaurieC]

I have used only Imax B6 or clones, except for an old Swallow that required a separate balancer. I have two that require a 12V DC supply and one that is rated at 80W and can use either AC or DC. I find the B6 is more than adequate for my needs, but I don't charge 4 cell 6000mAh batteries. If you are charging those at 1C I recommend you get a charger rated at least for 120W (calculation: 4x4.2Vx6A = 100.8W, then allow at least a 20% margin). I think in fact I'd go for 200W to be sure.

If your charger is 4 port and rated at 50W per port you won't be able to charge 6000mAh 4 cell batteries at 1C, or anywhere near it, so you would have no great advantage over a single port charger rated at 200W, which although it could only charge one battery at a time could do it much faster.

One point that can't be mentioned often enough: if you want your batteries to last, don't ever discharge them below 3.6V per cell. Many others say you can get away with 3 V - don't believe them.

An advantage of the B6 is that it can charge many other types of batteries, even your car battery.

 

[Skyguy]

Thank you, Laurie. I think you're right. Actually this has been worthwhile because I hadn't realized how important -- or how expensive -- the battery portion was. While I don't want to overspend at this point, I'm also becoming aware that the batteries and chargers are critical to the success of these multirotors. I had an in-depth discussion this afternoon with a guy who knows a lot about this and I'm feeling more comfortable about what I need and what I can do without -- at least for nowt. Thanks for your input. It all helps!

Bruce

 

[jfro]

I have only used the iCharger 306b. Started with 12v 550 watt power for my 5000 4s batteries. It was fine for that.

I recently started flying with 6s batteries and bought a 1000watt power supply.

I don't have experience with anything else, but if I had to start all over, I'd do the same thing, 550w w/306b & 550 watts or more power supply or maybe start right off with the bigger power. My 2nd choice which is a little more money, would be one of the iCharger Duo's.

I've been told by a dealer, that if you are going to really be pushing a lot of power to your chargers, the computer power supplies are more robust and will last longer and give cleaner power at the higher rates than most powers supplies sold at the RC hobby shops.

I started with converted 550w PC powers supply(I had lots laying around and it was less than 1/2 hour to convert it while reading instructions). I've since switched to a 24v, dual server power supply that was converted and sold with the proper grounding. Works great and is very cost effective.

 

[Skyguy]

I can't help but agree that this is the probably better way to go. I understand the HP DPS-600 PB server power supplies are very good for this purpose and are available pretty cheap. Originally, while I liked the idea, I figured that might be overkill at this stage of the game, but the more I think about it and the more input I get, your point looks more than reasonable. Did you use these particular HP power supplies? If so, did you connect two of them to get your 24v one? If not, what did you use?

Thanks for your help!

Bruce

 

[DucktileMedia]

The main reason to buy the Hyperion or icharger is for the ability to monitor internal resistance. Other than that I would opt to buy 2 b6 ac's for $60. They are small and work just fine. I've used mine for years. But eventually you will want the nicer unit if you start putting more money in the air. It is the best way to determine the life if your packs.

 

[Skyguy]

Thank you. Makes sense. I am getting the impression that Hyperion is kinda the gold standard in this business.

Thanks,

Bruce

 

[DucktileMedia]

So is the icharger. but again, dont think the cheaper chargers arent gonna do a good job balance charging. That B6AC has 10 different names on it but it is $60 and works great. And super nice to have it plug in without the massive power supply. I now have 2 power supplies, a 306b and a Thunder T6. In the end they do the same thing only a little faster and I can check the IR. If you are just getting started dont spend a ton on this stuff. You can always use the cheaper as a backup or to charge more at the same time later down the road. Save your money for better lipos and flight components. That's my $.02

 

[PeteDee]

No I think the gold standard at the moment is shared by a few very good chargers, loving my new Revolectrix CellPro PL6, just add a parallel charge board and you can charge six packs at huge rates, pretty amazing really.

Pete

 

[Skyguy]

Thanks, Pete. I'll check it out. When I get rich and famous, maybe I'll buy one!

Thanks,

Bruce