What's the besr battery charger for a F450?

K

khellio

Member
I'm new to all this stuff but enjoying it immensely. However, I've recently bought a DJI F450 and successfully got it flying but the battery charger I already had (from Ebay) doesn't seem to be adequate to charge a new battery I just bought. (Turnigy 30-40C 3 cell 11.1V 4000mAh).
I also already had a 2100mAh but the charger I have was taking up to 5 hours to recharge it.

Can anyone recommend a good charger at a reasonable price which will out perform the cheapie I bought from eBay?

Cheers
Sean
 

PeteDee

PeteDee

Mr take no prisoners!
PL8, probably the best out there, many others will work perfectly well though.

The iCharger 206B is a good compromise and a very good unit, love mine.

Pete
 

S

Scott Drysdale

Mixmaster
Here is another really good one http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__6792__icharger_106b_plus_250w_6s_balance_charger.html
One of the LiPo battery ninja's here on Multirotor forums would be Kloner who has provided a lot of extremely valuable info on this topic.
Some things to consider:
LiPo battery chemistry is complex and needs a lot of TLC which starts with a lot of knowledge and self-discipline along with a very good charger.
Better chargers require a separate 12 or 24 VDC power supply of the APFC type. A very good quality and price effective 12 VDC power supply is a Dell PowerEdge Server Power Supply which are readily available at surplus pricing at $25 each or less off eBay as compared with commercially available units for the RC hobby business which start around $150 each.

Keep in mind, if you want to charge multiple batteries at the same time, you might need to switch up to 24 VDC systems to provide the needed additional household power efficiently to handle the job.
You typical 120 VAC outlet is limited to just under 15 amps. There have been a few homes and garages burnt down where hobbyists tried to modify their own house wiring to acquire the needed power to charge larger LiPos.



khellio said:
I'm new to all this stuff but enjoying it immensely. However, I've recently bought a DJI F450 and successfully got it flying but the battery charger I already had (from Ebay) doesn't seem to be adequate to charge a new battery I just bought. (Turnigy 30-40C 3 cell 11.1V 4000mAh).
I also already had a 2100mAh but the charger I have was taking up to 5 hours to recharge it.

Can anyone recommend a good charger at a reasonable price which will out perform the cheapie I bought from eBay?

Cheers
Sean
Click to expand...
 

K

khellio

Member
Scott Drysdale said:
Here is another really good one http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__6792__icharger_106b_plus_250w_6s_balance_charger.html
One of the LiPo battery ninja's here on Multirotor forums would be Kloner who has provided a lot of extremely valuable info on this topic.
Some things to consider:
LiPo battery chemistry is complex and needs a lot of TLC which starts with a lot of knowledge and self-discipline along with a very good charger.
Better chargers require a separate 12 or 24 VDC power supply of the APFC type. A very good quality and price effective 12 VDC power supply is a Dell PowerEdge Server Power Supply which are readily available at surplus pricing at $25 each or less off eBay as compared with commercially available units for the RC hobby business which start around $150 each.

Keep in mind, if you want to charge multiple batteries at the same time, you might need to switch up to 24 VDC systems to provide the needed additional household power efficiently to handle the job.
You typical 120 VAC outlet is limited to just under 15 amps. There have been a few homes and garages burnt down where hobbyists tried to modify their own house wiring to acquire the needed power to charge larger LiPos.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. One more question please.
Can you give me an idea of how long it would take to charge say...a 4000mAh battery?
 

CdA D

CdA D

Member
khellio said:
I'm new to all this stuff but enjoying it immensely. However, I've recently bought a DJI F450 and successfully got it flying but the battery charger I already had (from Ebay) doesn't seem to be adequate to charge a new battery I just bought. (Turnigy 30-40C 3 cell 11.1V 4000mAh).
I also already had a 2100mAh but the charger I have was taking up to 5 hours to recharge it.

Can anyone recommend a good charger at a reasonable price which will out perform the cheapie I bought from eBay?

Cheers
Sean
Click to expand...

I use a ONYX 245 dual charger w/balancer. It charges up to 5s, and for the bigger batts I use a Thunder Power 820D (it's dual charger also) with a 40A power supply. Their not expensive when you think about how long you want to have your batteries to last. I can charge, discharge, and put into storage my lipo's. Just do your research and choose wisely.
 



G

gnapoleon

Member
Sorry I don't even notice anymore. I have built an extension that automatically transforms all of my links to use it.

The reason I bought this particular model is that I didn't want to ever have to upgrade (in a multirotor/plane scenario),'didn't want a cheaply made and potentially dangerous Chinese clone and wanted something solid I could take to the field and power from my car battery.

This checked all the boxes and for just a bit more money seemed vastly superior than the alternatives.
 

DucktileMedia

DucktileMedia

Drone Enthusiast
One thing i wish i had on mine is a readout for internal resistance. This will help you determine when your lipos are not holding charge as well and are ready to swap for new ones. Most decent chargers should have this. I opted to buy the sky charger b6ac and it is great although it lacks the ir reading.
 


R

Rainman

Member
khellio said:
Thanks for the link, even if it is an affiliate link.
Being an Amazon affiliate myself, I'd already checked this one out but it's way out of my budget range.
Click to expand...

I know you say it's out of your budget, but in all honesty it really is something that you shouldn't scrimp on for so many reasons, the main one being safety. Something like the one in the link is really what I would recommend too, because as has already been mentioned, you really want to just be able to buy a unit that does everything adequately and safely and be done with it and not have to upgrade again.

Not all chargers are equal, and cheap Chinese crap from Hobby King should be avoided. Get a charger from a known brand that has a good reputation - Robbe, Multiplex, HiTec, Graupner, etc. There are lots out there but so answer your other question about how long it should take you to charge a 4000 mah pack, well you should have something that is capable of matching the capacity in one hour, so something that can charge at 4000 mah, also referred to as 1C. Although you can charge some packs quicker I don't recommend it and obviously the cost of a charger that is capable of that will go up considerably.

If you want a charger that is going to charge your packs at 1C it's not going to be a super-cheap item, and the ones that can and are cheap I would tend to avoid. You really want a digital charger that will tell you what you are currently charging at, what the internal resistance of your pack is, should have excellent balancing capability and also allows you to charge/discharge for storage.

I've recently acquired a Graupner Ultra Duo Plus 45 - not cheap but probably the only charger you'll ever need, even has temperature probes. It's a quality device.
 

R

Rainman

Member
dietrichdr said:
This is my second charger. It has all the features that I could possibly want.
memory for all the different types and sizes of lipos.
internal resistance readout
1000 watt charging capability, charges my 4s 5000mah 70c in 5 minutes (when connected to proper dc supply)

http://www.thunderpowerrc.com/Chargers_2/TP1430C
Click to expand...

That's an awesome bit of kit. I'm not into charging at such high rates but it's seriously nice. I've got some models which use 10S 6000mah packs which would make good use of a charger like that. Fortunately I've got a few sets of packs for a whole days flying and so I'm never in a hurry to charge them ;-)
 

SMP

SMP

Member
We really like dual ports and the ability to charge multiple hi mah in the field as well as transmitter and gimbal batteries all at the same time.

We just sold our Thunderpower 820TP which was very easy to use and worked quite well. Can definitely recommend the 820TP. We replaced it with ICharger 308Duo for a little more oomph and IR at a glance. http://www.progressiverc.com/icharger-308duo.html Looks ugly as hell but looking forward to seeing everything without having to push buttons.

NOTE: Plug for ProgressiveRC - Kickass service!!!!
 

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