Recommend a charging station for me!

Benjamin Kenobi

Benjamin Kenobi

Easy? You call that easy?
Wow, that thing looks huge! But I can't deny it does the job! I think we've found a winner. I guess I can handle a small amount of soldering, even if the thing looks scary. A small resistor and shorting some pins should be straight forward.

Looks like I'll be copying Angus's setup then!
 


Q

Quinton

Active Member
Good luck to ya, for me its better safe than sorry, ill just play it safe with something that I can turn the volts down or up as required.
My personal opinion, get a couple of Power supplies, chargers for the sake of a few quid extra, not even the need for charger to be so powerful.
You spend HOW much on an MR, why scrimp on something that could easily burn your house down.
 



J

jimmygixxer

Member
Quinton said:
You can use any power supply you want, as long as it is capable of between 9-50V output.
The problem is that your power supply will always be a bottle neck.

You can actually plug 2 or 3 chargers into a good power supply at the same time, and charge 4-6 lipos if you wanted.

It really does depend what you will be charging, as an example I have a 600W power supply and that is capable of charging 2x 10.4A lipos at the same time @ 1C
Thats it almost at its maximum, (even if the charger can charge at a higher rate) so putting 2 or 3 more chargers into it simply would not work as its too under powered.

Cheers Quinton
I have a quad charger now and think charging 4 lipo's at once is the way I would like to stay, I will try one Duo unit at a time and see how I get on.
What would be the maximum PSU I can put on my quad charger 4x60 = 240w max
http://www.giantshark.co.uk/product/171029/gt-power-4-in-1-quattro-charger-li-po-ni-mh-battery

Duo will be the way forward but if i can improve my charging station cheaper for now i might do that.

Thanks for the help
Click to expand...
 

Q

Quinton

Active Member
Don't think you can have a maximum power supply as long as you can adjust the voltage, the bigger the better, you can usually adjust them up/down to suit chargers.
You cant do that with the server PSUs that people buy off ebay.
As long as you can adjust the volts, that particular one you posted supports 11-18V so just set the power supply between that range it it should be OK.

I am no expert or anything on chargers/power supplies, I just know from the experience of buying the wrong combination, but they were on sale at the time, and do the job I need, so I know better next time.
I bought a 600W/40A PSU that is capable of between 6-15V, it is capable of charging 2 X 10.4A lipos @ 1C, I could plug another 3 chargers into it at the same time and charge smaller lipos, but its not much good for the bigger ones, thats why next time I would buy the biggest PSU that I can were you can vary the Voltage.
This all only applies when charging lipos from an AC plug, say at home but if you are charging in the field from a DC battery, then its irrelevant.

That one you posted can do 6A output per port, so it wont be much use for 6S lipos over 6000 mAh charging @ 1C, the charger in this case is your bottleneck.
The important part to look for in chargers is how many amps it can output per port, if you want to charge 15000 mAh @ 1C then you need a charger that can output at least 15A (per port)
 
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J

jimmygixxer

Member
Quinton said:
Don't think you can have a maximum power supply as long as you can adjust the voltage, the bigger the better, you can usually adjust them up/down to suit chargers.
You cant do that with the server PSUs that people buy off ebay.
As long as you can adjust the volts, that particular one you posted supports 11-18V so just set the power supply between that range it it should be OK.

I am no expert or anything on chargers/power supplies, I just know from the experience of buying the wrong combination, but they were on sale at the time, and do the job I need, so I know better next time.
I bought a 600W/40A PSU that is capable of between 6-15V, it is capable of charging 2 X 10.4A lipos @ 1C, I could plug another 3 chargers into it at the same time and charge smaller lipos, but its not much good for the bigger ones, thats why next time I would buy the biggest PSU that I can were you can vary the Voltage.
This all only applies when charging lipos from an AC plug, say at home but if you are charging in the field from a DC battery, then its irrelevant.

That one you posted can do 6A output per port, so it wont be much use for 6S lipos over 6000 mAh charging @ 1C, the charger in this case is your bottleneck.
The important part to look for in chargers is how many amps it can output per port, if you want to charge 15000 mAh @ 1C then you need a charger that can output at least 15A (per port)
Click to expand...

Im using a power supply that I had already I'm not sure what the watts are
Navard PSW-50 DC 9-15v 50A
Its driving me crazy 240min to balance 2 x 6s 10a lipo's
I was only using 4s 5000mah when I purchased it.

Would I be able to power a Duo4010 or 406 with the my PSU ?

Thanks for the help Quinton
 


rotorvista

rotorvista

Member
jimmygixxer said:
That another possible option all in one kit looks good.
What size lipo's do you charge with it and your charging times ?
Thank you
Click to expand...

I am charging 6s 8300mah batteries and can charge 2 in about 40 minutes at 1c and about 15 minutes at 40amps which is the max for that charger, I try to just charge at 1c as I have 8 batteries. You can monitor the graphs on the pc in real time too. I have a Honda generator so can run continuously if necessary and make tea lol
 

Q

Quinton

Active Member
The 4010 requires 9-50V and the 406 if you can get hold of one is 10-30V so the answer to that is then probably yes as your PSU is 9-15V
As long as you have the right connections that go into your power supply.
I would have at least 12 AWG cables coming from your PSU to be safe.

On a side note, no matter what size lipos you are charging be it 4A or 20A, they should take no more than 35-45 mins to charge at 1C, if it takes any longer then something is not up to the job.
 
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J

jimmygixxer

Member
rotorvista said:
I am charging 6s 8300mah batteries and can charge 2 in about 40 minutes at 1c and about 15 minutes at 40amps which is the max for that charger, I try to just charge at 1c as I have 8 batteries. You can monitor the graphs on the pc in real time too. I have a Honda generator so can run continuously if necessary and make tea lol
Click to expand...

I better get a Honda for the kettle then lol
Thanks for the info mate
 

J

jimmygixxer

Member
Quinton said:
The 4010 requires 9-50V and the 406 if you can get hold of one is 10-30V so the answer to that is then probably yes as your PSU is 9-15V
As long as you have the right connections that go into your power supply.
I would have at least 12 AWG cables coming from your PSU to be safe.

On a side note, no matter what size lipos you are charging be it 4A or 20A, they should take no more than 35-45 mins to charge at 1C, if it takes any longer then something is not up to the job.
Click to expand...

The chargers the problem and money lol, it worked fine for my 4s lipo's but now I'm on 6s its time to upgrade
I'm of to find a deal on the I charger Duo 4010 or 406
Thanks for the help mate
 

Q

Quinton

Active Member
Have a good think what you will really need, now and in the future.
Will the size of the 4010 matter, as it is a good bit larger than the new ones coming out, don't forget about the 308 Duo too.
There is actually quite a good deal on it here I see, near the bottom of the page, I have never purchased from them so can't recommend, I just googled..
http://rc-hero.co.uk/Junsi-iCharger

When your plugged into 24V DC you can still get up to 25A per channel which is a LOT, if you are going to use large deep cycle DC batteries at any stage then yes the 4010 will be better for you, but if you are not then why bother.
Also a 1200/1500W PSU later on when you needed that kind of power would be a good choice.
Just trying to add a few things into the purchasing equation, as its always best to buy for "your" needs and not what others would require.
 
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Benjamin Kenobi

Benjamin Kenobi

Easy? You call that easy?
Quinton said:
Have a good think what you will really need, now and in the future.
Will the size of the 4010 matter, as it is a good bit larger than the new ones coming out, don't forget about the 308 Duo too.
There is actually quite a good deal on it here I see, near the bottom of the page, I have never purchased from them so can't recommend, I just googled..
http://rc-hero.co.uk/Junsi-iCharger

When your plugged into 24V DC you can still get up to 25A per channel which is a LOT, if you are going to use large deep cycle DC batteries at any stage then yes the 4010 will be better for you, but if you are not then why bother.
Also a 1200/1500W PSU later on when you needed that kind of power would be a good choice.
Just trying to add a few things into the purchasing equation, as its always best to buy for "your" needs and not what others would require.
Click to expand...

As usual fantastic answers Quinton! You're the man!

At this point anything is an upgrade for me. I don't need to launch a ship into space or anything. I think a 1200/1500W power supply will be just fine for me. I don't really fancy playing around with 'burn your house down' huge PSUs. Just something I can plug in (domestic), turn a dial and Bobs your uncle. I charge in my workshop so can't afford any mishaps.

I have been using the Cellpro chargers for 6 years so the Powerlab 8 V2 is a front runner. Familiar menu and can charge a few lipos at the same time. Comments?
 

Benjamin Kenobi

Benjamin Kenobi

Easy? You call that easy?
Scrub that. I don't really fancy parallel charging with the Powerlab 8. A DUO sounds safer to me. As you may have guessed I know nothing about charging.

The 308 and 4010 seem the most popular on this thread. The price difference is minimal between the two. I like the idea of under utilising the 4010. I won't be using it at it's peak performance anyway but I like things to have a little more power than I really need.
 

J

jimmygixxer

Member
The 308 and 4010 seem the most popular on this thread. The price difference is minimal between the two. I like the idea of under utilising the 4010. I won't be using it at it's peak performance anyway but I like things to have a little more power than I really need.[/QUOTE]

I was thinking the same Ben.
Would the 4010 be safe to use with the following to charge parallel ?
http://rc-hero.co.uk/tools-equipmen...e-board-for-4-packs-2-6s-xt60-40aparaboarxt60

or just stick with 2 lipo's at the same time ?
I should be halving my charge time by the sounds of it anyway.
 

Q

Quinton

Active Member
jimmygixxer said:
The 308 and 4010 seem the most popular on this thread. The price difference is minimal between the two. I like the idea of under utilising the 4010. I won't be using it at it's peak performance anyway but I like things to have a little more power than I really need.

I was thinking the same Ben.
Would the 4010 be safe to use with the following to charge parallel ?
http://rc-hero.co.uk/tools-equipmen...e-board-for-4-packs-2-6s-xt60-40aparaboarxt60

or just stick with 2 lipo's at the same time ?
I should be halving my charge time by the sounds of it anyway.
Click to expand...

Your stabbing yourself in the foot again.
Your Power supply unit is only good for 40A continuous supply.
If you are charging 2 x 10A lipos at 1C you will be getting quite close to the max, unless you can turn your voltage up much higher which you cant.

These chargers have all sorts of fail safes built in, and will alarm out if there is any problem.
They check each cell individually, and if 1 has too many Volts it will cut off, as it sees a problem, so by adding a parallel charger to a duo if you were charging 4x 10A lipos then it could take twice as long, not to mention what it would do to all your chargers built in safety settings.

To get a pair of 6S lipos up to 25.2V actually really only takes 20-25 mins, the remainder of the charging time 15-25 mins is used to do it really slowly, so in theory you could have 2 fully charged 6S lipos every 20 mins or so, that should be more than plenty to keep things going.
Better safe than sorry, especially if you are like me and dont really know much about how this charging stuff works.
 
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