Recommend a charging station for me!

Benjamin Kenobi

Easy? You call that easy?
Hey chaps,

It's about time for me to update my charging equipment. I'm looking for the ability to balance charge 10x 6S lipos at the same time. I would like a top of the range type charger if possible as it will no doubt be with me forever (well, as long as we still fly lipos on multis!).

Name your suggestions......
 

kloner

Aerial DP
I've been charging like you want.... overall it's great, but then i got knocked out of a gig and a crew came in, when i saw there rig i wanted to throw mine in the trash......

this thing did 40 amps times 2,,, friggin fast, 10 amp packs with 5c ratings took 10 minutes to balance charge for 2 packs.... and you can do them individual so if one pack starts to go away, you don't kill all your packs over balancing it and the other 5 packs being put through that life, makes them go away, ir rise, etc. parralel boards are convienant, but i'm not sold on there quality of charge, especially on older packs.

http://www.progressiverc.com/the-caged-threat-2000w-combo.html
 

Benjamin Kenobi

Easy? You call that easy?
'The caged threat' what a name!

So it looks like it has two channels, but you can parallel charge off each channel.

What charger do you use kloner? And what balance board?
 


kloner

Aerial DP
i'm on the old 306b with the fma fused balance board.... it is unbelievably easy to short them boards..... fuses saved me a few times now

with the 308 or 4010 you just go single pack to each port and it'll make your charging more consistent and increase the packs life.... that's the part i wish i had now..... a 306 with a single output is fine, but i fly 2 packs at at time, hence the dual charger on a fly in type gig lets you bring in 4 packs and almost fly non stop....
 

Benjamin Kenobi

Easy? You call that easy?
Keeping packs healthy is very important to me. I still charge at less than 1C (even though I have GensAce 40C lipos which can be charged at 5C). So a dual port charger does make sense (I also fly two packs at a time).

I have 12 packs (six flights) so charging two at a time will be just fine for continuous flying.

So, I see little point in getting the 4010, which is like two 10S chargers. The 308 makes more sense. I only need to charge two 6S. They are both pretty similar in price. Any advantage to the 4010 that I can't see?

And how about power supply?
 

kloner

Aerial DP
having the overhead will make the unit work less and last longer...... it also leaves you to move up later in life. these things last a long time, imagine 3 years from now what your charging.

for us, having 40 amp vs 30 amp is gonna be a big deal with 10,000 mah packs.....and bigger. the new tattu 16000 mah are next on my hit list to maintain so every amp matters
 


Droider

Drone Enthusiast
I run three of these as I hate single chargers doing multiple packs.

http://www.electricwingman.com/graupner-ultra-duo-plus-80-battery-charger.aspx

Powered by one of these

http://www.electricwingman.com/chargery-s1500-power-supply.aspx

I also carry a Honda Generator which copes with the load PLUS this which is my foreign travel main pack

http://www.electricwingman.com/graupner-ultra-duo-plus-60-charger.aspx

and if away take two of these as emergency chargers

http://www.electricwingman.com/graupner-ultramat-14-plus-balance-charger-lipo-life-compatible.aspx

Dave

PS you in London on friday at the urban flying workshop?
 

Quinton

Active Member
PS you in London on friday at the urban flying workshop?

I'll be there hopefully as long as the flights aren't delayed, although I may be a bit late, as I get into Gatwick at 7:55am then I need to get the Gatwick Express to Victoria Station.
 

Benjamin Kenobi

Easy? You call that easy?
I run three of these as I hate single chargers doing multiple packs.

http://www.electricwingman.com/graupner-ultra-duo-plus-80-battery-charger.aspx

Powered by one of these

http://www.electricwingman.com/chargery-s1500-power-supply.aspx

I also carry a Honda Generator which copes with the load PLUS this which is my foreign travel main pack

http://www.electricwingman.com/graupner-ultra-duo-plus-60-charger.aspx

and if away take two of these as emergency chargers

http://www.electricwingman.com/graupner-ultramat-14-plus-balance-charger-lipo-life-compatible.aspx

Dave

PS you in London on friday at the urban flying workshop?


Hey Dave,

You only use your DUO to charge single packs? I thought the point was you could dual charge with them safely (hence the DUO)?

I just need to decide which dual charger to go for now. The iCharger 4010 seems great (and good looking too). I still love the Cellpro range as I've been using them for the last six years. This one is nice: http://www.fast-lad.co.uk/store/product_info.php?cPath=45_136_468&products_id=27323

And regarding power supplies, I do just run them off the mains don't I?

I'll be getting a generator later in the year as going from one shoot to the next it would be great to just have the generator going and charging at the same time as flying. Most shoots are in the middle of nowhere!
 


Quinton

Active Member
I would go for the largest power supply you can get, that being the 1500w one, think about it that charger can use 2000W if needed.
These power supplies can run 2 or 3 chargers at the same time, so the bigger the better.

To give you an idea my 600w power supply can charge a 2xlipos at 1C in about 35-45 mins, thats set at 14V and 37A
Its flat out at that (at its maximum) with 2x 10.4A lipos on a duo charger.
Imagine later on if you ever went to 16 or even 20A lipos

Do you really need a 2000W charger if your power supply is only 1200W?
 


Droider

Drone Enthusiast
Hey Dave,

You only use your DUO to charge single packs? I thought the point was you could dual charge with them safely (hence the DUO)?

I just need to decide which dual charger to go for now. The iCharger 4010 seems great (and good looking too). I still love the Cellpro range as I've been using them for the last six years. This one is nice: http://www.fast-lad.co.uk/store/product_info.php?cPath=45_136_468&products_id=27323

And regarding power supplies, I do just run them off the mains don't I?

I'll be getting a generator later in the year as going from one shoot to the next it would be great to just have the generator going and charging at the same time as flying. Most shoots are in the middle of nowhere!

Yep I run two packs at 10amps each on each charger. So six packs at a time but It rearlet happens that all six are on full bely so in reality I can run the three Duo's and the Duo mains one all at the same time off my 1500w power supply powerd by my Honda inverter generator OR via the inverter in my Van with the engine running for peak load but with back up batteries in the van I can **** the engine down between shoots but still keep charging.. Its still not perfect but its close. Eyball has it sussed i his van so when we are working together we can run a small city full of lipos

I just like two of everything just in case!

Dave
 


Quinton

Active Member
This is the hardest part about moving up to bigger Lipos, people don't realise the expense in getting a decent Lipo/Charger set up, is going to cost you at least £1000/$1300

Let me know if you get that 4010 Duo Ben what its like, I just like the thought of the size of the 308 Duo, it looks as though it packs a punch for all the size of it, you have enough to carry around, this would just make it that bit easier. and you could easily fit a PS and this into a small case.
 

Benjamin Kenobi

Easy? You call that easy?
I do love the ProgressiveRC kit that kloner first mentioned. Great price too. It's just the shipping to the UK that makes me hesitate.

As with all big purchases I'm going to sit on it for two weeks and see what my subconscious decides. I am heavily leaning towards the ProgressiveRC one as it's an all in one case design, and the components are the highest spec I can find. I can't find anything to match it in the UK. I assume the power supply will run happily on a UK domestic supply (240V)? Maybe just a new plug.

Cheers lads!
 

Carapau

Tek care, lambs ont road, MRF Moderator
I have 2x 4010duos coupled to HP ESP120 PSUs. This is th mutts nutts. 4 ports and I charge a pair of 10a 6s batts on each port at 2c. Ding dong!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Quinton

Active Member
I do love the ProgressiveRC kit that kloner first mentioned. Great price too. It's just the shipping to the UK that makes me hesitate.

As with all big purchases I'm going to sit on it for two weeks and see what my subconscious decides. I am heavily leaning towards the ProgressiveRC one as it's an all in one case design, and the components are the highest spec I can find. I can't find anything to match it in the UK. I assume the power supply will run happily on a UK domestic supply (240V)? Maybe just a new plug.

Cheers lads!

I don.t get you, this is just a power supply and a charger in a box?

http://uk.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Mean-Well/RSP-1000-48/?qs=Xb8IjHhkxj5mmeT6EC3r2w==
http://electriflyer.co.uk/icharger-4010-duo/

You could easily pick a nice cheap case up at CPC Farnell to put them into for £30- £50 and it looks to me that the power supplyis 48V only, no way of turning it down unless I am missing something, the other power supplies you get to set whatever voltage you want.
The fan is probably just a simple PC fan that you can pick up for a couple of quid.
 

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