What about this charger + power supply combo?
 

Hi RCM members,

I'm in need of a new charger because I want to charge some LiPo's at 2C (and in the future probably even higher) but I'm not sure if this will work right as I never had any interests in chargers/power supply, so I'm a huge noob at those two things.
I found this charger: http://www.allerc.com/product_info.p...oducts_id=2785
And this power supply: http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...idProduct=8592
I will use my LBA10 to balance the cells. Will all these 3 things work good together? Does anybody got experience with this charger and/or power supply?

And my last question; l'll probably buy one of the new 40C Flightmax packs, they say the Max Charge rate is 3C, but what do you guys think about this? Of course it's better for the battery if charged at 1C or lower, but will it hold op 2C? (I won't charge 3C anyway)


Thanks,

Patrick

Not sure if the 1210i will allow you to do a 2c charge. You may have to read the instructions as the older hyperions were limited to 1c.

I have 2 of these chargers and they are great. I use them for all kinda of stuff, including charging my cordless tool batteries. For 85 bucks they are a steal, that is for sure. I use 2 lba 10 balancers networked and can charge up to 12s. A big step up and the only problem is the lack of an internal balancer. But with the lba 10 connected that is not that big of a deal.

I don't have that specific charger, but I do have an older Hyperion EOS7i. When I want to charge a higher charge rates, I trick it by saying I have a larger lipo than I do. Example: If I want to charge a 3s 3300mAh pack at 2C, I would tell the charger it really is a 6600mAh pack.

However, that power supply is rather weak. 12.5A @ 12v is only good for around 150w, and after taking charger effiencey into consideration, is only good for 120w. That would limit the charge rate depending on the lipo. And that assumes the output is a steady 12v at all loads; most power supplies drop voltage under heavy loads, which means the charger has to pull more current to compensate. For the 1210i (which is rated for 180w), I would get a power supply no less than 20A @12v to use it to its full rating.

good
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...y_for_Chargers


best
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...Chargers_(350W)

I saw those two, but they both have got many negative ratings...

In the description it says: "2C rates are possible - in addition to Terminal Capacity Selection - allowing you to charge and fly lithium polymer packs in as little as 27 minutes."
What do they mean with "In addition to Terminal Capacity Selection"? Is that some kind of upgrade thingy I have to buy if I want to charge at 2C or is it just a function in the charger that I have to select?

Hehe, thats a nice little trick. But could someone maybe confirm that this charger also could be tricked out?

I'll wait on comments at those two power supply of HC, but the comments at HC are 90% negative...

EOS 1210i supports 2C charge. Been using it for couple years now however I plan to get the new ones with up to 5C charge :)

+1 for the 1210i.

TCS is a feature that lets you select a %'age to charge to. Say you're not going to use lipo immediately after running, TCS lest you tell charger 80% (or whatever) and it then charges lipo to 80%.

Its the equiv of 'store' mode in other chargers.

Do you know if it is possible to trick this charger, like BrianG said? So it will charge at 2C+?

Ok, thank you very much!



But now my question is still about the power supply... Which one should I buy?

The smaller chargery one is ideal and a good bang for your buck. If you'll not want to max out your new charger then the first one you linked is fine (up to 100-120 watts0

Well, I would like to charge my 5S 5000mAh LiPo at 2C, so that first one won't be good enough. 21*10 = 210Watt needed. BrianG also said that it makes some losses (efficiency), so it wouldn't be enough to charge my 5S 5000mAh LiPo at 2C.

Remember the 1210i is only good for about 180 watts.

Looking for another power supply as well.
So what is the conclusion here ?
What's the best deal ?

there is a build thread for converting a PC power supply $15. to a 12v supply but I'm pretty sure you need 13v, right ?
How about Peak power ?

Some PC supplies can be made to boost the output to the 13-14v range, but no way to tell until you open it up and do some digging. And only 12v should be needed, but 13-14v gives the output a little more leeway for voltage sag under load, and a higher voltage requires less current for a given power output.

Linc posted a link to a couple server power supplies (30A & 42A) a week or 2 back. I think they were around $50. He said they were pretty good.