Finally taking the LiPo leap.

[notnodak]

I haven't run for a few months and when we out the other day my battereis sucked A$$. runtime was crap and power was barely there. They had frozen a few times and over heated manytimes. I run a 3905 E-Maxx with a Fiego 9xl/MM esc and generic UBEC 6v. I borrowed my friends single 2 cell 4000mah Li-Po and wow, it had just as much power as my 14cell Tenergy 3800 on their best day. I'm convinced that running two 2cell LiPo's would make my system run cooler and overall much much better(to it's potential). I was sold right then and there.
I'm ordering 4 Turnigy 5000mAh 2S 20C Lipo packs but I need help on the charger and what adapters I need to charge two or all four packs at once. I was looking at getting two of these chargers http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...idproduct=2055 or just one of these two choices http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...idproduct=5548 http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...idproduct=5606 with these adapters http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...idproduct=7444. I also plan on getting a new 4x4 slash and running 3-cell but want the charger to do both types well.

Any input would help

[suicideneil]

http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...idproduct=5548 with a suitable powersupply (its DC only) would be your best bet, and no need for seperate balance plug adaptors as they're built into the charger. Something like this would be ideal for the powersupply.

I would also go for the 25 or 30c turnigy packs over the 20c- a little more expensive but well worth it for peace of mind.

The 8 cell version of that charger looks alright, and with a suitable powersupply it would be able to charge two packs at once, but the required charging harness (that one linked to isnt quite right) is a custom job & a half, though BrianG has diagrams on his ScriptAsylum website.

For the money, it would be easier to just buy a pair of the 6s chargers and powersupplys, if you want to charge up multilpe packs at once...

Maybe you should specify a budget. More money, gives you more options. At this point I am looking at the icharger 1010b+: 300w and 10s lipo max. You'll need balance adaptors, but these are for sale, no custom work required. You can buy this charger at hobbycity, but also in the US at progressiverc. I believe the Neu 10s charger is exactly the same. With this charger you would be able to charge two identical packs(max 5s each) at the same time.

I'm looking to buy this one because of the good reviews it gets, the max power output (>1c charging possible) and the usb connection so you can hook it up to the pc and monitor your packs health(&firmware upgradeable). The hyperion duo is another option which has better specs(12s, 360watts), but is also more expensive.

edit: you could also look at the 106b+, max 6s lipo and 250watts and a bit cheaper. I believe with the balance adpators you can still charge 2 identical packs (max 3s each) at the same time.

[notnodak]

Originally Posted by suicideneil

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For the money, it would be easier to just buy a pair of the 6s chargers and powersupplys, if you want to charge up multilpe packs at once...

Can't you charge two 2cell batteries with this 6cell charger by plugging in the two balance plugs, use a Y harness on the charge lead and tell the charger it's a 4 cell pack? I'll then charge both packs at 5amp, right?

[suicideneil]

Yes, but...

The adapter board you linked to seems to be for purely balancing two packs in parallel, not for normal balance-charging. What you need to make, or find, is slightly different:

http://www.scriptasylum.com/rc_speed/_lipo.html

scroll down to the bottom section, and select '2s + 2s' option- you will see the balancer harness has been tweaked so that the charger sees a 4 cell pack, rather than 2x 2s packs in parallel (same too with the main power leads).