charger for 6s lipo

[cham]

I need some more help you guys if you dont mind and Im sorry If I asked this in another thread. I am in the process of getting everything together and Ive got the money to spend right now and I dont know if Ill have it later so I would like to know if anyone can recommend a charger that I plug into a wall, that does not require a power supply, I just want plug it in and charge/balance my 6s batteries. I can spend around a hundred dollars or so, maybe a little bit more. I had a thunder ac6 but it would NOT charge my batteries as the input from the wall socket was only 50w. Could someone with experience please recommend me a charger that will charge my batteries please? Its very unnerving to buy something and it not work. Ive already sold the thunder ac6 as Ive read mixed reviews on its safety. Ive looked at this charger http://cgi.ebay.com/Losi-LOSB9606-C-...item3f062b90a3
but to me it looks like the exact same thing as a thunder ac6 but with ec5 plugs. Btw I do have ec5 plugs on my batteries. Please help you guys. I dont know much about chargers and there is so many recommendations from different people who dont even own the stuff they recommend. I just want to charge my batteries and not have to buy a 100 dollar power supply, and I dont want to mess with making my own. Please help!

[cham]

I dont want to have to wait for 10 hours to charge these bad boys and I know the power supply on the thunder ac6 would not charge my batteries at all coming from the 110 ac plug! Thanks guys!

[simplechamp]

Check the "General Electric" section for info on how to get a dirt cheap 47A power supply.

The iCharger 106B+ can be had for about $100 and can handle 6S, 10A, and 250W total power, which makes it quite capable even for being the entry level iCharger. If you can afford to spend a little more look into one of the more powerful models, but any in the iCharger line is solid.

[BrianG]

yeah, you're going to have a hard time finding a powerful charger that is powered directly off 120v mains. Most of those types are around 50w max, some maybe a bit more. For example; if you have a 5000mAh 6s pack and want to charge it at 1C (1 hour charge), you'll need a charger capable of around 130 watts.

Many lower-end and/or 120v powered chargers will charge 6s, or high currents (~5A+), but not both at the same time due to their low power limit. This power limit is pretty important, especially with today's packs with the ability to charge at more than 1C.

In short, you'll do better with getting a high current (10A+), high power (200w+), and high voltage (6s+) charger than runs off 12v. Then, just get/build a high current 12v supply. Once you determine the charger you want, this page helps you determine what power supply you'll need to take full advantage of that charger. Note that many really high power chargers (300w+) require ~24v to get their max output.

[brian015]

Originally Posted by cham

I had a thunder ac6 but it would NOT charge my batteries as the input from the wall socket was only 50w.

The ac6 (or similar 50w charger - I use 2 of them to charge 2 batteries at the same time) should definitely be capable of charging any 6s lipo. Since it is limited to 50w, it can charge a 6s lipo at around 2Amps. So, if you had a 5000mah 6s lipo, it would take 2.5 hours to fully charge.

[lincpimp]

Get a 150watt minimum capable charger, and you are not likely to find one that has a built in power supply.

[magman]

The hyperion line of chargers are not cheap, however, they are great chargers and some even have a built in balancer....http://www.allerc.com/chargers-c-9.h...ab406a515fad98

I have the EOSO615 DUO III and love it. I can charge 2 batts at once at 15Amps each or 1 at 20 amps

[E-Revonut]

Hyperion does have a charger that will do 90 watts with the built in power supply or 150W with a seperate power supply or 12V battery. Not the cheapest but Hyperion chargers are good chargers, only lipo chargers I've owned and I've never had any issues with them

[mjosparky]

Read this before you decide. You can't have it both ways.

http://www.rchelicopterfun.com/rc-battery-chargers.html

[cham]

I properly hooked up the ac6, read the manual 6 times and once more for good measure. I used ec5 connectors connected to 4mm plugs that went perfectly into the charger port. I did everything right but I never saw in increase in voltage in the pack or the individual cells after charging for over 2 hours. The pack never got warm at all, the charger just was not working at all. I know my soldering job was done in the correct manner and the battery connections were perfectly done. I studied my butt off and watched like 6 videos on the subject including one on ec5 soldering teks. I just dont know what went wrong. But Ive heard several people complaining that the ac6 wont work with charging 6s and 5s lipos out of the wall. I just got an offer to buy a Hyperion 610i charger with a power supply from a guy on here for 150 dollars. Is that a decent deal you guys? Sounds like it is to me but Im no familiar with used pricing on chargers, or if its even a good idea to buy used. Can someone give me a good idea on if this is a decent deal? Thanks so much you guys!!! Its almost time to run this beast, waiting on the battery tray, a BEC and my new jr9000t for the single servo mod and Im ready to go!

[BrianG]

I'm not familiar with that particular charger, but it sounds like the internal AC power supply isn't putting out enough voltage to actually charge the battery. For charging to occur, the power supply voltage has to be a little higher than the battery's voltage (plus a little extra for circuit losses) for current to flow into the battery. It may be that your house mains voltage is a little lower (like 110v instead of 120v) which would affect the internal power supply. If that charger accepts 12v input, I would try that before getting a new charger.

[brian015]

Originally Posted by brian015

The ac6 (or similar 50w charger - I use 2 of them to charge 2 batteries at the same time) should definitely be capable of charging any 6s lipo. Since it is limited to 50w, it can charge a 6s lipo at around 2Amps. So, if you had a 5000mah 6s lipo, it would take 2.5 hours to fully charge.

And to clarify my above statement, in light of BrianG's comments - I do use an external 12v supply for my cheap 50watt chargers - and they charge 6s just fine.

[hoober]

Try the Triton 2 EQ? It's 100 watts AC and can be fooled into 120 watts (or DC)

[DrKnow65]

I decided to start looking into updating my still functioning iMax B6 charger in light of being able to charge 2 4S packs at the same time at 5C.

I think the only charger that realy interests me is the iCharger 3010B, I've got it in my cart at Hobbyking for $189.99, but I'll look for it here stateside before I purchase as the shipping is expensive and I'd rather push some business twards a distributor in the USA.

I'm now looking into power supplies as well to try and get something that will feed the 3010B 24v at 40+ amps. I'm thinking a pair of X0551 dell server PS's in series mounted in an enclosure (properly isolated) would give me 24Vdc @ 45 amps for less than $60 shipped.

I know it all seems overkill, but I figure being overbuilt and underused will keep it happy long enough to cover me until some newer better technology comes along.

[mjosparky]

Try this site, it is in Ohio.

http://epbuddy.com/index.php?main_pa...&products_id=1

Sparky