Lipo Charger Recommendations

[r/c basher]

Currently I have a Thunder AC6 charger which is fine for smaller lipo batteries. But since switching over to lipos in my cars, the charger sucks at balancing them. I use 2s 5000mah batteries in my cars and the Thunder AC6 charger constantly over-charges one of the cells to more than 4.2V and leaves the other cell at less than 4.2V.

I'm looking for a decent charger that can charge 2s 5000mah batteries, I usually only charge my batteries at 1C rate. I want a good quality charger that actually will balance the cells. I want something from reputable and reliable companies and no chinese knockoffs. Looking to spend around or less than $100.

What chargers do you guys use?

I've been doing some research and was looking at this Hitec X1 MF 80 watt charger with a 10 amp charge rate. Hitec seems to stand behind there products with good customer support. I need something that will actually be decent at balancing my batteries so I don't toast them.

Opinions please??

www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXDAKL&P=ML

[Doozer]

I've used this one for years.. probably 4 or 5... always dead on :
HYPERION EOS0606I DC BALANCING CHARGER 6S, 6A, 50W

Though, you'll need a power source. There is the AC/DC version (post Bon Scott )for $109: HYPERION EOS0606I AC/DC BALANCE CHARGER 6S/6A 50W W/ STORE MODE Mine came with a JST adapter for non-hyperion batteries, though, it doesn't look like this one does, so you'll have to order it.

[19000rpm]

I have 2 of these. They come with a power supply and an octopus with just about every connector. secure.hobbyzone.com/catalog/catalog_chargerslipo/TNG01321.html

[r/c basher]

Mar 16, 2014 14:35:36 GMT -6 Doozer said:

I've used this one for years.. probably 4 or 5... always dead on :
HYPERION EOS0606I DC BALANCING CHARGER 6S, 6A, 50W

Though, you'll need a power source. There is the AC/DC version (post Bon Scott )for $109: HYPERION EOS0606I AC/DC BALANCE CHARGER 6S/6A 50W W/ STORE MODE Mine came with a JST adapter for non-hyperion batteries, though, it doesn't look like this one does, so you'll have to order it.

Hmm looks good! Other people seem to like it too, you have any experience trying to balance batteries that are way out of balance with the charger?

One of my Gens Ace 2s 5000mah batteries is 0.2 volts diference between the 2 cells and my AC6 charger does nothing to help balance them, except overcharges one cell close to 4.3V and leaves the other cell undercharged at 4.1V. Actually in fact it never finishes balancing them, the charger always times out trying to balance after 2 hours if I remember correctly.

That charger looks good too 19k, hows your experience with the chargers balancing?



I'm also looking at the Icharger 106B, reviews seem to be good and the price is right at $90. It's DC though so I would need a power supply, but the 10 amp charge rate is nice. www.progressiverc.com/chargers/battery-chargers/icharger-106b.html

[Doozer]

Mar 16, 2014 15:39:39 GMT -6 r/c basher said:

One of my Gens Ace 2s 5000mah batteries is 0.2 volts diference between the 2 cells and my AC6 charger does nothing to help balance them, except overcharges one cell close to 4.3V and leaves the other cell undercharged at 4.1V. Actually in fact it never finishes balancing them, the charger always times out trying to balance after 2 hours if I remember correctly.

My hyperion charger has always balanced cells very well. Because of that consistency, if I see that one cell will not come up, I huck the battery. I would try to balance it on a different charger (borrow a friends).

Also, I like 19K's choice. It's cheap, does everything you need it to do, and you can charge from the wall. You could have two of those chargers for the same price of the Hyperion that charges AC/DC.

Edit: The iCharger from progressive looks like you'll need to purchase a power supply too. That will raise your overall price.

[19000rpm]

When you're looking at balancing you almost need 2 chargers to compare the ability of one against the other because it's difficult to tell if the lack of balance is due to a cell going down or the fault of one of the chargers. That being said, the newer of the Tynergy's seems to balance better than the older. Both use the same programming so it may be the "getting tired" syndrome with the older charger.

Other things I've observed: If I charge at over 1C I end up with a higher degree of balanced cells. Nanotechs I balance at 5 Amps regardless of the mAh ratings. The default programming only allows charging Amps that the battery will handle anyway.

You can also discharge the batteries on the Tynergy at a rate and to the point you wish. I do this sometimes to see if I can correct cells that appear to be going down. Sometimes I can actually revive a weak cell.

[r/c basher]

Thanks for the info guys, I'm not sure if its a dead cell in the battery or not, I only have around 10 charges on it, so its still pretty new. My thunder ac6 seems to balance charge most my other batteries ok, just some of them take a while to balance. I know my Eco-power(Amainhobbies brand) 3s 2200 mah batteries balance alot quicker than some of my other batteries, so it might be more of a battery quality issue than charger.

I won't be making a decision on a charger right away, just thinking about this next racing season coming up. College and work have me pretty busy right now. I would like to get a charger that can charge at more than 1C. The Tenergy TB6B has the same specs as my thunder ac6 charger, so I don't think it will be much of an upgrade as far as charge time goes, although better quality.

ProgressRc has the icharger and power supply combo for $115. The charger is rated at 10 amps so I could charge my Gens Ace 5000 mah batteries at 2C cutting the time down to 30 mins. in theory without balancing. I don't mind spending the money now, instead of regretting not buying a bigger charger later on. Although I could get two Tenergy chargers for roughly the same price.

www.progressiverc.com/the-starter-220w-combo.html

[akphill]

this is the battery charger I use it does need a separate power supply tho but for the money it is computerized and seems to work ok
www.hobbypartz.com/26p-balancecharger-6200.html

[19000rpm]

I like the 8S and 10A capability.