Beginner looking for advice on LiPo Charger :/

[m4inbrain]

Yeah, as the title suggests.. Bought a couple of helicopters, with even more LiPos, from 1s to 3s basically everything here - and now i slowly lose overview over what actually charges what.

What's a decent-ish (doesn't need to be high end or smth, budget got tight after Tx and 4 helicopters) "all around" charger? Preferably a charger that charges more than one 1s lipo at once?

Cheers,

Rene

[Grumpy]

Some questions so we can narrow down options:

• What size batteries do you have (mAh capacity)?
• How many do you want to charge together?
• Is charging quickly important to you, or can you wait for hours?
• Do you use the charger to discharge the batteries for storage?
• Do you want to charge different cell count batteries all at the same time (ie. 1s along with 3s etc)?
• Do you want to allow for scope for getting bigger helis in the future?

[m4inbrain]

So my LiPo-count at the moment is 3x 3s 11.1v 800-1000mAh (1x 800, rest 1000, for Blade 200SRx), 5x 1s 3.7v 150-170mAh (for Blade Nano CPx), 3x 2s 500mAh (Blade 120SR), and soon some 2s 320ish mAh for an ESky 300.

Well, about how many i wanna charge, more than one would be good, maybe 2-3 at the same time of the same type. Chargespeed, well. I don't mind waiting a bit, doesn't need to be the most powerful charger (can't be anyway, since it has to be AC for wallplug).

Yes, should be able to discharge/cycle/storage LiPos.

No, i don't think i'd need to charge different cell counts at the same time, not that important.

About bigger helis, well. I literally just started, i haven't even flown properly yet thanks to the weather - so eventually, i might upgrade (or go nitro/turbine, who knows) - but that's so far in the future that it's not really feasable to plan that far ahead, so the charger only needs to work with these cells, maybe 4s at max.

Sorry for not supplying those infos immediately, never really thought about lipos that much - for my drifter i basically bought a big lipo with charger, and that was that. :/

[m4inbrain]

Absima AB-4000011UK - Absima CB-1P 1-4S Basic LiPo Charger

Overlander - RC6-VSP 80watt 7A output AC DC Lipo Charger with fan

.. these maybe? I'm pretty lost.

[Grumpy]

.. these maybe? I'm pretty lost.

The Overlander charger looks quite good for your needs, but it is only single output so if you wanted to charge multiple batteries then you would need a parallel charge board or harness and you would need to take a few extra precautions when parallel charging as it's not quite so foolproof as normal single battery charging. A parallel charge board would add about £8 to the price.

Here is an alternative that gives four outputs so you could charge up to four batteries without the complexity of parallel charging, and you could charge different battery cell count together (which you cant do with parallel charging): Turnigy 4x6S Lithium Polymer Battery Pack Charger (EU Warehouse)

[m4inbrain]

Trouble with that one is, as far as i understand it, i would need a power supply for that one, right? As in, it doesn't just plug in the wall, it needs a car battery/a PSU.

While the price of the charger itself is fine for me, with a decent PSU it adds up. No idea by how much, since i've never even considered a charger + PSU, no clue what one needs to buy there.

edit: hobbyking livechat can't help there either, for now. Have to mail their "specialists team" to answer the question what PSU they would sell with that. Sigh.

[Grumpy]

Yes, you are quite correct. You would need a DC power supply (about 250Watts minimum) to drive it, or run it off an old car battery or similar.

Something like this would do (when in stock): HobbyKing 350w 25A Power Supply (220v~240v) (UK Warehouse)

But it's all more money i appreciate.

[m4inbrain]

Phoo.. Well, hm.

I'll have a big lookaround to find that charger again, but for 1-4s instead of 6s, i don't have 6s LiPos and won't have them for quite a while (rc drifter runs 4s). So maybe i can save a bit of money there, already spent around £500 this month on getting started with helicopters, i don't think i can expect more leniency from my misses. qq

edit: thanks a bunch though, at least i know what i have to look for roughly now.

[james_2k]

i use the 206b its a great charger for me, theres a set in the for sale section now. would highly recommend it.

[JWhitby]

Apologies for pushing my own ad, but I've just bought a new charger and so have a charging setup for sale http://www.rcheliaddict.co.uk/sale/1...ml#post1156454.
The icharger's have a good reputation, are well featured and reliable, they took me through from mSRX to MCPX to 130x to 450x to 500. Just selling now as I've recently got a 700.

If you bought psu & charger you would still need balance boards to charge your various packs though.

Hope this helps

[m4inbrain]

That one charges only single packs though, correct?

edit: ah, no worries about pushing your own ad, would do the same - .. balance boards? So far i didn't buy anything, since i'm absolutely and utterly confused and a bit overwhelmed so far.

edit2: pm'd anyway ^^

[james_2k]

I charge multiple packs at once with mine no problems

[JWhitby]

Yep it charges a single pack, but to charge multiple nanocpx batteries you get a balance board like Micro Paraboard Micro JST & JST-PH Connectors that one does nano & mcpx batteries
I don't know what balance connectors your other batteries have, but they'll be boards or leads for them as well.
It is all pretty overwhelming at first, I found the following helpful Electric RC info, how-tos and such - TJinTech but there is a lot to read!

[m4inbrain]

Hum. I'm apparently too stupid to read the description of that charger properly.

To make sure: as i stated earlier, got 5x 1s, 3x 2s, 3x 3s LiPos, and the way i hoped it would work is that i basically have a charger, and then simply connect all my 1s, charge them, connect all my 2s after that, charge them, and then connect all my 3s, charge them, and put all teh things away again.

That 206b would be able to do that?

edit:

Connections, uhm.. I know deans, from my car - the 1s from my Nano and 120SR have a red 2pin connector, i assume that's JST - and the 3s for the Blade 200SRx have a.. ahm.. Well, a white four pin JST?
edit: thanks for the link btw, that will help alot.

[james_2k]

yep, but you will need a balance board/ parallel cables. as with any charger