Basic charges

[HeliDarren]

Hello everyone!

When it comes to charging lipos I'm alway confused about what's the best way to charge them.
I've seen that people charge then just by plugging in the balance leads and others with the balance leads and the power supply. Can I just charge them just by the balance leads or do I need to get something like a Turnigy Accucel 6 charger? Any advice would be great please

[Grumpy]

The type of charger that plugs into only the balance lead are the very low power chargers that typically come with 'ready to fly' packages. All decent chargers these days will charge through the main power connector and just do the balancing through the balance lead. Either type get the job done but the balance lead only type being low power tend to take ages especially on larger batteries.

[HeliDarren]

Thanks buddy. That makes sense Now deciding on what charger to get.

[Martind]

What size lipos are you using ? And what's the budget ?

[HeliDarren]

It's a 3s 800mah battery. I was thinking about spending £40?

[Martind]

This is a good charger, I have the smaller 150w one and that dose my 4x 4s 1300mah fine.
ISDT Q6 Plus 300W 14A MINI Pocket Battery Balance Charger Sale - Banggood Mobile

[HeliDarren]

Thanks for the link. I'll look into getting one of these

[Grumpy]

That looks like a really good little charger. Only thing to be aware of is that you need to power it with a DC power supply of suitable power and voltage, it wont plug direct into a wall socket.

[HeliDarren]

Oh I see thanks I might just get a cheap one from ebay

[Grumpy]

Oh I see thanks I might just get a cheap one from ebay

Most chargers need a seperate DC power supply. You can use an old computer server power supply or a 12V car battery.

If you want one that will run of wall socket AC then you need to look for a charger that specifically says 'AC', thse tend to be lower power units but still ok for your small batteries. There are a lot of fakes on ebay, you see loads of 'iMax B6AC' chargers but all the cheap ones are fakes. The original iMax chargers are made by SkyRC, if it doesnt say SkyRc it's a fake.

[HeliDarren]

I've got an old esky charger. Will that be OK to use? It charges my esky lipos that are 1500mah. My 250 lipos are only 800mah.

[Grumpy]

I've got an old esky charger. Will that be OK to use? It charges my esky lipos that are 1500mah. My 250 lipos are only 800mah.

Impossible to say, will your esky charger accept 3S LiPo batteries? Does the charger have a model number or any other identification?

[tourerjim]

Slightly over budget https://www.align-trex.co.uk/80watt-...r-rc6-vsp.html

[myxiplx]

This is a good charger, I have the smaller 150w one and that dose my 4x 4s 1300mah fine.
ISDT Q6 Plus 300W 14A MINI Pocket Battery Balance Charger Sale - Banggood Mobile

I've seen those mentioned before, they do have a good reputation for a simple little charger. Interesting to see another recommendation for them.

HeliDarren, definitely take a look at this link. These chargers have an easier interface than many cheap options, and so far I haven't heard of anybody having issues with them. Just be aware that as with most good chargers you'll need to buy a power supply separately.