iCharger calibration.... PSU supply problems...

[Grumpy]

Running them that close to their maximum input voltage is probably a bad idea IMO, The charger's will actually be doing more work and you'll probably use more power than if you were running them on two power supplies in series to get ~25V I assume you're charging 6s Packs?

Actually the reverse is true. On my icharger 4010 Duo i used to regularly get the charger tripping out when charging 6s packs with an input voltage of 24-25v. The problem is that the charger goes through a buck/boost transition as the battery voltage climbs up to and then passes the input voltage, this transition causes the charger to go unstable. It was only a problem when charging at very high amps but it happened consistently.

I switched to a 48v power supply and have never had any problem since. The charger runs a little cooler too because it's pulling in much less current...Bear in mind that it's current that causes heat, so higher voltage/lower current will usually be more efficient.

[Mike Sanders]

On my icharger 4010 Duo i used to regularly get the charger tripping out when charging 6s packs with an input voltage of 24-25v. The problem is that the charger goes through a buck/boost transition as the battery voltage climbs up to and then passes the input voltage, this transition causes the charger to go unstable.

It only happens with the i charger Duo series. Coolice can supply an electronic device which prevents the problem.

[PaulJC]

As has been said, the higher voltage allows the charger to run using less current and generating less heat, also having the load spread over 3 PSU's also reduces the individual workload for them for the same output...

Its similar in theory to the differences in our 6S and 12S flying setups, all the 12S setups out there could be made to be 6S if really wanted however the current draw would be double which generates far more heat making it far less efficient.

To power my charger putting 30A into 6S batteries on 24V would draw 30a from my power supply (24v x 30A = 720w) it is now running 36v (ish) and on a 30A charge in to 6S draws approx 20A (36v x 20a = 720W), it's using exactly the same amount of power but more efficiently, if my charger was capable of higher voltage i would not have hesitated to go 48v and still may do so in the future if a charger upgrades warrants it