12s charging recommendations

[raptorheli2]

going to have a dabble with the new outrage fusion so need to find the best way to charge up 12s 3300mah packs.

i already have a cellpro 10 and a suitable PSU but i intend to buy a couple of server PSU's to make a 1kw 24v PSU station.

the unanswered bit is what charger/s to get.

what are people using and what sort of speed is it taking to charge 12s setups with your chargers?

cheers

[robgt]

I'm using the Fusion Emperor charger, which is excellent! Charge two 6S packs at the same time (independently of each other) at 300 watts per channel.
I want to build a server PSU setup as well. What PSU's are you looking at?
I keep seeing threads referring to cheap HP PSUs on ebay, but they have always "expired" by the time I get to them, and no other cheap ones are available at that time

Pointers appreciated
Cheers,
Rob

[Jamin_00]

That Fusion does look good.

I use Hyperion Duo V3 but the V3+ is the one to get now and is the same 300w per channel.

Chargers in this range are all going to be as good its just what one you prefer. All the features are pretty much the same.

The Hyperion can monitor pack temps and cycle packs, store charge, discharge etc etc.

You wont go far wrong with any charger in this end of the market

[raptorheli2]

there is a few options rob but most seem to be using these- HP Compaq ESP114 192201-001 Power Supply PSU 192147-001 on eBay (end time 18-Nov-10 07:30:59 GMT)

i was looking at that charger rob-i found it under a different guise before i knew logic done them. there are massive threads on them on RCG/RCU and basically the 300w per channel, well, is a fib. the best they are seeing from them is 220w it seems. that is not the logic version but the other names but i assume it is identical under the skin.

with that said i must say i'm favouring one of these but 200 quid is offputting. i'd rather get the hyperion which allows link mode for charging which this fusion does not offer.

that said that is why i made this thread-curious what people are using so thanks for info.

cheers

[Andy from Sandy]

From what I have read about using two PSUs in series is you have to remove the ground from one of the units. I don't know if this is a problem or not. If it could result in the chassis becoming live then I think you should consider either putting both units in an insulated housing or only using them at home where no-one can come into contact with them.

At MK we run a generator and there is quite a few charging stations. It makes sense in this situation to have supplies that have not been modified.

[dav20043]

I use parallel leads similar to these with my cell pro 10 to do 2x 6s
Search Results : EP Buddy, Better Services for iCharger

[raptorheli2]

I use parallel leads similar to these with my cell pro 10 to do 2x 6s
Search Results : EP Buddy, Better Services for iCharger

what sort of charge times can you get?

cheers

[raptorheli2]

From what I have read about using two PSUs in series is you have to remove the ground from one of the units. I don't know if this is a problem or not. If it could result in the chassis becoming live then I think you should consider either putting both units in an insulated housing or only using them at home where no-one can come into contact with them.

At MK we run a generator and there is quite a few charging stations. It makes sense in this situation to have supplies that have not been modified.

from what i have read the psu's have a light to warn of a short and the case is live.

cheers

[Milamber]

I'm using the Fusion Emperor charger, which is excellent! Charge two 6S packs at the same time (independently of each other) at 300 watts per channel.
Rob

My Emperor has just arrived from FL and I have the Fusion 600 Watt PSU to power it. Seems to me that at around 12 Amps available per 6S Lipo, Channels 1 & 2 at 300 Watts apiece, and with my 6S LiPo's being 5200 mA each, there should be no issues at all charging a pair at a time. I only use 1 pack per flight, Align 500 and 550 so I believe I'll be fine for a while.

[raptorheli2]

be curious to know how you fair on that PSU. that charger (named megapower admittedly) is not rated to 300w on testing and it's circa 200w per channel with a 12v source from memory. you need to go upto a 24v psu to get the best from it, even at that no one has seen 300w per channel from my research. however that isn't really important to me as it is splitting hairs over 3-4c charges-this looks a good charger and is on my think list.

excellent info here on that charger if you can be bothered reading about 20 pages- http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...ghlight=gemini

please update your findings on max charge rate you can get from that PSU/charger combo. should work well.

cheers

[barney]

Hi Paul just how fast are you looking to charge? As for the need to link charge I've consider it a non issue. I just taped 2 x 6s packs so they are always paired.

Link charging I'm not convinced its worth having as you might as well Parallel charge.

If you have one pack that takes more to charge than the other something is amiss. If its only a small amount just ignore it. No point in Chucking a pack thats still usable?

Since your unlikely to be able to get a similiar condition pack once you have a few cycles on them its always going to be a miss match. No charger can repair a weak cell. That doesnt prevent its use as long as you only discharge to the weaker packs limitations.

Either way the charger will fully charge both packs to the level the cells are capable off.

In practice the packs re-charge within a handfull of Mha of each other. (Often within 10Mha.) I also find the I-chargers end the charge within a few seconds of each other often beeping in tandem.

The little 206b I-chargers pack a big punch 300W apiece so capable of well over 2C on 6s 3000. They run a lot cooler and efficiently than the 10s. Better still, they are tiny being Shirt Pocket size a mere 135m x 82 x 27

Power supplies. Something to be awarec off is depending on charger/settings/type it increases the charge rate during the charge above the C rating chosen. To avoid this you need to manually choose your Amp rate. For Example a single 6s x 3000 at 2C will pull roughly 12-13 amps from the Power supply.

The Fusion 600W PS is 40 Amp capable (variable by knob) and runs at up to 15v again adjustable. The 15v is a good thing to get the most from a charger. It's casing lacks quality but otherwise it works a treat. The downside is the Fan is a bit noisy and always on.

The above will run 2 x 6S 3000 at 2C pulling 24 amps or 4 x 6S at 1C Parallel very comfortably.

Horses for coursers really.

Brian

[raptorheli2]

hi mate,

i'm looking for 2c at home and 2/3/4c at field (remember wf has a 1000amp bank of batts topped up by 2 wind turbines). FYI i have bought those 12v HP things to pair them up. from what i read you can get 5,15,17,24v from them depending where you plug your charger into.

what have you done to charge 2 at once with your cellpro? i.e where can i get the boards from? i'll be doing the same and 1 more charger (TBC) to go with it. i'm not that fussed about the parallel charging as the packs can be checked now and then no probs with their own taps if any issues.

cheers

[ModelGuard.Com]

Just to let you know that i use a 140 amp deep discharge lead acid battery at the field and it will chargea 12s 4000 mah precisely 2.5 times before the charger reports low input voltage. So with a 1000 amp battery you can expect around 14 charges. Provided it is as fresh and as charged as mine

[ModelGuard.Com]

At 4c those lead acid batteries are going to be screaming at the charger to report low voltage. Make sure they are deep discharge as well otherwise they wont last long

[Andy from Sandy]

Just to let you know that i use a 140 amp deep discharge lead acid battery at the field and it will chargea 12s 4000 mah precisely 2.5 times before the charger reports low input voltage. So with a 1000 amp battery you can expect around 14 charges. Provided it is as fresh and as charged as mine

If it were a perfect world then charging a 12S 4000mAh battery from a 12volt power source would require 16.666Amps. Your 140Ah battery would then be capable of about 8 charges. Allowing for the efficiency of the charger I would still expect to get 5 charges. Your 2.5 seems a bit low.

Reading the instructions for the hyperion duos it is recommended to use 2 x 12v deep cycle batteries in series. That probably improves the efficiency of the charger.