Advice please, will this charger and PSU do what I need?

[BavarianRob]

Evening all (bends legs in a police like manner)......

I have some more lipos on the way for my 450 and I want to parallel charge them. I am thinking of getting an IMAX B6 with a 200W power supply and a paralell charge board so I can charge 3x2200 mAh at 1C which will work out at 6.6A which I believe is less than the B6 max charge current of 10A?

This fits into my current budget of around £130 so any other suggestions for this sort of money would be welcomed.

Please don't suggest I spend £400 on a charger to be "future proof" as much as id like to go 'balls out' I just don't have the money at the moment.

[xygax]

B6 aint a bad charger .. check the maximum wattage out and then divide by the voltage it will show you the max current you can get from it.


Steve

[simon1]

I should be selling my cellpro 10s charger at the end of the month to upgrade charger, I have a psu too, 12v 400w 32amp, but it wont be until after 31st when I get some dosh for my birthday, up to you I will be selling it on here soon...

[cjcj1949]

I think you'll find it's 50W, 5 Amp max. Typically with chargers the max power and the max amps don't go together. With a 12.6 V output you'll be limited to about 4 Amps. At the start of charge you'll get more current, but not enough for parallel charging. I have a B5 charger which gives me about 4.4 Amps at start of charge on a 3S. I've just bought an Icharger 106B which is much better and has enough amps and watts for parallel work, not that I do that sort of thing. I prefer to charge at 2C and use lots of batteries.

This is where I got mine. It will give you 7 amps at 12.6 volts easily as that's less than 100 Watts and the charger goes up to 250W. It will work from 10 to 18V. They are not easy to get, but are in stock below.

iCharger 106B+ « ElectriFlyer

I am not on commission, but it does everything I want. When connecting packs in parallel, having the same volts is a good idea.

[scuba steve]

i had an IMAX B6 charger for my 450 bats and its max charging Amps was 5.0A. also remember that a limiting factor with this charger is its relatively low max charging wattage of 50W. also remember that these are not 'Ronseal chargers'.....they do not do what it says on the tin, i.e., their efficiency can be as low as 80%.

if you want to charge 1 x 3S 2200 mAh at a time (or 2 at a push from experience...but it all gets a bit hot) than this is an OK charger. i think you would be better to buy something a little better like an icharger with separate PSU

HobbyKing R/C Hobby Store : iCharger 106B-plus 250W 6s Balance/Charger

[BavarianRob]

Thanks guys, looks like its a good job I asked, the specs quoted on the chargers I've looked at seem to be a bit optimistic! Might stick to charging one lipo at a time for now on my current charger (did you see what i did there.....current?.....lol) and try and get something better in a few weeks after payday!

[BavarianRob]

With a 12.6 V output you'll be limited to about 4 Amps.

I've just bought an Icharger 106B which is much better and has enough amps and watts for parallel work, It will give you 7 amps at 12.6 volts easily as that's less than 100 Watts and the charger goes up to 250W. It will work from 10 to 18V.

Thanks CJ, can you explain how you work out the charge rate available in Amps from the voltage? I suppose this will be a factor in which power supply I choose to run the charger but also relate to the chargers maximum input voltage?

Also you say 7A at 12.6v is <100W (how do you work this out too please?) so if the charger is rated at 250W does this mean I could charge at double i.e 14A at 12.6v and still have some headroom?

I'm not up to speed on the electrical side of things it's been a few years (26.....cough) since I did it at school so please excuse my question if I'm being a dumb a$$ lol.

Cheers.

Rob

[Nutz]

a 50Watt charger will only charge at 4.5A max at 11.1V and that figure will drop down to below 4A as you reach 12.6V

to parallel charge you need to do the maths eg.

4 x 3s 2200mAh at 1C = (at least) 8.8A @ 12.6V which in turns equals 110 Watts so if you get a 150W charger your plans will work.

My advice is an I charger (£100-£150) and a home built PSU such as an ESP135 575W PSU, do a google for Compaq DL380 G4 PSU, there is loads of info out there, mine cost me £12 off of eBay

[Jez N]

The cellpro 10s is a great option if you think 450 is the biggest you will go. Otherwise it may be worth saving up till you can afford a chaeger that can do it all, like the icharger 3010b or PL8. The PSU can always be made to keep the costs down. Either by yourself or there are some great value server PSU's on the for sale section intermittently

[BavarianRob]

So are the server psu's just 'plug and play' ? I know the normal PC power supplies need to be modified which I'm not 100% comfortable with but if the server supplies are just a matter of soldering some connectors on it sounds like a good idea.

[JoeBailey]

The calculation used to get you wattage is

P(power in watts)=I(current in amps) x V(voltage in volts)

It can be moved around to get max current from a power and voltage

I = P / V

Hope it helps

Joe

[cjcj1949]

The server psus are easy to modify. You need to solder mains wires on and also connect a few pins together and connect output wires. The live and neutral connections need to be protected from little fingers and paws. The fans are very noisy. 20 amp 13.8V proper power supplies are available fairly cheaply. If you want more info just ask. You can also use an old car battery you can charge it while using it and get 10 amps out.