Toronto Electric Model Aviation Club Forum

Toronto Electric Model Aviation Club (TEMAC) => General Discussion => Topic started by: Ededge2002 on November 02, 2012, 07:43:49 PM

Title: The quest for a bigger charger..
Post by: Ededge2002 on November 02, 2012, 07:43:49 PM
Im in the market for a bigger charger.  Presently I have a 70W Thunderpower balancer/ charger and a Polyquest4.  Time to get ready to go flying and to storage charging is becoming a pain.

Im looking to buy a 2X200W 6S charger/balancer and wondered who is using what and there reviews.
I dont charge at high C charge rates as I prefer to have multiple packs and take them to the field charged.

Ive been looking seriously at this one from Hitec.

http://www.hitecrcd.com/products/chargers-setup-equipment/x2.html (http://www.hitecrcd.com/products/chargers-setup-equipment/x2.html)

But for $40 more this new one also looks interesting as I like the indipendent displays..

http://www.hitecrcd.com/products/chargers-setup-equipment/x2-400.html (http://www.hitecrcd.com/products/chargers-setup-equipment/x2-400.html)

Title: Re: The quest for a bigger charger..
Post by: bfeist on November 02, 2012, 10:19:04 PM
I went with Hyperion. Expensive but I found one used on Helifreak for less. $200 or so I believe. 500w per side though.

I'm also a big fan of iCharger. Many people are using them with parallel charging. That way each cell only sees 1C but if you have 4 packs in parallel they can all get 1C at the same time if you have enough current.
Title: Re: The quest for a bigger charger..
Post by: pmackenzie on November 03, 2012, 12:16:00 AM
Quote from: bfeist on November 02, 2012, 10:19:04 PM

I'm also a big fan of iCharger. Many people are using them with parallel charging. That way each cell only sees 1C but if you have 4 packs in parallel they can all get 1C at the same time if you have enough current.

I have the 3010B.
http://epbuddy.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=17_1&products_id=45 (http://epbuddy.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=17_1&products_id=45)

Parallel charging saves a ton of time, and makes doing things like discharging multiple packs to storage levels easy as well.
A few other advantages over what seems to be the "standard" 4 button programming:
- It measures cell Ir, so you can keep an eye on the health of your packs
- Changing from Lipo to LIfe does not require going into the menus.
- USB connector lets you log on your PC

Pat MacKenzie
Title: Re: The quest for a bigger charger..
Post by: Ededge2002 on November 03, 2012, 09:40:34 AM
Parallel charging isn't high on my list of options right now. I'm more looking to go multi channel because I have packs of 3,4 and 6S to charge prior to an outing. I could do some parallel charging on separate channels to double the speed so long as I go to an over 100w per ch charger.  The more I look at it the 4x80W charger seems to fit. I understand the hitec chargers are clones of the ones sold at HK with a little more refined fan system. I understand the HK ones sound like a 747 where the hitec ones have a variable fan.   Being able to measure IR is something to consider to though. Thanks for adding that detail Pat.

Thanks and please if you have something to add do so.