Batteries Lipo help.
- Thread starter Pkhill27
- Start date
holtneil
Active Member
Hi mate if you charge at 1C that will be 5.5amps so 5amps will do buts its not going to be really fast , and if you want to charge all 3 at the same time it will take hours as you really want to charge at about 16 amps , but your charger will max at 5 amps , later on may be look at the reaktor charger from hobby king or I use the Mega 400 watt , I use the 540 watt power pack which runs the 400 and a 50 watt chargers at the same time
Turnigy Reaktor 300W 20A 6S Balance Charger
Turnigy MEGA 1000W 8S 40A Lithium Polymer Balance Charger
this is the one I use
Turnigy MEGA 400Wx2 Battery Charger/Discharger (800W)
to run the above your need to lookat a power pack
HobbyKing 540w 220~240v Power Supply (13.8v~18v - 30amp)
or a massive
Turnigy 1080W 220~240V Power Supply (13.8V~18V - 60amp)
The mega 400 they dont do its now the one I linked to so you may need to run larger power pack if your going to max the charger to 800 watts
also dont run lipo below 3.2 volts a cell it will ruin them store at 3.2 volts a cell min I normally do 3.5 dont charge over C1 unless the battery is made for the high charge rate ,if you look after the lipos they will look after you and last longer I still have a nanotech thats coming into its 3rd year of use
Turnigy Reaktor 300W 20A 6S Balance Charger
Turnigy MEGA 1000W 8S 40A Lithium Polymer Balance Charger
this is the one I use
Turnigy MEGA 400Wx2 Battery Charger/Discharger (800W)
to run the above your need to lookat a power pack
HobbyKing 540w 220~240v Power Supply (13.8v~18v - 30amp)
or a massive
Turnigy 1080W 220~240V Power Supply (13.8V~18V - 60amp)
The mega 400 they dont do its now the one I linked to so you may need to run larger power pack if your going to max the charger to 800 watts
also dont run lipo below 3.2 volts a cell it will ruin them store at 3.2 volts a cell min I normally do 3.5 dont charge over C1 unless the battery is made for the high charge rate ,if you look after the lipos they will look after you and last longer I still have a nanotech thats coming into its 3rd year of use
Last edited:
Smoggie
Well-Known Member
Just be carfel to check the ful spec of the charger. On cheaper low output chargers the power output is limited to 50 Watts.
To calculate how many watts you need multiply battery cells by 4.2 then by the charge current you want.
So in this case assuming charge current is 5.5A:
3 cells x 4.2 x 5.5 = 70 Watts
So you would really want to be looking at 80W or higher rated charger.
To calculate how many watts you need multiply battery cells by 4.2 then by the charge current you want.
So in this case assuming charge current is 5.5A:
3 cells x 4.2 x 5.5 = 70 Watts
So you would really want to be looking at 80W or higher rated charger.
Derek
Well-Known Member
Hey Pk....this is just my experience here. I have two Thunder Power TP610c chargers. Here is a link to the charger:
TP610C-ACDC 1-6 Cell LiPo AC/DC Charger w/Balancer | HorizonHobby
I've had one for 4 years and I just bought the second one this year. I'd like to upgrade to a charging station that will charge my 6S packs quicker than my TP chargers but I just can't afford that yet (estimated $500 setup). Anyway, my TP chargers charge my 3S 5000mah packs in about 40 minutes at a 1C charge rate. I can charge them at a 2C charge rate and it takes about 20-25 minutes. Check out the specs on the TP charger. It may just be a charger that you'd be interested in. I love the two that I have.
TP610C-ACDC 1-6 Cell LiPo AC/DC Charger w/Balancer | HorizonHobby
I've had one for 4 years and I just bought the second one this year. I'd like to upgrade to a charging station that will charge my 6S packs quicker than my TP chargers but I just can't afford that yet (estimated $500 setup). Anyway, my TP chargers charge my 3S 5000mah packs in about 40 minutes at a 1C charge rate. I can charge them at a 2C charge rate and it takes about 20-25 minutes. Check out the specs on the TP charger. It may just be a charger that you'd be interested in. I love the two that I have.
Smoggie
Well-Known Member
There are a lot of choices out there, the Turnigy Reaktors are hard to beat for bang for buck:
At 300W this is about the most powerful AC/DC charger around: Turnigy Reaktor 300W 20A AC/DC Synchronous Balance Charger / Discharger (US Plug)
At 300W this is about the most powerful AC/DC charger around: Turnigy Reaktor 300W 20A AC/DC Synchronous Balance Charger / Discharger (US Plug)
Smoggie
Well-Known Member
I've got the DC only version of the 300W Reaktor as a lightweight charger to take to the field, it's a great little unit. The AC/DC version is basically the same charger with an AC power supply built in.
Personally I prefer a DC charger and separate power supply but i know many like the all in one convenience of the AC/DC units.
Personally I prefer a DC charger and separate power supply but i know many like the all in one convenience of the AC/DC units.
RandyDSok
Well-Known Member
Since I haven't seen it mentioned and it is very important...
I'm starting over on this... With those 3s 5500mah 35c batteries you only have 3 of the 4 specs for the battery... you are missing the important charge C rating because it won't be the same as the output 35C rating... lipo's don't charge at the same rate that they can be discharged at.
It's almost always safe to charge at the 1C rating ( 5.5a in this case ) on rc hobby lipo's... but it is likely to support a higher C rating than that.
So first find out that charge rating so you know the max amps/watts you want to support... then choose a charger with that rating or a little higher
I'm starting over on this... With those 3s 5500mah 35c batteries you only have 3 of the 4 specs for the battery... you are missing the important charge C rating because it won't be the same as the output 35C rating... lipo's don't charge at the same rate that they can be discharged at.
It's almost always safe to charge at the 1C rating ( 5.5a in this case ) on rc hobby lipo's... but it is likely to support a higher C rating than that.
So first find out that charge rating so you know the max amps/watts you want to support... then choose a charger with that rating or a little higher
callsign4223
Staff member
Check out these 2 videos. They completely explain Lipos and Lipo charging. ( sorry for the goofy embedding, I'm posting this from my iPad and it's not playing nice 
Lipo Batteries Explained - YouTube
Parallel Charging Lipo Batteries Safely - YouTube
Lipo Batteries Explained - YouTube
Parallel Charging Lipo Batteries Safely - YouTube
Tony
Staff member
I think the question was about the least amount of charge rate that can be accepted. If that is the case, there is no low end. It will just take forever to charge it with a cheap charger. I'm running the iCharger 306b which is a 1000w charger and I love it. But this battery can be charged with any charger. If you charge it with a 50w charger, you are only going to get a 4.5a charge rate at 11.1v. But again, that is fine, it will just take longer to charge than doing a 5.5a charge rate.
The big question here is how much money do you have to INVEST in a charger? I did an all caps rage on INVEST because this is usually a one time purchase and you want to get the best you can afford. Not just the cheapest. Which is why I have the 306b with dual PSU's.
And Matt, that is what you get for using an ipad. Invest in Android and you will not have these issues hahahahaha
The big question here is how much money do you have to INVEST in a charger? I did an all caps rage on INVEST because this is usually a one time purchase and you want to get the best you can afford. Not just the cheapest. Which is why I have the 306b with dual PSU's.
And Matt, that is what you get for using an ipad. Invest in Android and you will not have these issues hahahahaha
callsign4223
Staff member
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