450 Need A Good Charger...

[Rob Lancaster]

I think the 4 chargers I have may be wreaking my batteries.
Now I know I don't have the top of the line batteries but I think after a few different brands and many packs, I think somethings wrong.

After any were from 25 to 50 flights the batteries start to drift in voltage while on the charger. They also begin to not balance very well and some times one cell will over charge to 4.28 volts. I'm afraid higher if I leave it. Sometimes instead of the cells going up in voltage they drop and climb and drop and what ever.
This happens with all packs on any one of the four random chargers I happen to put them on. I know the balance connectors and all connectors are ok.

What else could it be but cheap chargers right??
I'm using the four Turnigy Max 200 Watt chargers pictured below.
I am not hard on my helis and fly my Blade 130S with a Glacier .450 mA 3S packs for 5 to 6 minutes.
I fly my 450 for 8 minutes with HK Zippy 2600 mA 3S packs and they get warm and started to puff at 5 whole flights.
These and other brands have the same characteristics early on in there lives.
Oh I only use a 1C charge rate.
After a flight I will only charge the packs to the storage voltage, (3.8/3.82 volts until needed again. The charging time goes from a nice 40/45 minutes to the 120 minute limit and their not balanced.
So what do you guys think? Is it me?

 

[fran11784]

I only ever used Hyperion Chargers. I have a 720 duo right now. I have battery's that are 6 years old with literately hundreds of flights in perfect condition. I dont think its you, those smaller packs take quite a beating. But puffing after 4-5 flights?? Somethings not right. Lets see what others say but maybe time to invest in a charger. What I like to do is find a flight time that brings the pack down to storage voltage and never go below that. Usually about 5 minutes on most pod and boom machines for me anyway....
T

 

[Rob Lancaster]

Sounds good.
More input on this is very welcome.
I know I'm going to need some decent batteries in the near future and I don't want to cut'm short with a cheap charger.
Thanks boss!

 

[Cyclone 7]

I can thoroughly recommend the SkyRC iMax B6 mini charger which I have been using for a few years now. Good quality, thoroughly reliable and comes at a reasonable price.

You need to make sure that you are getting a SkyRC original though and not one of the many cheaper clones.

 

[Rob Lancaster]

Great!
More input!!
Keep it coming fellow pilots!!!

 

[Tony]

I run the iCharger 306b and love it. I'm using dual server PSU's in series for 24v and almost 1000w. Has worked perfectly.

 

[murankar]

I am a power labs fan, some might fan boi, lol. No but its funny. I would look at the Power labs GT series and see if they have something in your budget. The iCharge 306 Tony mentioned is a work horse charger. I use the PL6 which is over $200 plus you still need a 24v power source for it. It will run on 12v but you really should be at 24 to 36 volts.

The GT500 is a 500 watt charger which will need a power source. I am not sure if you will get all 500 watts on 12v. I also think its around $200.

GT500_2

I lied, its on sale for $75 USD

The Duo version is $125 USD
GT500DUO_2

My basic setup $279.95. My setup is 2 seporate units. this is one unit.
PowerLab 6T

 

[Douflytoo]

Hitec X2 AC Plus
X2 AC Plus 2 Port AC/DC Multi-Charger | HITEC RCD USA
All types, 1S-6S Lipo, comes with AC/DC power cords, several charge leads and 2 balance adapters. Around $100
100Watts each port when on DC, 100 Watts split when on AC though.

 

[Rob Lancaster]

Wow guys, there's some nice chargers to choose from..

 

[Rob Lancaster]

I run the iCharger 306b and love it. I'm using dual server PSU's in series for 24v and almost 1000w. Has worked perfectly.

Hey Tony, can you shoot me a picture of your power supply setup?
You must be running at least 40 amps; right?

 

[murankar]

It's 2 HP dps 600pb power supplies. They can be grabbed for under $20 each. Unless price has changed.

 

[sneezy007]

As Tony mentioned iChargers are very good. I use the Revolectrix GT1000 and really like it. I can parallel charge with it and it hasn't given me any problems.

Cheers,
Dino

 

[fran11784]

It's 2 HP dps 600pb power supplies. They can be grabbed for under $20 each. Unless price has changed.

I've got that setup, followed Tony's video on how to do it. I got 2 of them for 35 bucks on Ebay but its been about a couple of years. I'll snap a picture of mine tonight too...
T

 

[murankar]

Tony and gaba both have how tos on that topic.

 

[murankar]

here is gaba's write up

Power Supply's - 1000w Power Supply Using 2 Dps-600pb, Affordable, Dependable, Powerful!!

Tony's video

 

[Tony]

Thanks for posting that URI. That is my setup and I'm still running it today exactly as you see in that video. Works great. I have thought about selling it and getting the PL setup though just for the bump controller, but most of my batteries are small and I don't know if the tag can fit on them. I forgot to look at those on URI's setup to compare the size. I know they are not that big and should work on most batteries.

And this is a 30a setup. The 306b charger as well as the 106 and 206 are actually numbers of what they can do. 106 is 10 amps for 6 cells. The 206 is 20 amps for 6 cells and the 306, you guessed it, 30 amps for 6 cells. They also have the 308, but I don't see any reason. If you want more power, you can get the iCharger 4010 Duo. But those are around the $300-$350 mark just for the charger.

 

[murankar]

The bump tags are between a nickel and a quarter in size. They will fit on a blade 180 cfx battery. If you need more info on it let me know.

The best part of the bump controller is that it take all the wires work out of it. Once the tags are programmed that is.

 

[Tony]

URI, check your video on BA. It no workie.

 

[murankar]

It did for me. Ill look at it.

 

[Rob Lancaster]

Oh boy those detailed pop-up screens of the icharger 308 duo are very nice indeed.

If I'm catching on, I could use say just for giggles and wiggles, use 2, 50 amp 12 volt SWITCHING POWER SUPPLIES (in series) and get 24 volts at about 1300 watts or so of output power? Am I in the ball park on this?

Next; what's this about the box (outer shell) being grounded on both units is a shock hazard? Aren't they all grounded according to code?
Have a look at the one I've been using or at least had for the last 10 years. If I should use 2, 12 volt 50 amp supplies in series, would it be a good supply for the Icharger 308??
Also does anyone know if all these types of switching power supplies are a shock hazard if series up? If so, no sweat, I'll deal with it.
Oh before I forget; what the heck are bump tags/ bump controllers; say what? Teach me!
Thanks all! ………..……………………….