Power Supply's Opinion needed on a choice of new charger and power supply

Robair

New Member
Hi all,

I am looking for a learned or even just an experience based opinion regarding a choice of charger.

I have been using an ICharger 206B for about 3 years and must say that I am more than happy with the performance in charging 2.2mAh pack very successfully. Simply because of my positive experience with this brand so far, I would be more than happy to continue with this make but if someone has a decision altering opinion based on their experience with another product, I will be more than happy to listen to those with more knowledge than me.

I have moved on to 6s pack and would ideally like to charge 6 packs in parallel like I am currently doing with my 2.2 packs.

My simple maths brings me to the conclusion that I would require a charger that has, at the very minimum, an output of 500W if I want to charge 6 cells of 3.3mAh in parallel at 1C. Clearly I do not want to go for the bare minimum and therefore, if I was to charge at 2C, I would require a charger with a 998W output which brings me to looking for a 1000W output charger and a 1200-1300W power supply.

Feel free to correct me if my thinking is incorrect at this stage.

So now I am looking at the ICharger 301B and the Cellpro PowerLab 6.

I am at a little bit of a loss in deciding on a good power supply unit and have been looking at the Turnigy 1200W 24VDC power supply and the Mean Well Se-1000-24 but the Mean well is really very expensive so I am leaning toward the Turnigy. Also the Mean well is only rated at 1000W whilst the Turnigy is rated at 1200w which should possibly be the decider right there.

Once again. any opinion or other suggestion will be most welcome.
 

Slobberdog

Well-Known Member
I run the 3010b and have found it to be a great charger,

If you are going the route of buying a power supply not building one like most are doing these days as you can get a power supply at a fraction of the price if you build, see Tony's video on here, or one of the numerous build threads,

I think I would go for a 306 duo icharger, 2 channel charging upto 4 6s packs per channel, it's a beast,
 

Lee

Well-Known Member
I have the 308 duo.
Its an awesome charger.
I charge my 4 6S 1400 may packs on one channel, and my two 6S 3300mah pack on the other, with no issues.
Gives me the Internal Resistance of the packs, which is great for seeing the health of them over time.
Its compact, has a great screen, and easy menus.

I would go for this or the PL6, If you don't want to stick with Icharger.
 

pvolcko

Well-Known Member
I'd rate the powerlab ahead of the ichargers based on resilience to power supply problems and quality of the balancing circuits. Powerlab also has live data logging to USB. icharger requires after the fact log download I think (not sure about their newer units).

That said, iCharger has a better user interface and is easier to use in general. And a little less expensive I believe.

I've own both a powerlab 8 and an iCharger 3010b.

Whichever way you decide to go, buy from a reputable dealer. I'd recommend Buddy RC (used to be EP Buddy), Progressive RC or AMain hobbies. If you do have a problem with it, either of these three will give you great, trouble free service. I personally bought from Buddy RC and had to go through a replacement of the iCharger with them and they were great about it.
 

cml001

Well-Known Member
All these guys are correct.. Power lab or icharger.. I have a icharger 306b.. I use it from my little 1s packs for the mSR all the way up to my big birds 6s packs.. I have no complaints with it at all.. Has more features than I actually use.. Awesome charger. As Paul said.. Grab whatever u get from buddy rc.. Those guys are knowledgable, give great advise.. Tell'm wait u want to do and they will tell u how & what with without pushing unnecessary stuff.. Service is second to none! Power supply.. I personally went the cheap route.. Built my own as have severaly guys here on the forum.. Watch Tonys PS video or Deano's ( Error 406 - Not Acceptable ).. I used thes to build mine and it's awesome! Good luck.

- - - Updated - - -

http://www.rc-help.com/showthread.php/10185-Portable-power-supply
 

Derek

Well-Known Member
Well, I have to say that I've learned a bit from this thread. Now I just gotta get the cash together for the purchase.
 

cml001

Well-Known Member
Honestly Derek I think I've got $30 total in the supply.. Plus the box(harbor freight..$25) & charger.
 

murankar

Staff member
To support the powerlab i have heard of a die hard icharger fan switch to a pl8 duo. Simply because it gave the info he was looking for live. He also had an issue with his icharger 4010 duo which was a nightmare.

No matter what you go with progressive rc is probably the best place to buy it. Not for price but for customer service. For the most part its no questions asked just send it in. I think they are also a licensed repair facility for icharger as well. Progressive also fully backs all their products and their balance boards cant be beat. My next charger and accessories will come from progressive.

Progressive also offers charging case solutions if you want to spend that kind of money. Fully assembled and ready to go.

Sent from my LG-E980 using Forum Runner
 
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