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mark romanowitz

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Please remove topic
« on: May 19, 2018, 09:47:17 PM »
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« Last Edit: April 10, 2019, 12:22:41 PM by mark romanowitz »

Offline Jim Mynes

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Re: Lipo charger recommendations?
« Reply #1 on: May 20, 2018, 03:54:48 AM »
Any charger that has its own power supply built in is, as you describe, a “bad buy”.
The built in power supplies don’t put out many watts. If you start flying seriously, you’ll be putting in lots of flights and charging many batteries simultaneously. That takes watts.
As far as what to recommend, I really like Revolectrix products. Anything in their PowerLab or GT lineup would serve you well. But you’ll need external power.
I have seen the light, and it’s powered by a lipo.

Offline Vincent Judd

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Re: Lipo charger recommendations?
« Reply #2 on: May 20, 2018, 04:57:35 AM »
I've been using a Thunder Power 610C charger for years.  Works great, no problems.  AC power, no external power supply necessary.

A Main Hobbies has them on sale right now for $90, great price.

https://www.amainhobbies.com/thunder-power-tp610c-ac-dc-16-cell-lipo-charger-w-balancer-thp610cacdc/p178721


Offline John Rist

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Re: Lipo charger recommendations?
« Reply #3 on: May 20, 2018, 06:27:54 AM »
I have the 4 unit TP charger.  it is AC/DC and works great.  Last charger you will ever need.  They also have a one unit charger:
One unit:
http://www.thunderpowerrc.com/CHARGERS_POWER_SUPPLIES/Chargers_2/TP610HVC
Four unit:
http://www.thunderpowerrc.com/CHARGERS_POWER_SUPPLIES/Chargers_2/TP4X610HV
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Offline Jim Mynes

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Re: Lipo charger recommendations?
« Reply #4 on: May 20, 2018, 07:38:56 AM »
ThunderPower makes good stuff. I use their batteries and I’m quite happy with them.
That first charger that Vince linked to is rated at 80 watts. Every time I charge for a day of flying I more than double that.
The single unit John shared with us is a 100 watt unit. Still not enough for 4x4S 2800 to charge at 1C.
The 4 channel unit claims 4x100 watts, and that would do the job. It has the added advantage of charging/ discharging batteries individually, as opposed to my setup using a parallel board to do one process to four (up to six) batteries at a time.
My charging setup is way overkill for what I need. I started with a junk charger, got an iCharger 106B which was good, but it failed. I fixed it, it later failed again. Then I got a PL8 and an MPA parallel board. I love this setup, and it has plenty of power. Well, later on I ran across a smokin’ deal on another PL8, so now I have two along with two MPA boards. I have them installed in a pelican case along with a power supply. Can also plug them into the truck for charging at the field.
You say you’re going to eventually fly .60 size stunters. That will take more power, aka bigger batteries.
Buy the charger that can handle your future needs, not just what you need now. Two or three upgrades later you will have spent more than if you ‘go for broke’ now.
If I had to choose from those three, it would be the 4 channel unit. For a little more money you can get a PowerLab 6 and a parallel board and have 3 times the watts. But, it requires an external power source.
I have seen the light, and it’s powered by a lipo.

Offline John Rist

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Re: Lipo charger recommendations?
« Reply #5 on: May 20, 2018, 10:29:32 AM »
I charge mostly 4 cell batteries.  The four unit TP charger is 100 W  per battery.  I always charge at 1 C or about 3 amps.  3 amps at 16 volts is around 48 W.  Even a 5 or 6 cell 3000 mah would stay under the 100 W on a 1C charge.  Being able to charge 4 batteries at once the 1C charge rate is fast enough.  The ability to charge 4 totally unrelated batteries is really nice.  I can charge a mix of 3, 4, & 5 cell batteries all at once.

Having said that that the discharge function is very low powered.  I have separate discharge units.  after a flight session I fully charge the batteries  on the TP charger and then bring them down to storage level on a bank of three discharge unit.  I may add a 4th discharge unit later.
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Offline dennis lipsett

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Re: Lipo charger recommendations?
« Reply #6 on: May 20, 2018, 01:10:41 PM »

I use a Lab-8 with an external power supply and their charge board. Not cheap but I also did not want to go through the always upgrading the equipment when it is possible to start at the top and grow into it. That didn't take long to realize that I did the right thing. With over 60 batteries  and the ability to charge 6 cell batteries at once is worth the outlay. It has 1400 watts available.
I'm not advocating that you go that route if you have a clear idea of what your total involvement will be. But consider your purchase well before spending your cash and then having to do it again.

Offline Carl Cisneros

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Re: Lipo charger recommendations?
« Reply #7 on: May 20, 2018, 03:08:48 PM »
If you are more of a sport flyer like myself, I have been using the following chargers from Hobby Partz out in CA.
i have had them now for about 10 yrs and have been going great.
they are both AC/DC powered.


I charge at 1C on all batteries I use for flying as well as my 6S5000mah 40C packs for my fast electric Racing twin powered mono.

https://www.hobbypartz.com/thac6smbachw.html

https://www.hobbypartz.com/73p-ac680-accharger.html

hope this helps.
they do come with a variety of charge leads

HERE ARE A COUPLE LINKS TO valuehobby.com in Illinois for charge connectors, ect.
very handy to have on hand and the prices are right.

http://www.valuehobby.com/accessories/connectors.html

http://www.valuehobby.com/accessories/charge-discharge-wires.html
Carl R Cisneros, Dist IV
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Online Brent Williams

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Re: Lipo charger recommendations?
« Reply #8 on: May 21, 2018, 01:00:52 AM »
It sort of depends how many times you want to upgrade your rig.  I didn't want to waste any funds re-buying several poor-mediocre setups, so I did some research, pestered some experts and just found a good deal on a top shelf "Pro" rig.   I didn't try to overthink it, I just bought a setup that followed what Bob Hunt, Howard Rush a few other notables recommended.  I figured, if it works for them and they are all recommending it...it will definitely work for me.

I bought a Revolectrix PowerLab 8 Lipo charger with the MPA paraboard and a SolidHobby 24V, 47A, doubled server power supply setup.  It's mighty!

Diving headfirst into the electric world isn't cheap.  There isn't really a way around it.  The investments in infrastructure and hardware must be made.  However, there are plenty of good deals out there to be had on lightly used gear if you patiently look around for a while.  I paid less than half of new cost for an almost new setup.  The person I bought my complete setup from was liquidating the entirety of his sad false start into the RC car hobby (father-son bonding project that fizzled when the teenager decided his phone was just sooo much more interesting ::)....) 

Lots of places and other RC hobby forums from which to look. 

Hopefully this will be the summer that I finally get to plug it in.  Didn't quite happen last year. 
« Last Edit: May 22, 2018, 01:38:53 AM by Brent Williams »
Laser-cut, "Ted Fancher Precision-Pro" Hard Point Handle Kits are available again.  PM for info.
https://stunthanger.com/smf/brent-williams'-fancher-handles-and-cl-parts/ted-fancher's-precision-pro-handle-kit-by-brent-williams-information/

Offline Matt Brown

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Re: Lipo charger recommendations?
« Reply #9 on: May 21, 2018, 04:09:03 PM »
I'll second what Brent said about buying cheap several times versus buy-right buy-once.
This I have learned from my hindsight!
Revo-lectric stuff is very good. I would probably be using Revo stuff if they had been a little more mainstream when I was looking to upgrade. I have had fantastic luck and success with IChargers. I have the 106B for daily field use off my truck battery. My home and event travel charger is my Icharger 406ADuo paired a couple 900watt server power supplies series'ed for 24V. for travel, I have a Ryobi 2000 watt inverter/generator for heavy travel charging.
I also have several parallel charge boards for different connectors.


Matt

mark romanowitz

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Re: Lipo charger recommendations?
« Reply #10 on: May 24, 2018, 11:39:58 AM »
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« Last Edit: April 10, 2019, 12:22:59 PM by mark romanowitz »

Offline John Rist

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Re: Lipo charger recommendations?
« Reply #11 on: May 24, 2018, 09:03:43 PM »
Thanks Everyone for the input and guidance.

I haven't yet determined what I will get, of course, I'd like to get one of the higher end setups, but cash flow is a factor. I'll probably get something lower cost and then save up for the higher end system. More expensive in the long run but gets me flying faster..

Again, many thanks!

Mark

Thunder Power RC is having a sale this week end.  Coupon Code  is : Memorial18 .  They have good stuff.  Might want to check them out.  Their chargers do work well.
John Rist
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Offline Vincent Judd

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Re: Lipo charger recommendations?
« Reply #12 on: May 27, 2018, 12:07:40 PM »
Thunder Power RC is having a sale this week end.  Coupon Code  is : Memorial18 .  They have good stuff.  Might want to check them out.  Their chargers do work well.

30% off, great deal.  Good thru tomorrow.

mark romanowitz

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Re: Lipo charger recommendations?
« Reply #13 on: June 03, 2018, 08:46:27 AM »
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« Last Edit: April 10, 2019, 12:23:11 PM by mark romanowitz »

Offline John Rist

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Re: Lipo charger recommendations?
« Reply #14 on: June 06, 2018, 07:27:42 AM »
I ended up buying the Thunder Power RC QUAD 4 X 100W AC/DC CHARGER. It was $186.42 with shipping.

I will have to save up for one of the higher end chargers.. Perhaps for next year.

Thanks for all of the input. Very much appreciated.

Mark

Good choice.  I started with real garbage chargers and found the TP 4X to be a big step up.  It will serve you well for a long time.   If you get to point where you have 20 batteries and want to put in 20 flights a day you may need more.  I have 8 good batteries and rarely put in more that 2-4 flights per day. But I am not a serious flyer.  Even if I get serious 8 flight a day is all my old bones could stand.   :)
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Dwayne

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Re: Lipo charger recommendations?
« Reply #15 on: June 14, 2018, 06:09:43 AM »
A club member converts 40 amp power supplies and sells them for only 45 bucks, hard to beat, when I started playing with electrics back in the early 2000's Hobbyking sold a charger called Imax B8 that was 150 watts, I bought two and still use them, have no idea why they are not made anymore  they are a great charger.

I see some guys at the field using this with said 40 amp power supply, 300 watts and charges two batteries .
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/0620duo-600w-charger-300w-x2-version-2.html?___store=en_us
« Last Edit: June 14, 2018, 06:25:55 PM by Dwayne Donnelly »

mark romanowitz

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Re: Lipo charger recommendations?
« Reply #16 on: July 03, 2018, 06:09:13 PM »
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« Last Edit: April 10, 2019, 12:23:28 PM by mark romanowitz »

Offline Kevin Muckleroy

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Re: Lipo charger recommendations?
« Reply #17 on: July 03, 2018, 08:49:30 PM »
Well, I used my Thunder Power TP4X610HV for the first time today..

It has four ports, and while it came with four balance boards and four charging leads, two of the leads are Deans and two are XT 60.. Given all of my batteries are Deans, I could only charge two at a time. But it charged them in 32 mins for each round, I have RSM 4S 3300 LiPos for my 46 size RSM system.

I'm pretty happy with the purchase.

Thanks again for all of the input!

Mark

Good to hear. Not sure why you would want to waist money and buy a higher end charger, Thunderpower one ya got does everything you will really need. I have been using a HiTec single for 6 years now and I believe I will get one of these Thunderpower Quads soon.

Offline John Rist

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Re: Lipo charger recommendations?
« Reply #18 on: July 03, 2018, 09:10:49 PM »
Well, I used my Thunder Power TP4X610HV for the first time today..

It has four ports, and while it came with four balance boards and four charging leads, two of the leads are Deans and two are XT 60.. Given all of my batteries are Deans, I could only charge two at a time. But it charged them in 32 mins for each round, I have RSM 4S 3300 LiPos for my 46 size RSM system.

I'm pretty happy with the purchase.

Thanks again for all of the input!

Mark

Mine came the same way.  I converted the two XT connectors to deans and I now can charge 4 dean's at once.   #^
John Rist
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