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Battery Chargers
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Jtepper



Joined: 04 May 2009
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Battery Chargers

Hey guys, were decided to go the li-po route with our bot, ordered 2 4000mah 30C 6s packs today. What is the best charger that you guys have come across for charging Li-Po's and is it capable of charging 6s packs?

Post Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:34 pm 
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marto
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The tritons seem to be everyone's favourite for general charging needs. I have a platinum EX which I have been happy with. Just had a look and it can do up to 10 cells @ a max of 6 amps.

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Post Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:38 pm 
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Glen
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i have the triton does lipoly but it doesnt have a balancer which renders it fairly useless nowadays.

i got the "power peak infinity 3" from hobby city which is a 100% exact copy of the robbe power peak i think it is. its a mad little unit. graphs the balance and gives you values + exports data to the pc and i think it has the BID (apparently you put a chip in your pack and plug it into the charger and it keeps track of that particular pack so you can monitor it across its life span).

defo recommend it if you can find one. youd probably have to buy the genuine robbe. 10 amps and 36v max i think it can do.

plenty of guys are using the e-station and its associated chinese ripoffs though. seem to go pretty good + have the inbuilt balancer.
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Post Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:59 pm 
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Knightrous
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I use the iCharger 1010B

Basically a rip of the e-station, but cheaper and just as good. It has simple menus and is easy to navigate around it's array of features. This thing has no hassles pumping 10amps into my 10cell A123 packs either.
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Post Thu Sep 03, 2009 5:15 pm 
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dyrodium
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I use a Hyperion A123 capable one 12S limit one, but am probably in the minority, as it cost me $320 or so, flawless though...
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Post Fri Sep 04, 2009 12:34 am 
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Nick
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There are plenty of good brands out there - I use E-station chargers for Lipo and they have worked very well so far. Most of the Asian-build chargers are similar quality and you get what you pay for. Given the larger packs you have the important things to look for is a higher power rating (200W at least) and built-in balancing. Having a second output or an adjustable motor test output (like the E-station 902) is quite handy, while a temperature probe is a good safety measure for Lipo charging. One thing I miss is upgradeable firmware; my older chargers can't do new cells like A123s.

Remember to get a high power PSU to run the charger, Jaycar does some nice switching supplies.

Post Fri Sep 04, 2009 6:25 pm 
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seanet1310



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i think neweyn has been having a few issues with jaycar psu's this year dont know what was happening or anything
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Post Fri Sep 04, 2009 6:35 pm 
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Nick
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That's surprising, quite a few of the guys in NSW have the brand that Jaycar sells (courtesy of a bulk buy) and no problems so far. Given that they are Chinese, I wouldn't be surprised if there is an occasional lemon though. These things like plenty of ventilation; I added a second fan to really force some air thru it.

Post Fri Sep 04, 2009 7:20 pm 
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dyrodium
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Actually mine takes a while to even bother to turn the fan on, it's noisy when it does though! They all look the same but are they actually? The ebay ones might (unlikely) be better quality.
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Post Fri Sep 04, 2009 7:35 pm 
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Glen
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crack it open unplug the fan and wire it direct to the 12v line. problem solved Very Happy and i run a big 90mm fan in series with the other one too to help it out. ive run it hard enough to melt the wire on the infinity charger so they work good when they do work.

in saying that tho we had hundreds of similar ones come back at rhino.. the toroid thing used to basically catch on fire if you loaded em up a little.
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Post Fri Sep 04, 2009 7:44 pm 
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timmeh
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quote:
Originally posted by Nick:

Remember to get a high power PSU to run the charger, Jaycar does some nice switching supplies.


Or you can get a 12v 29amp one for $54 off ebay like myn Very Happy

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/12V-DC-29A-350W-Regulated-Switching-Power-Supply_W0QQitemZ390090003409QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5ad32d13d1&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14
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Post Fri Sep 04, 2009 9:13 pm 
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Andrew W



Joined: 01 Jun 2005
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Location: Melbourne, Victoria


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Neweyn's A123 charger switches the current on and off to the batteries when in the final stage of charging. My Astroflight does the same, but I use a 25A 15V linear power supply from DSE (with panel meters) and that has no problems.

I think the problem might be caused by the switching on and off of the current and the inductor's inability to handle this (heat generation when switching off ?).

Post Fri Sep 04, 2009 9:21 pm 
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Nick
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I think that PSU is the one I got from Jaycar, only much cheaper! The free postage makes it an even better deal. I wound mine up to 13.8V, seems to help get a little better performance from my charger.

Post Fri Sep 04, 2009 11:02 pm 
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timmeh
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Yer myn you can do the same up to about 13.8v.
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Post Sat Sep 05, 2009 6:54 am 
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assassin



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I just purchased one of those PS from ebay, thanks for the link. Sounds like I should upgrade the cooling when I get it.
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Post Sat Sep 05, 2009 9:12 am 
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