Review of the Li-Pro Imax 6 balancer/charger

[Thomas Lissenden]

Hey guys

Just bought said charger and im a bit if a novice with these things to say the least, the instruction manual is ok for an experienced hand but im a bit overwelmed, i could do with some basic rules of thumb on chargeing ( Charge rates and such like) i can handle lipos its just not to sure on Ni-cds and NI-mh .......   any tips ?

Thanks       Tom  

[Tim Mackey]

Tom...I will put something up tomorrow.

[Tim Mackey]

Firstly an addendum..... thanks to Erfolg - this unit is now available with an optional PSU which allows connection to mains A/C or the more usual 12V PB. 

[Tim Mackey]

TOM  - sorry mate forgot ...here we go

Funnily enough its usuially the LipO charging that worries folks not the more robust nickel cells

Anyway - the simplest method to use for nickel is to simply select the "auto" function, and let the charger do the rest. The default settings set up things like peak detect voltage and so on, and dependidng on how fast you want to charge I normally set the maximum charge rate at around 2C ( thats twice the stated capacity of the cells irrespective of the number of cells ). You can also set in "user settings menu " a maximum charge time, and this is OK at around 90 mins or so...that way, IF the peak detect does not kick in correctly, you will still not overcook the pack. Slow trickle charging of the packs is possible ( say 1/10th C ) but peak detect does not work too well on NMh at these low currents...and the timer would need to be overidden, or set to allow at least 12 - 14 hours at these low rates. 

If you still neeed more help, just shout with specific queries.

[Erfolg]

After much deliberation I have both bought and received my Imax 6.

I have not tried it yet, but have sorted the the input and out put banana and 4mm plugs and sockets.

I have two issues

• It seems i have to slice of the latch on the balance plug. Is this normal?
• Has any one bought or made a temperature probe lead? if so from where or how?

The manual seems a little daunting, is really as complicated as it reads?

My Perkins 2000 charger now seems to struggle to get much above 4.12V, so it has come just in time. It is taking a few hours to get nowhere once above 4.1.

Erfolg

[Erfolg]

Timbo

Which button do you push you push to show the voltage from each cell, when using the li-po balanced charge (or any other option).

Regards

Erfolg

[Bob Cotsford]

I bought it's little brother, the B5, the main difference being the lack of discharge facility.  Seems good so far on a couple of LiPos, nicads and nimh packs.  Usefull tip about using low charge rates on NiMh cells Timbo.  I'd be interested to know about the temperature sensing as well, I'm sure I've got a probe lying around somewhere.

[Tim Mackey]

Erfolg. The little tabs on the balance plugs do make it un-necessarily difficult to insert /remove the plug, so I cut mine off too. Obviously you need to take care to plug in the correct socket / plug combo

I have the temp probe on my GT8 version..... never used it much TBH.

The manual is the usual Chenglish rubbish I am afraid.... but once you have used the unit a few times it is pretty simle actually! To see the state of each individual cell, ( in balance mode of course ) press the > arrow (increase) button.

Bob. I am afraid I find the lack of balancer feature makes the B5 hard to recommend, especially as it is not that much cheaper. Not owning one, I am unable to cofirm its ability to monitor temperature. The probe that came with my GT8 appears to be ( and understandably so ) a simple silicon tr or similar sheathed in heatshrink.

[Erfolg]

Hi Timbo

It is the cell readings that had me puzzled.

Everything else is OK at the moment, plugs and all! 

I do not know what it is, but manuals are getting harder to understand by the day. Computer nerds, were the first to master the art of being intellegable. The best is my Navman, a whole book of warnings, a very slim booklet on using it. The Internet is where you have to go, for the comprehensive manual. Which goes on, and on, and on and..........

Unfortunatly my wifes kitchen is getting in the way of modelling at present.

Erfolg

[Bob Cotsford]

Tim, the B5 has got the balancer, up to 5 cell iirc, the only function missing appears to be dicharg/cycling cells.  Temp cut off certainly comes up on the menu, but I've not looked for anywhere to plug one in yet.

The B5 is a tenner cheaper for us skinflints (from Giantcod), that's the price of half a 3-cell lipo! 

[Tim Mackey]

Yes sorry Bob....it was the cycle facility I meant !

IF it takes a probe there will be a mini USB style socket on the case end near the balance socketry.

[Erfolg]

Bob

From Giant Cod you can have a whole Li-po for a tenner, if on the small side.

If you are a skin flint, like I proudly is and are up to a challenge go to United Stores, as per Timbo (then latterly me), see occaisional advert in RCM&E. I too seriously considered the B5.

If you keep your purchases below £18, there are no Vat or import Duties to pay. Gordon must hate some of the the EU rules. Go past the magic number, then Gordon has his revenge, even the postal charge  is then taxed plus a handling fee for the carrier (which is taxed).

Remember £18 is the Magic Number.

Although Giant Cod is pretty much identical in cost for most things and UK based.

Erfolg

[Tim Mackey]

A certain moderator whom I know personally has never copped for any duties or whatever, on any of of his orders from U/H  ( hobby city )  and I  believe he has now placed over 15 such orders....

most I am told were well over $150 each

[Chris Salomon]

Agree with you there Tim, the Chinese are pretty adept at avoiding import duties and can be quite 'inventive' with their descriptions!  In fact, if you go to the checkout at U/H they give you guidelines on how to avoid attracting attention from HMRC, just ask your moderator friend .  Not that they are suggesting you lie of course!

[Tim Mackey]

[John Newbold]

   I have an Imax 6 charger imported from Hong Kong via ebay.   It was around £29 plus about £12

postage and took around 10 days.   The unit seems to be foolproof and the balance facility is a

real boon.   I use a 2300 3s lipo and find it convenient to use the 12v dc input  from a 50w power unit

from a Maplin power unit.  The only problem I've had is with the dc input leads failing at the soldered

joints on the circuit board, due to lack of support at the case outlet grommet.  These were  easily resoldered.  I like the balance facility and the gradually decreasing current from the charger. Start current is 2.3 amps dropping to 0.1amps, then a ping from the charger as it shuts down and reads full.    It is fascinating to watch each cell being balanced and the output  voltage increasing.   My battery takes 45 min to an hour to charge.   I think its magic!

[Nick Rigg]

I have an IMAX B5, it's probably similar but I was confused when I used it for the first time yesterday. I thought I'd try to balance charge a 3s 1300 Lipo so I plugged it in, identified the lipo type and hit go. I set the charge amps at 1.3 as this presumably is 1C for a 1300 mAH battery??

The charger started at 0 mH and started advancing. After about 1 hour it reached 1300 maH and the charge per cell was 4.2 amps. The charge amps had dropped to 0.4 but it didn't stop on its own so I hit the stop button. Should I have left it to stop on its own - I thought it was right at the limit as it was? Also, is it not coincidence that it reached 1300 after 1 hour. What about if (hopefully) it was nowhere near discharged - it shouldn't have needed to go from 0 to 1300.

Confused I'm afraid, the instructions were not clear

[Bruce Richards]

Hi Nick,

What you describe is fine and correct but you should have let it continue until the charger stopped.

Charging lipos goes in two phases firstly constant current until the cell voltage reaches 4.2v the constant voltage with reducing current until current is zero when charging stops. The fact that the charger showed 1300mah after 1 hour is showing how much energy the charger has pushed into the battery (11.3A for 1 hour = 1300mah). Due to the inefficiencies in the charging process the charger will push out more that the battery will take in. However, you should avoid discharging you battery below about 80% empty or else you will severely limit its useful life.

Hope this helps 

[Nick Rigg]

Thanks Bruce - that's really helpful

[Tim Mackey]

Nick....I think you meant 4.2Volts not Amps ?

[Nick Rigg]

D'oh - one of these days I'll get it right

[denis coe]

read review of imax charger

[Tim Mackey]

??? 

Are you suggesting that someone should read the article, or that you have indeed already read it ?

What a great first post from a newbie .

[Robert Watkins]

Hello Timbo,

Pleased to meet up with someone so knowledgeable. I'm new to this, so I won't bore anyone with much further comment on this long thread, but I bought this Century X6 lipro balance charger at the Woodspring Show yesterday, and it looks exactly the same except for the brand name. I paid £58 for it, which was reduced from £59.95 which was originally priced at £65 (so I was told). Anyway, it's good to know I made a good choice. I nearly bought the Ultramat 14, but was told I should have a balancer facility. I did need to get the mains power unit (Prodigy) as well (28.95) but this was offset by not having to buy a balancer. Hope I did the right thing!!

[Tim Mackey]

Hi Robert...yes that is indeed one of the many clones of this charger - should be fine ! I have changed mine several times over the last few months, for bigger and more powerful jobs.....but for 6 cells this is fine - bit limited at 50watt output, but hey...at the time.....it was the dogs danglies!

My latest is the 1010b which I reviewed here  ( on front page now I beleive )