Don Fry Posted May 19, 2018 Share Posted May 19, 2018 Actually, unless this bloke has plans for very much bigger batteries, a 50 watt type is plenty big enough. What's wrong with the Turnigy Acuel units. Mine seem to do good service. And even if he moves onto bigger stuff you still have plent of small batteries to charge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willhappy Posted May 19, 2018 Share Posted May 19, 2018 hi don thanks for the heads up mate. Like your reason for the acuel units so looking into them now, so whats a good power unit to go with the 50watts type? Looking to buy all in one go will Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel R Posted May 19, 2018 Share Posted May 19, 2018 Will happy how many lipos and what size are they, are you looking to charge with the single charger? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ovenden Posted May 19, 2018 Share Posted May 19, 2018 Posted by willhappy on 19/05/2018 13:40:57: Hi all just come back to rc stuff and still looking for a charger, now i was looking at an Icharger 106B but come accross a turnigy reaktor 250w 10A from hobby king. Is this a good charger to get and also what would be the best power supply unit to go with it, would it be a turnigy reaktor pro 350w or the 250w. As you can tell just a bit fazed about lipos and chargers will Hi willhappy I have several reaktor 250w chargers and have found them excellent. I use them to charge NiCad, Nimh, pb, lipo, and life cells. Does my lipos from 1000 3S up to 5800 6s with no problem. They have been reliable over several years now. Never had an issue with any of them. Edited By David Ovenden on 19/05/2018 15:30:29 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willhappy Posted May 19, 2018 Share Posted May 19, 2018 Posted by Nigel R on 19/05/2018 15:21:26: Will happy how many lipos and what size are they, are you looking to charge with the single charger? well looking to get lipos for my 2nd hand ares gamma a 2s 7.4v and then some lipos to run my rc cars tamiya sand scorcher and a grasshopper on the beach but have to check what power is safe for the gear box on both. Looking to build ov-10 bronco out of foam so looking for larger lipos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyB Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 Posted by Don Fry on 19/05/2018 14:13:10: Actually, unless this bloke has plans for very much bigger batteries, a 50 watt type is plenty big enough. What's wrong with the Turnigy Acuel units. Mine seem to do good service. And even if he moves onto bigger stuff you still have plent of small batteries to charge Sorry, can’t really agree. I have never seen anyone buy a higher power charger and then wish they’d bought a smaller one, but many many who have done the opposite. 50W is only enough to charge 1 parkflyer aized 3S 2200 at ~2.5C. That’s just not enough for the vast majority of electric flyers these days, and these 50W units are normally built to a price so often don’t last that long. You are far better investing a bit more in a 250W setup with a converted server power supply to allow you to charge at least 3 decent sized 4S packs in parallel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyB Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 Lots of links around converting server PSUs for affordable, reliable high powered charging here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel R Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 True enough.The Reaktor 20a / 300w is doing good service for me. I took the lazy option and got the Reaktor 350w supply to go with it. Covers my needs up to 4 packs of 4cell 5000ma in one go. Also have an 80w unit but that only gets used for 3s 1000ma packs now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Crook Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 Matty, I agree that it's always best to over- specify equipment than the other way round, but it depends on the application. My models are modestly sized and my 50W charger will happily charge my 3s 4000 and 4s 3000 packs at 1C. I never charge at a higher rate as it's not good for them. I don't field charge - my packs are relatively cheap so I take enough with me for a flying session. I have a second, 100W charger to speed up charging sessions, and that gives room for expansion to bigger packs. If you intend flying EDFs with 6s 4000 packs, then a 50W charger is a bad choice. If you are a beginner on a budget, then it will get you started. The last time I looked they were about £25 for a 12V version, so not a big outlay. It will still be useful even if you have to buy something beefier later on. Finally, the two chargers I use are both from HK and have been totally reliable. Overlander also look to do a reasonable selection. Best to carefully assess what you need, and as Matty says buy one with extra capacity if you can afford it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ovenden Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 Posted by MattyB on 20/05/2018 00:51:54: Lots of links around converting server PSUs for affordable, reliable high powered charging here. Yes! I have converted 2 of the HP server PSUs and they are excellent and very cheap to buy/convert. I use one of them to run four reaktor 250w chargers at once. Very reliable cost effective set up. Well, it works great for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Dennis Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 I am a newb and been looking a chargers. I have been looking at vids on line and most seem to have the "4 button" style programme/menu. The iSDT chargers to me look the most modern regards menu screen. they have a lot of models so if one fits into your usage needs have a good look on the vids of them being used. I will go iSDT for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Wills 2 Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 I have recently got myself an ISDT T6 lite and love it. Using 2 HP server PSU's in series to power it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyB Posted May 21, 2018 Share Posted May 21, 2018 Posted by Trevor Crook on 20/05/2018 08:08:13: Matty, I agree that it's always best to over- specify equipment than the other way round, but it depends on the application. My models are modestly sized and my 50W charger will happily charge my 3s 4000 and 4s 3000 packs at 1C. I never charge at a higher rate as it's not good for them. This used to be the case with the early generations of Lipo cells, but it is no longer really the case. There have been some very long tests done of this on RCGroups (>1000 charge/discharge cycles) that have shown charging at 2-3C has little or no effect on cycle life or capacity loss as the battery ages vs a 1C charge. Fundamentally as long as the internal cell temp is not rising grater than it is on a 1C chare then cell damage is not going to be any faster than at 1C; I have used a temp sensor to validate the external cell temps are not increased when I charge at 2-3C, so I do the vast majority of my charging at 2C (in parallel). Posted by Trevor Crook on 20/05/2018 08:08:13: I don't field charge - my packs are relatively cheap so I take enough with me for a flying session. I have a second, 100W charger to speed up charging sessions, and that gives room for expansion to bigger packs. ...If you intend flying EDFs with 6s 4000 packs, then a 50W charger is a bad choice. If you are a beginner on a budget, then it will get you started. The last time I looked they were about £25 for a 12V version, so not a big outlay. It will still be useful even if you have to buy something beefier later on. You are right a 50W charger remains useful for smaller batteries, but with a 300W charger like the iSDT Q6 Plus available for <£40 and a £15-20 server power supply to run it I fail to see the point of buying the lower rated ones any more; YMMV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Collinson Posted May 21, 2018 Share Posted May 21, 2018 i "invested" in a 4Max quad charger last year and it's brilliant. Any battery type, discharge/cycle etc, 4 x 100W and runs on mains or a 12v leisure battery. Comes with oodles of cables and connectors and merely needed a 3 m mains cable as the supplied one was a bit short for comfort. £140-odd and doesn't owe me a penny. At the field I generally fly twice then start recharging. NB it will charge down to a 1S LiPo which a smaller (I wrote "budget", which it wasn't really) charger I bought won't do. (ignition for petrol plane). Was it John Ruskin who articulated the principle that buying "budget" ended up costing more anyway, when the first widget breaks/fails/underperforms and you end up buying the better widget anyway? If it was, he should have kept his mind on it ...... BTC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel R Posted May 21, 2018 Share Posted May 21, 2018 Bruce "Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten" "buy cheap, buy twice" Matt "a £15-20 server power supply to run it" Not everyone wants or is happy to modify a PC supply. So for some, a smaller charger which includes the mains supply may be a good buy. Reaktor 300W is still around £80 for the all-in-one unit and about the same for separate supply and charger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willhappy Posted June 9, 2018 Share Posted June 9, 2018 Posted by David Ovenden on 19/05/2018 15:29:25: Posted by willhappy on 19/05/2018 13:40:57: Hi all just come back to rc stuff and still looking for a charger, now i was looking at an Icharger 106B but come accross a turnigy reaktor 250w 10A from hobby king. Is this a good charger to get and also what would be the best power supply unit to go with it, would it be a turnigy reaktor pro 350w or the 250w. As you can tell just a bit fazed about lipos and chargers will Hi willhappy I have several reaktor 250w chargers and have found them excellent. I use them to charge NiCad, Nimh, pb, lipo, and life cells. Does my lipos from 1000 3S up to 5800 6s with no problem. They have been reliable over several years now. Never had an issue with any of them. Edited By David Ovenden on 19/05/2018 15:30:29 hi david did your charger come with a usb lead to up date the softwere in the charger or don't you need that now with the turnigy reaktor ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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