quote:

ORIGINAL: NovaRC


I am new to RC cars and I have a few questions about this charger and LiPos. I have seen a few post claiming this charger (50 watts) 6 amp charge rate will not be enough for big packs. Can someone set me straight to see if I understand this right?The charger works fine with larger packs it's just that the charge time will be longer.

If I have a 2S 3000 mah (max charge rate of 2c), I could charge this at 1C (3 amps) or 2C (6 amps)? If these are our packs they can be charged at 2C but YOU MUST USE A BALANCER while charging at 2C.

If I have a 2S 6000 mah, I could only ever charge it at 1 C (6 amps)? Yes you will only be able to charge it at 6 amps.

If the above pack were drained, it would take about an hour to charge it?80 to 90 minutes to charge from the LVC point at a 6 Amp charge rate.

How safe is it to run chargers at their max rating?Very safe ...........no issues to worry about with this.

If I get packs over 6000 mah, I will have to charge at below 1C which means it will take longer. YES

Is there some mah limit to what I can charge?NO I can charge a 10,000 mah but it will take some time. Correct

It also seems that, in general, you can charge Lipos at a faster rate than NiMH.Not really NimH and Li-Po charged at thier rated charge rate will charge in about the same time. The main thing is that you can charge and discharge Li-Po's all day long. Where as with NimH you can't.

If I am wrong, can you explain why please?

Many thanks!

quote:

ORIGINAL: NovaRC


Jason,

Thank you for clearing up those issues for me.

I am torn between the 0606 and the 0610. My hangup is charge time for bigger packs.

Can you explain how you approximated the 80-90 min charge time for a 6000 mah pack? When I charge mine at 6 amps that's around the time it takes.

What happens when you move to a pack like a 2S 8000 mah. You'd have to charge below 1C with the 0606. What kind of times are we talking about for bigger packs. A lower charge rate won't hurt anything it will just take longer for an 8000 I would say over or around 2 hours at 6 amps.

What are the implications of charging at rates higher than 1C (provided the pack can handle this)? Is it recommended? Does it reduce pack life? All of our HV packs can be charged at a 2C charge rate if done with a blancer such as the Hyperion LBA-10 or the NEW MaxAmps Method Balancer. This can Be done with no ill affects to the Packs.

Flip side, what are the implications of charging below 1C which is what would be required of the 0606 on bigger packs. A less than 1C charge rate is fine and won't hurt anything at all.

I am wondering if I should just go with the 0610 so I can change bigger packs at 1C and/or charge smaller packs at 1.5-2.0 (with balancing as you recommended).

What charger would you recommend for someone who foresees charging 6000 - 8000 mah packs in the future? Honestly right now I'd go with the EOS0610i DUO and a good 360 watt plus power supply........................................ Thanks, jason

Many thanks
-Mike