Hello all. I just purchased a beginner plane and kit. I'm looking for advice on chargers for the batteries. I'm not looking to spend big money until I'm sure this is a hobby I will be sticking with. This is the battery pack I've ordered with the plane, 550mah 2S LiPo Battery 90C 180C 7.4V with XT30. The kit comes with your basic usb charger. I would like to get a charger that charges multiple batteries at once. I live in a rural area and won't have access to electric outlets when in the field. Are there possible inexpensive setups to charge the batteries while in the field? Is it better to just buy enough batteries to last if you are wanting to fly for several hours or is it possible to have a charger setup with enough batteries that you can fly and charge at the same time?

There are not too many chargers out there that charge multiple batteries. I've seen a couple on the Hobby King site that can charge 2 but they are not overly cheap. This is probably why a lot of people simply buy 2 or 3 cheaper chargers and then just run them off the car battery at the field. It's not uncommon to walk past the car park and seen several hoods up with a couple of chargers hanging of the car batteries.

You do want to buy a dedicated LiPo Balance charger (though they will also do most other battery types).

I use a Turnigy Accucel-6 80w unit which I purchased a few years back when my old original Swallow charger became unreliable. The Accucel-6 is a very nice unit and not too expensive. It (like a lot of others) runs of 12 volts, so ideal for taking to the field. At home I have a 12 volt power supply plugged into the mains to run it. There are also Mains and Mains/12 volt options.

So you may want to ditch that supplied charger and look to a decent LiPo balance charger, especially if you intend to stay in the game for a while. It will be worth it in the longer run. But get a Balance charger. Most hobby shops have lots of options with different power outputs and higher cell counts.

I think the easiest thing you could do is rent/buy a portable generator and use that to power your charger(s) while at the field. If noise is an issue, there are solar powered generators that could also work. I know, generators aren't cheap(I have a pair of Honda 2000s, so I speak from experience on this). That's why I suggested renting one for a day. That said, I see people running generators to charge their batteries at boat races all the time. Some even run multiple chargers since the boats run 8S packs with multiple heats being run in a day

There are lots of options out there and to be honest I haven’t looked for a charger since 2019. Reading between the lines there I hope that you came to the conclusion that I have been using the same charger(s) for 5 years now. My chargers are ISDT Q6 chargers. They are not overly expensive and do a great job but most of all have the safety features that IMO are needed. The bad news is that they are DC only. As you can see from the picture, I run mine off an old converted computer power supply. Easy to obtain one that will put out 15V to 20V at 400 watts. You will also notice the use of balance lead adapter boards and that the chargers are in two different modes, those safety features I mentioned earlier. Every charge I not only check the voltage of each cell but the internal resistance of each cell. If they get to be too far off from one another, it’s easy to catch before a fire can result.

There are options depending on what you call "cheap". Ask if someone in the local flying club has a suitable charger for sale. Or, for about $130 you can get a new Hitec X2 AC Plus Black Edition 200W 10A 6S Battery Charger / Discharger. It runs on both 120 volt AC in the house and 11 to 18 volt DC out in the field. This will charge two batteries at once. A deep cycle marine battery (trolling motor battery) is sufficient to recharge your small size (2S-550mah) batteries for a full day of flying. Yes, you could make a jumper cable to attach to the car battery, but never, never, never charge a lipo battery inside or near your car due to the potential fire hazard. The last option is to get a parallel charging/balance board. IF you are charging identical batteries (brand, size, cell count, condition) a paraboard will let you charge 1 to 4 identical batteries at the same time. Take a look at Buddy RC at this kink: https://www.buddyrc.com/collections/paraboard