Ultra Power UP120AC DUO Charger
 

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2193865http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2193871
Features :

Terminal voltage control in 4.18V to 4.30V
Delta-peak sensitivity (NiMH/NiCd)
Individual cell balancing charge & discharge
Battery meter function
One button control factory setting
Data storage (10 profiles in memory)
*Two USB Ports for PC Control & Firmware Upgrade

Specification :
Input voltage: AC 110V or 220V
DC 11.0-18.0V
Charge power: 2x120W (240W)
Discharge power: 2x10W (20W)
Charge current range: 0.1~12.0A
Discharge current range: 0.1~5.0A
LiIo/LiPo/LiFe/LiHv cell count: 1~6 series
NiCd/NiMH battery cell count: 1 - 15cells
Pb battery voltage: 2V～20V (1-10cells)
Current drain for balancing LiPo: 300mah/cell
Battery data memory: 10 profiles
Weight: 1.2KG
Dimension: 180*139*60mm

Ultra Power UP12AC DUO product page: http://www.ultrapower.hk/product.asp?id=21&cid=1

Price: $85 ~ $135 shipped from USA warehouses. These prices were at the time of this post.

Charge Master software... http://www.ultrapower.hk/software/Charge%20master.rar

*Most places have specs for this charger with two USB ports. The ports are mini USB PC Links. There is only ONE USB 5v 2.1A charging port to charge your cell phone and similar devices.

I know a couple folks on here are enjoying theirs. It's been over a year of waiting, and thinking about what to upgrade my current chargers to. The Ultra Power charger just happened to be staring at me one day on eBay. Today the UP120AC DUO shows up at doorstep. I can't wait to test this thing out.

If you have a keen eye, I'm sure you may have spotted the labeling on the charger in the first picture in post #1..."CH1 120W CH2 100W". All the UP120AC DUO's, that I know of, and I see on the market are now 120W each channel. That had me second guessing myself after seeing the charger on eBay, and the stock photo from Ultra Power being use in the listing. Photo below is actual unit:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2193877http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2193876http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2193875

Looks like it has just about everything you could want in a charger !
Did it come with alligator clips for the DC input ???
I see a cable , no clips . Not that I use DC anyway .

No alligator clips. Just XT90 plug to bullets. I'm guessing the bullets are 4mm, and that is a common hook up to a power supply. The Deans connectors that are on the charging leads...fakes of course.

I really wanted a dual charger this time around. The power that the UP120AC DUO has will be plenty for me. If I had 5S, or 6S LiPo packs then I'd have to start looking at separate power supplies.

Ah ha, you finally pulled the trigger on that charger, eh Rusty? Nice Christmas present for moi' , no? :cool: How do you find the cooling fans? I don't mind them. They're temp-controlled so they don't run except when needed, and they're multi-speed. If I'm charging two packs at 6 or 7 Amps, the fans get pretty um, boisterous? But usually not for too long. Once the charge rate gets down to <3Amps, the fan speed reduces a lot and isn't very loud at all. But it's a damn good workhorse for me. What kind of Wattage are you thinking 5S or 6S packs would need? Wouldn't 10 Amps at 120 Watts do?

Speaking of chargers, you know that Thunder AC680 I always suggest? I went to suggest it again today, and in pulling up the page to grab the link, I caught the price: $90 ! Holy crap! I bought mine for $58! Now they're charging $90?! Ouch. Oh well, you can get an Onyx charger for about $50, and Dynamite and Venom make ones for $50. All about the same charger. But that "Oootalla Powah" (remember "Ultra Man"?) charger is da bomb for $130.

Making Noise
 

The fan noise doesn't bother me...I see it as the charger letting me know it's working :cool:!

If I was to have 5, or 6 cell LiPo packs, then I'd be more inclined to have more power on tap if desiring to charge greater than an 1C rate.

A 6S 5000mah LiPo battery, on the UP120AC DUO charger, would be pushing the limits of the power supply. For me, and my brain, I would need "room to play with" as far as having enough power to get the job done.

Watts Needed
 

If my math is correct and I have a 6S 5000mah LiPo pack charging @ 1C rate:

25.2 Volts x 5 Amps = 126 Watts needed

The UP120AC DUO charger would not be up to the task :o, unless a person doesn't mind charging at just under a 1C charge rate. Not a problem for me, but diehard charging "know-it-alls" would look down on the Ultra Power charger. Which brings a good point.

Ultra Power now has come out with new UP200AC DUO charger... 2x200w dual charger. Of course, there is an added price to go along with more power.

You can't please everyone, and I'm sure the PC/server power supply users will chime in with "why not just ...." . For me, I'm all about simplifying wires, and hookups as I move my chargers constantly.

I've put lots of chargers on my browser's wishlist folder over the years. The UltraPower brand popped up on one search, and EXT2Rob had started a thread, My New Favorite Charger. This was back in November of 2015. While waiting for long term use thoughts from EXT2Rob, I put the UP120A Duo on my list of chargers to consider for purchasing. A couple of months later (February 2016), a RC news flash puts up the Reedy 1216C2 charger....sure looks like something that I've seen before:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2204010http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2204009
Same specs, and dimensions are the same. The Reedy charger coming into play (boosted my thoughts of how good this charger was), and after reading all the reviews of both chargers, the UltraPower UP120A Duo purchase seemed like a no-brainer.

Funny how a select few of the "off-brand" chargers get picked for "re-branding". My Ultra Power charger is doing great. Still my favorite charger, along with the trusty Thunder Power AC680. Add the fact that the Gens Ace Lipo packs I buy stay balanced, and perform as well as they do, for as long as they do, and I'm a happy RC guy.

Reedy's 1216-C2 charger has an update for LiHV packs. I contacted UltraPower to see if they had an update for the UP120AC Duo charger, and Kelly Pang told me, "We have sent updated firmware to Reedypower, you could contact them to solve this issue". Does that mean Reedy's firmware update will work on the UP120AC Duo? I don't know...I'm waiting for response back.

I'll probably never see a high voltage LiPo pack in my hands. So I won't be the one to go ahead and be the ginny pig.

I believe that the UP120 Duo can charge the new LiHV packs. Awhile back I was playing around with the charging parameters and there is a cutoff voltage option. When I set it to 4.3 V for a 2S pack it gave me a stern warning against upping the voltage. Since I didn't want to fry my batteries I set it back to 4.2. I'm not sure if upping the cutoff voltage is the only change you need to make to charge the new LiHV packs, but if it is, this charger should work.

I'm like Rusty - I'll probably never see a high voltage pack but my UP120 has been working great for over a year. On an average race day, Ext2Rob and I will burn through 10 -12 battery packs each (2S, 5000 and 6500 mAh) and this charger keeps up, no problem. We've raced over 25 days since I got this charger. I think one of it's best features is that when you start to charge a battery the charger waits a few seconds before it applies any current so you can check the resting voltage of the individual cells after a run. I give it two thumbs up.

Thanks for that info. I'll definitely have to check the settings now.

Do any of the new up120ac units have a lipo high voltage 4.35v mode? I really like ultra powers build quality and chargers. If the new versions of the up120ac don't have lihv, I'll buy the reedy.

YES, the UP120AC Duo can charge Lihv. Go into System Setup and go to TVC, Terminal Voltage Control. You can adjust it from 4.18 - 4.30V.

Thanks guys, I just pulled the trigger on the Reedy 1216-C2. Knowing that the reedy has a dedicated lihv mode as well as accomplishing 4.35v per cell is the reason I purchased the reedy. I really like the build quality and system of the ultra power, but the reedy has the lihv and a warranty and tech support. I like to keep my gear future proofed and that's what I got for the increase in price over the ultra power.

After doing a bit of looking around for info, I've come to the conclusion it's best to leave my UP120AC Duo charger, with UltraPower's v5.01 firmware onboard, as is :cool:. A couple users of the 1216-C2 units reported their chargers somehow "got error" and smelled "something burning" when doing the LiHV update. Now the units will not boot.

I don't know if I totally believe the reports of upgrade failure.

Ultra Power has not gotten back to me yet. So, I'll let the notion of "going to the next level" (in HV packs) up to my other charger ;).

Hmm, I have not had any problems updating my reedy to 4.03 firmware that supports lihv mode.🤔 Both banks fully updated. The only hiccup was that I could not use Windows 10 64 bit. I used Windows 7 32bit.

The UP120 already HAS LiHV capability. No need to update the firmware. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Ext2rob
If the UP120AC will only increase lipo cell voltage to 4.30 volts as you say, that is NOT lipo high voltage or lihv. Lipo high voltage or lihv is 4.35 volts per cell fully charged. A hot pack on lihv would be even higher than 4.35, 4.36 or above.

I did not know that. I stand corrected. That extra 50mV makes a difference, huh? Who makes them?

I don't have any lihv packs, but that's one of the main reason I purchased a new charger was for the capability of charging lihv and a dual port charger. From what I've read that extra .05 volts makes a difference, but I don't personally have any experience with lihv packs. From what I have read, ultra power advertises lihv on most of their chargers now including the up120ac duo. I was told the older up120ac duos did not have the lihv mode but all their current chargers including the new version up120ac duo does. As far as I know the only differences between them is firmware. That is the reason I picked up the reedy since I could not confirm the current version up120ac duo had lihv capabilities. I know that team Orion makes lihv packs.

The chemistry in LiHV cells is "tweeked" and is said to provide a more stable cell. Longer lifespan when charged to 4.2v/cell. LiHV packs have same lifespan as normal LiPo cell when they are charged to 4.35v/cell...which the UP Duo's firmware only goes to 4.30v/cell.

Been trying to make this charger sweat it a little. Using all of the UP120AC Duo's available power to charge my 3S packs for the past couple of weeks. Just shy over a 2C charge rate, and all is good.

During my normal 1C rate charges, I've noticed my charge times (balance charge) are quicker when compared to my older chargers doing a balance charge. With my re-branded iMax chargers, it normally takes somewhere around 80~110 minutes to reach a full balance charge (@1C charge rate) brought up from storage voltage. The Ultra Power charger seems to do a better job when it comes to the CC/CV algorithm.