Pilot_Guy

Anyone can get a Revolt 30, stuff in the recommended 4s battery and get a small, low wattage charger cheap and go have fun, but..... if you want to make it go faster, bigger batteries, more run time, multiple batteries, different props and its going to take some moderate math to figure out, understanding Lipo batteries to the tee, knowing what the numbers are and how to use them to your advantage. As I plug along in researching electric power I am finding out that even choosing a LiPo charger for high powered and multiple charging of LiPos, takes a good amount of math to figure out how big of a charger to get and it all begins by knowing how you want to run, how fast and how many batteries to charge at a time plus the cell counts....all go into choosing just the charger power....oh and a big enough power supply to power the charger. Charger is only as good as the power supply from what I am learning.

Whew... it's a lot to learn.

So far I know I would like to multi charge up to 4x 6s 5000mah batteries at a time and figuring in a 3C charge rate just so I have the option even though I will be charging at 1C mostly. So all my smaller batteries for my 400 helis should be nothing for that charger if it's powerful enough to charge 4x 6s 5000ma batteries at 3C. ALL my charging needs should be covered by that and I really doubt I am going to be running any 8s to 12s and higher voltage anytime soon, so with my budget, a 6s capable charger with enough wattage to handle a 3C charge on 4x 6s 5000ma is making a lot of sense for me. With all the math I learned on how to figure out required charger wattage for what I am going to be charging, I'm looking at a 400 watt and above charger... I guess price, budget and features will be the deciding figure, but it's going to be at least 400 watts no matter what.

Now to figure out what I need for a power supply, lol.... whew.... it is complex until you get a hang of it, but once you get it, you get it and makes the hobby even more fun.

Been working out the math on these things for two days I'm tired and going to sleep!

Pilot_Guy

My advice to anyone that doesn't want to bother with all the BS to pick a charger, it is simple... Get the biggest, bad assed charger you can afford, if you plan on staying with the electric hobby and getting bigger toys.

ryan_t888

Fully charged 6s voltage = 25.2v
3c * 5Ah batteries * 4 of those batteries = 60 Amps
Charger Wattage = 25.2 * 60 = 1512watts
Power Supply Wattage should be at least 20% higher = 1850watts.
A Power Supply feeding 12V would need 154A.
A power supply feeding 24v would need 77A

This is a very, very, very, very, very intense goal. You need multiple chargers/power supplies!!

A 400 watt charger would limit you to charging:
One 6s pack at 3C
Two 6s packs at 1.58C
Three 6s packs at 1C
Four 6s packs at 0.8C

keithbradley

My Feedback: (38)

Ryan's right, that's a lot of power. The charger I use is capable of it. It's the iCharger 4010 DUO. 40A x2 or 70Ax1 output. To do this though, you need a very robust power supply and input voltage will likely be between 24v-50v. Progressive RC has a lot of this stuff, but it will be expensive to have that kind of charging power in your hands. Also, keep in mind that a standard household breaker may not allow you to use this charger to it's full potential.

Pilot_Guy

This guy has 10 big batteries charging from an icharger 106B(the lowest wattage charger they have, 250 watts) how does he do that? charged at 1C I would think??

Why does this have to be such a PITA? http://youtu.be/WY194Md6KNg

Pilot_Guy

I will admit that I am not the smartest guy in the world and it takes me more time than the average person to "get" anything, especially math stuff. So I have been studying how to calculate wattage needed for charging multiple Lipos.

I would REALLY appreciate some of you testing my math and see if I am doing this right. I don't trust myself and I need some reassurance to make myself feel content that I am actually learning this stuff... So...

I have SIX- 3s(12.6 max voltage) 1,300 MAH capacity Gens Ace Lipos.

I want to charge all of these at once at a faster rate of 2C instead of 1C to speed the charge up...sooo..... I have to calculate how big of watts I need for my charger to do this.. here goes.

I did the math on my calculator and I came up with..... 196.56 watts from the charger to charge six 3s 1300 batteries at 2c?? am I right? So the icharger 106b rated at 250 watts would be plenty?

I calculated the watts needed to charge one pack at 2c and came up with 32.76 watts needed for one pack... then I multiplied that number by six and got 196.56 watts, cause the batteries will be in parallel.

So I need a 196 watt or more capable charger to charge up six 3s 1300MaH batteries at 2c all at once?

Am I right??

thanks.

ryan_t888

Yes, that looks correct.

I'm working on a script that will provide these numbers for you. Not sure how long it will take but I'll post it when complete.

Pilot_Guy

Sweet! thanks for taking the time.

I think this thread should keep going, because many out there don't know how important it is in choosing a LiPo charger. I never knew it was so complex. Your script will be a great addition...thank you.

Pilot_Guy

I now know that the icharger 106b will handle ALL of my 400 size heli batteries and the smaller coaxial 2s batteries, but I plan on getting one of the FE boats for next spring and obviously they are powered by 6s high capacity lipos, so....the 106b charger probably won't be enough for double charging 6s batteries. So I better do more math and get the charger to handle that instead.

Given my budget, household current, needing a power supply and all that....I probably should just plan on charging 2 or less 6s 5000ma lipos at 1c... Still in parallel It would be less time charging than doing one at a time.

So charging two 6s 5000ma lipos at 1c the same time would be 252 watts needed from the charger, to be safe about a 300 watt charger....

Looking like the icharger 206b(300 watt 20A 6s) would be my beast..... that would handle the largest packs and method of charging I need, plus all the smaller ones are totally covered and could even charge the smaller packs at 2 and 3c....

ryan_t888

Required Charger Wattage Calculator

Pilot_Guy

That is the best thing since Doritos.... I like to know how to manually do the math so it was worth the brain freezes, and I cross referenced myself with that site, seems I know how to do the math. Accoding to the site I think I'll go with a 350 watt charge for what I want to do. I can still charge two 6s 5000ma's at 1c the same time, so....that is plenty . If I want more I'll get another charger, but for now and my budget....350 watts will work.

thanks!

lopflyers

My Feedback: (12)

Hyperion makes a charger capable of handling 24 V input. You need a special power supply. I heard you can charge a 6s 5000 mAh in 20 mins

Pilot_Guy

That's the next thing, a power supply. I assume I can just hook it up to a 12V car battery and have the charge work at max.... Oyy gotta figure that out now.

lopflyers

My Feedback: (12)

Nope, a car battery is not near enough!!!

Pilot_Guy

I dont get it.... comes with clips to connect to a ca battery and says 12V input DC.... I assumed connect a 12 volt car battery to the charger with the included clips and the charge will be happy....oyyyy.

I have now decided I am going to just charge at 1C for all batteries . may take longer but if I can charge 4 batteries in one hour, it will be way better than what I do now. Besides, I'll need to rest my hands, brain, motor and ESC between runs. Let the batteries charge for an hour, let things cool off and then 4 packs of fun ready to go.

Yah, 1C is good for me....charging any faster is crazy IMO.... Especially flying helis....waiting an hour for my 4 packs to charge will let me rest my hands and brain till the batts charge up safely.

So, 1C on 4 batteries at a time is fine for me...I don't need any more than that.

Rob2160

Hi Pilot Guy,

Reading through this thread, I will add my 2 cents worth.

I have over a dozen 450 Helis and have on occasion flown them all several times a day. That's a lot of charging. (sometimes 40 charge cycles in one day)

My solution was to buy several chargers, each with their own power supply. I have 5 x 50 watt chargers and 2 x 150 watt chargers (for the bigger 550 Helis with the 6 S batteries)

I can charge 7 batteries at once, at 1.5 to 2 C in most cases,(with batteries designed for 5C charging) which effectively means I can fly non stop all day. (I used to live opposite a nice park just 20 yards from the front door and had plenty of free time with my job)

Having a single charger... if it fails you are grounded until you repair or replace it.

With multiple chargers, if one fails, you just keep going and replace / repair the failed one at your leisure. (All mine have been good to date, but a friend had a PSU fail on his Venom charger recently)

I have three of these chargers and they are excellent as they show battery % during charge. Not cheap but my favourite charger.

https://www.master-instruments.com.a...0006/TReX.html

lopflyers

My Feedback: (12)

A car battery is fine, to charge lil lipos, when you get to 5-6S is not enough. Well you might need a ride home if you know what I mean.
Charging at 1C is ideal, some of us can't wait...... That is why the charging faster, but eventually that shortens the battery life.

Radical Departure

My Feedback: (13)

Check out the line of Iota power supplies. http://www.iotaengineering.com/dls.htm

Yes they're a bit pricey, but you get what you pay for, these are solid, quality units. Fact is, when you get to the bigger electrics, you've got to ramp everything up to support charging those big-assed batteries. Since the power supply also has to be plugged in to work, and you want to charge at the field, well.. now you need a generator. To that end I'd recommend Honda. Be careful.. flying big electric can dang near break the bank! Been there, done it, lots of fun but they (electrics) sure lose economy of scale once you get into the 50cc and bigger equiv. class of motors.

GerKonig

This guy sells nice power supplies (very poverful) for a reasonable price: http://www.feathermerchantrc.com/

Remember, in the same way you can smoke (burn) any electric equipment. If you ask too much from your power supply, you will smoke it!

The power supply has to be able at least to supply the power you need (or be more powerful)

Gerry

lopflyers

My Feedback: (12)

I just bought a power supply from a guy here, jalvarez11. It is capable of 12 & 24V and it looks good. It comes in an aluminum cases with plenty of storage for batteries and chargers.
I also got the generator, but got a cheapo from Harbor Freight

GerKonig

I saw a cheap generator from them, but it only generated 800 watts. Again, you have to remember always to "size" everything accordingly:-) You do not want to ask 1300 watts form a 800 watts generator. Or 600 watt form a 400 watt power source.

Gerry

jalvarez11

My Feedback: (41)

The generator that you are talking about is a very affordable generator. It is one that you get at a place called Northern Tool. They run about $160.00 the great thing about them is that it has 1200 Surge Watts, 1000 Rated Watts, so it can handle a 24v power supply, if you get the harbour frieght one then you are only working with 800 wats and total of 900 surge watts, If you go with the honda generators they are small quiet and give you more watts but then you are spending lots of money.

jalvarez11

My Feedback: (41)

There are many types of powersupplies out there for sale and for different needs. I myself have been able to create power supplies that have plenty of power for any charger. I have more power than i need. I have two power supplies that are connected together in series and from there I went a step further. If you have a power supply that is a 24V power supply that is usually the way it stays. I make the power supply able to power two chargers at the same time, a 12V charger and a 24V charger with out over loading any charger. I custom make the power cases where you are able to carry to the field and set up any where. Inside the case are the power supplies. I use Anderson Powerpoles for the connections, these are capable of handling large amounts of current. More current than you can actually generate. Again there are two set ups that you can use. If you connect one of the power supplies then you have 12V X 2 outlets for you to connect your chargers to. If you have a charger that can handle 24V then you simply plug the second power supply in and then you have the full 24V and you also still have a 12V outlet for your chargers. I will be attaching some pic of what I am trying to explain it will prob be easy to see rather than to imagine. One of the members here purchased a case from me and is happy with what he has purchased, If anyone has any questions feel free to email him or my self. My name is Juan Alvarez and I live in south Florida. The member that purchased the case from me is screen name lopflyers. Like i said I take these custom orders to make and they take me about 2-3 weeks to make since I have to custom build the box and make the power supplies with the proper configuration and correct voltage. IF ANY ONE WANTS TO PURCHASE A CASE LIKE THIS WITH THE POWER SUPPLIES ALREADY BUILT IN AND READY TO GO JUST GO TO RCU ITEM NUMBER 937996

jalvarez11

My Feedback: (41)

your car battery will work fine. You will only be working with a 12 volt source, You can charge up about 20 amps or so. But then again you risk not getting home. Using your car is fine as long as you turn it on for a few min a let the altenator charge your battery a little. I have been at the field and have left my car on for about 5 hours and it does not use much fuel.

lopflyers

My Feedback: (12)

Totally off topic, but that's fine. If you fly RC you are in the right place