Best Charger.

[tmaxxfreek]

Best Bang For the buck? I have a MERV running 2s lipos, but i also have other packs i will want to charge, so in case i go to a larger electric R/C i wouldn't want to buy another charger, anyone have any advice for me? I'm new to electric and dont really know what to look for in a good charger, I dont want to spend a small fortune on a charger, but would like to have all the leads and connectors i need in one package deal.

 

[Greenskeeper]

You beat me to the question, and i was hoping the answer would come soon! Must be some nicer weather in the west!

 

[HPIguy]

It all comes down to what you need the charger to do really. Are you going to stop at MERV sized packs, or do you see bigger electrics in your future? A big thing to look for in a good charger is an intelligent storage charge mode, my old charger didn't have that, and it was a PITA constantly baby sitting my packs (one at a time mind you) to make sure they weren't under / over discharged, but just right. With the iCharger, it's set it and forget it, and I can do up to 20A on both charge and discharge rates. Even for small packs like the MERV, that means I can charge or discharge six packs at one time, automatically, and while monitoring both battery performance via USB, and have the safety of a temperature cutoff as well. I'm not trying to steer you towards an iCharger specifically, I'm just saying a good charging setup is nice to have. Unfortunately, a good charging setup is just like buying a new RC, you really do get what you pay for. If you go cheap, you'll most likely be unhappy with some aspect of it, or be buying again down the road. My setup cost me $200, and it's all I should need for a long time to come. Considering everything I run these days is electric for the most part, it's money well spent IMHO. Just my .02

 

[tmaxxfreek]

I would say there will be more larger electrics in my future, but not near future. So i should look for one with battery storage, and i would imagine, temp cut off, and i would like to charge at least 2 at once.

 

[Greenskeeper]

Yeah my buddy picked up 2 3s lipos for our slashes, the charger he got, had a horrible time without being under a fan! The Icharger looks like a good buy. Am I correct it plugs up to a separate power supply?


Peace,
Story
Proud owner of a Revo 3.3 and a Slash 4x4

 

[exmark93]

buy a hyperion, then never buy another charger

 

[HPIguy]

Yeah my buddy picked up 2 3s lipos for our slashes, the charger he got, had a horrible time without being under a fan! The Icharger looks like a good buy. Am I correct it plugs up to a separate power supply?


Peace,
Story
Proud owner of a Revo 3.3 and a Slash 4x4

Yes, they need a DC power supply to use with them.

buy a hyperion, then never buy another charger

If you buy a Hyperion, make sure it has high enough output that you won't outgrow it soon tmaxxfreak.

 

[exmark93]

Yes, they need a DC power supply to use with them.



I looked at the Hyperions, they simply can't supply enough wattage for my needs.

I'm confused i thought tmaxxfreek was asking the question. why are you responding for him? anyways, what do you need to charge that would overwhelm a giant hyperion? are you looking at the ac only models?

 

[tmaxxfreek]

uh oh.........wait for it..........

 

[HPIguy]

I'm confused i thought tmaxxfreek was asking the question. why are you responding for him? anyways, what do you need to charge that would overwhelm a giant hyperion? are you looking at the ac only models?

You are confused, he asked for opinions on best bang for the buck. He also mentioned not having to buy another charger down the road should he get into larger electric RC's. I was simply stating my opinion having looked at what Hyperion has to offer before buying my new setup recently.

Based on the stats at Hyperions website, parallel charging even small 3s packs the Hyperions start to come up short compared to other offerings on the market, even on their DC chargers based on wattage. I'll give you an example, I fly 3s 2200 mah packs in my 450. So for the wattage the equation is;

(V x A) = W

So in my case, charging at 1c for 1 pack at a time I would need roughly 28w

12.6 * 2.2 = 27.72w

Now, for parallel charging 6 of those 3s packs

27.72w * 6 = 166.32 to charge at 1c
or
332.64w to charge at 2c (while at the field for example)

I won't even get into my truck packs, which are at 4,000mah and trying to parallel charge those. The hottest Hyperion I could find was 150w output on DC power. I'm not bagging on their chargers, again just trying to prevent him from having to buy another setup when he outgrows it as I did mine.

 

[tmaxxfreek]

:OMG: WOW i think i will have to read over that a few more times.

 

[exmark93]

You are confused, he asked for opinions on best bang for the buck. He also mentioned not having to buy another charger down the road should he get into larger electric RC's. I was simply stating my opinion having looked at what Hyperion has to offer before buying my new setup recently.

Based on the stats at Hyperions website, parallel charging even small 3s packs the Hyperions start to come up short compared to other offerings on the market, even on their DC chargers based on wattage. I'll give you an example, I fly 3s 2200 mah packs in my 450. So for the wattage the equation is;

(V x A) = W

So in my case, charging at 1c for 1 pack at a time I would need roughly 28w

12.6 * 2.2 = 27.72w

Now, for parallel charging 6 of those 3s packs

27.72w * 6 = 166.32 to charge at 1c
or
332.64w to charge at 2c (while at the field for example)

I won't even get into my truck packs, which are at 4,000mah and trying to parallel charge those. The hottest Hyperion I could find was 150w output on DC power. I'm not bagging on their chargers, again just trying to prevent him from having to buy another setup when he outgrows it as I did mine.

i know how to determine wattage and amperage of packs, nothing new to me, but i did notice you said you only saw a hyperion with an output of 150w DC. this is what i use, http://www.maxamps.com/EOS1420i-NET3.htm. 550 watts at 29volts. so you'll need a 29volt power supply that can deliver a continuous ~20 amps. my power supply can deliver 32 amps at ~14.8volts. so roughly 475 watts (more than enough for your situation) maxamps does not carry my power supply anymore but they now sell their own that are well capable of feeding a big power hungry charger. no hard feelings it was a misunderstanding

 

[HPIguy]

i know how to determine wattage and amperage of packs, nothing new to me, but i did notice you said you only saw a hyperion with an output of 150w DC. this is what i use, http://www.maxamps.com/EOS1420i-NET3.htm. 550 watts at 29volts. so you'll need a 29volt power supply that can deliver a continuous ~20 amps. my power supply can deliver 32 amps at ~14.8volts. so roughly 475 watts (more than enough for your situation) maxamps does not carry my power supply anymore but they now sell their own that are well capable of feeding a big power hungry charger. no hard feelings it was a misunderstanding

I had not seen that one actually, I went straight the the Hyperion site here

http://media.hyperion.hk/dn/eos/

and they didn't have it listed. Seems like a nice setup though. Never any hard feelings here at RCNT, it's all good

 

[exmark93]

yeah the hyperion site is... ehh. maxamps has a great selection of hyperion things, not so much the batteries though haha

 

[HPIguy]

yeah the hyperion site is... ehh. maxamps has a great selection of hyperion things, not so much the batteries though haha

What do ya expect for Chinglish? To be honest, it will be a long time before I outgrow my 300w setup, and that's charger limited, not power supply.

 

[exmark93]

I'm the opposite, my charger can overload my power supply if i speed charge. I've got about 8 batteries so when i go to the track i never have to charge over 1c. hey its ALWAYS better to over estimate your needs in this hobby, I've wasted so much money on "just enough" things, i over do everything now

 

[WoodiE]

I personally use the Hyperion EOS0606 and highly recommend it!

 

[robmob]

I don't see myself ever needing to "upgrade" my Hyperion 720i. The 1420i would be the ticket if I did.

 

[trax de max]

is this overkill big charger

 

[moe7404]

i have two prophet plus lcd. dynamite brand. dyn4049. will charge 4 to 7 cells nimh or nicd. but i have charged 8 cells. the main thing i like is a display showing, volts, or amps. the amps is adjustable. of course others can be good all so.