Battery Chargers suggestions

[Acidic01]

Pulled out my cars to work on them as all 4 had issues. been a few months since I last had them out, and noticed some batteries are puffing. Ops why did I leave that pack set plugged I to my 2.0... My bad, I didn't put then into storage voltage. Granted I don't have a charger that will do this currently have a onxy 245charger. I want to remedy this.

I've searched here and Google and gone down the DC / DC charger rabbit hole.

My issue with current charger is it takes me 90 mins to charge two 4500mha smc 3s. If I have friends over using my other cars (2s rustler 2x4, Merv 3s vxl, and erevo 2.0 ). We are waiting on batteries to charge. And can only charge two at a time, I gotta preplan my charging before going somewhere.

I do field charging off my trucks 2x-12v desiel batteries. I normally got 1 charge of 2x 3s 4500mha and 1 or 2 charges of the 2s 1500mha packs before time to head home if solo.

Have 2s packs on trx plugs and 3s packs on xt90s plugs. Nmhi on trx.

Looking to add a xmaxx to the stable ( someone has a xmaxx 8s and a summit used locally for $1k. ) Mmm 2 new to me cars... Definitely means need better charging situation.

I got some space/trail in back yard to make a small track so fast charging time is what I'm after. As 4x - 9000mha 4s batteries will take me all day to get charged on current charger.. I have a park 500ft away with large grass field. I take my ramp out to, for big air.

To save my sanity In Research and move on from This rabbit hole of learning, What's your thoughts on Charger, and psu?

Been looking at the hota,. Hitech and the ichargers. I don't mind pulling a old psu 600W+ from closet and using my electronics skills to make a power supply for a charger, or just buying one to save me from yet another project, but all about the to tinkering they say....

My goals for new charger.

Be able to charge a set or multiple sets( parallel charging of same battery type n size)

Get charge time close to run time.

Field chargeable off vehicle truck battery, for from one in field cart. I could make a harness for 24VDC for field for my trucks duel setup.

Has a storage mode to charge or discharge to a correct voltage.

Can charge my old nmhi cells.

Only at 2s, 3s and 4s if I go xmaxx.... so far but may get into helis at some point. Looking for a good charger set up to last me my hobby needs.









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[omen]

I got a dual charger from Venom. Don't remember the exact model. Quite happy with it. It will push 7A to a 3s lipo. Keep in mind, safe charging at 1 C will take 1 hour, plus the slow constant voltage phase at the end. So 90 minutes for a dead battery is not unreasonable. Also, it sounds like you are getting enough lithium around the house to warrant thinking about a fire proof charging and storage box if you don't already have one.

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[RICK DIZZLE]

I use the Hota DC6 from SMC with a 350 watt external dc power supply....charges two 3s 4500 packs in 17 mins. Most quality batteries can easily and safely be charged above 1c...just check manufacturer's specs and don't charge at the high end and use a lipo bag. Meaning if its 5c capable, doesn't mean it needs charged at 5c. I bought a Venom Duo charger and it was taking easily 90 mins to charge the same two packs...it now is only used to charge small receiver packs. I came from RC Helis and when you fly a Trex 700e on 12s, (two 6s) packs...you will be waiting all day with a small charger. Shoot my 2 SMC 7200 packs wouldn't even fully charge on the Venom Duo charger in 120 mins...2 dang hours...on the DC6....30 mins tops.

Looks like SMC only has the DC/AC version in stock now.

https://www.smc-racing.net/index.php...product_id=541

You wont get the power you need on AC...the power comes from a separate DC power supply such as this:
https://www.progressiverc.com/efuel-...er-supply.html

My brother runs that exact set up and charges his 4s packs easily for his Xmaxx no time at all!

There are also more expensive options such as the iChargers by Progressive RC...but it just depends on what you want to do. When I got my E Revo 2.0...a few people recommended the Venom Duo charger...I bought it and realized quickly I wasted $100 bucks...it just doesn't have the power output as its only AC power going into it. Not trash talking the recommendation above for it...just being honest with first hand experience. When lipo technology was newer to RC...90 mins was a solid charge time. Now that is just very slow.

[tankinfrank]

I normally use the Traxxas ID chargers and I think they charge/discharge over a reasonably short time for me. When I got my X Maxx in December I needed a charger for the 4S batteries. Since I use the SMC batteries with Traxxas style connectors I decided to get the Hota D6 Plus AC/DC with balance boards and charging adapters from SMC as well. I really like it and charging at 4v it takes less than an hour to charge both 4s pacs.

[BlueTrane2028]

I have a Traxxas dual charger. If I use it in single mode it puts out 8 amps, which is enough power to get a pack going pretty quickly, although my favorite charge rate is 1C.

Worth noting, all my batteries are 2S, I have no experience with anything more powerful.

[222]

Megawatt makes a darn good power supply. You can get a 400w one for $60. A 350w one is only $50. I use these power supplies for my HF radios and they are clean power and can go up to 15v. I ran one for almost 2yrs and it being on for 24hrs a day 7 days a week. As long as you keep the fan clean they will last a very long time. Mine is approx 5yrs old and still working no issues. Just thought I would throw that in. I like the look of the Hota D6 chargers. And we know SMC makes a darn good battery as well.


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[nickruger]

I only run SMC batteries, I charge them at 2c. My 9200mah 4s for Xmaxx charge in 15 minutes at 18.4 amps. I have a icharger 406 duo and a 1000watt power supply. It is the single best investment in the Hobby I've ever made. No regrets what so ever.

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[Acidic01]

I was originally thinking of getting the hota 6 DC but smc doesn't have the DC only anymore. So started looking at the ichargers. Which are spendy but looks like I can do whatever I want with them.
Kinda debating between the 4010 duo and the 406duo.

Looks like they can discharge my batteries alot faster than the hota can. 80w vs 15w of the hota.

Took a look in my closet and found two 630w computer PSU,. I can turn into a power supply for the charger.

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[olds97_lss]

http://www.usastore.revolectrix.com/...ory/GT500DUO_2

99.9% sure that will output 2x20A/2x500W if you have the PSU to push it. DC only, so will have to find a proper PSU for it. The single output version is 20A/500W, so I'm assuming the dual version is basically just 2 of the 500's smashed together.

I have a hitec D7 which is 2x200w/2x20A (2S-7S) on AC or DC.

I also use a dynamite AC/DC 4x100w/4x10A (2S-6S) that does well with 5000mah 3S packs. Will charge 4 of them up in under an hour. I set it at 10A, but it hits the wattage limit and runs at 8A or so for the first 30 minutes, then it drops off as the packs fill up.

I made parallel cables to charge up 4 at a time on my D7 as well, so I can charge up 8x3S 5000mah packs in under an hour before I head out. I only set it at 15A because the packs I use are only 2C and I don't want to push them too hard. But it will put out the full 20A per port on AC power.

In my car I have a 2x12A/2x150W HTRC cheapo for charging in the field. Usually though, by the time I'm through 8 packs in 2 of my 6S trucks... I'm either tired of bashing, or the trucks are broken, so I don't use that charger in my car a lot.

[kz121]

So... Just to throw in a vote, I too use the Venum 2x charger - which is AC or DC... So it covers both your requirements there... But here's the thing, they make a 4x version of the same charger (but double the power to accommodate the extra batteries)... Being honest, the menus could be easier to follow for learning how the unit can be used but the hardware is rock solid with tons of options and safety features... Honestly - for the price, they can't be beat in my humble opinion...

[nickruger]

I was originally thinking of getting the hota 6 DC but smc doesn't have the DC only anymore. So started looking at the ichargers. Which are spendy but looks like I can do whatever I want with them.
Kinda debating between the 4010 duo and the 406duo.

Looks like they can discharge my batteries alot faster than the hota can. 80w vs 15w of the hota.

Took a look in my closet and found two 630w computer PSU,. I can turn into a power supply for the charger.

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The discharge is still painfully slow. You would likely still want to add an external discharger. You do have the ability to discharge from a full battery to one that needs charged at a much higher rate. External discharger is a good idea. If you go for a 4010 duo you literally would never have to purchase another charger even if you got into some crazy 5th scales, helis, whatever.

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[Acidic01]

The discharge is still painfully slow. You would likely still want to add an external discharger. You do have the ability to discharge from a full battery to one that needs charged at a much higher rate. External discharger is a good idea. If you go for a 4010 duo you literally would never have to purchase another charger even if you got into some crazy 5th scales, helis, whatever.

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Good to know discharge is still slow. If it takes a while to get back into storage mode it's ok. if it gets to slow for me easy to get order a discharge module.

I ordered the icharger 406duo. Got some bids on a 1200w 100A max @224v server psu @110v puts out 900w at 75amp.

Awesome that the guys from progressive rc called me to talk about my notes on the order. I did stop by my lhs they didn't have any DC/dc chargers available.

I pick up a used Rx/tx combo for my Merv on sat to make that work again. Time to spend some time on back 9 to rake a trail. And beef up my ramp.

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