Which Quality LiPo Charger?

[Dhami1]

As the Title mentions, I am looking for a quality lipo charger. Which ones do you recommend?

I have seen a lot of chargers that all look the same, so im thinking there a few clones out there that are not so good in quality??

I've spent a bit of money on a few Orion 3800 packs.. so want a good charger to go with it.

I had in mind the Cellpro 10S charger distributed by aurorra, or the Core-Rc charger distributed by shumacer (out of stock at the moment)

Need a charger for race days, that can do balance charging on the odd occasion.

Thanks.
Gurdeep

[Alfonzo]

Hi Gurdeep, I've got the Core one that cost approx £50 and it seems great to me. I'm not convinced you need to spend silly money on Lipo chargers. Which is nice. :D

[Bungleaio]

Bantam BC-6, works a treat and quite a few pit tables have them on now. Glypo has done quite a nice review too.

[jim76]

another vote for the BC6, awesome bit of kit. runs off the mains or 12v, very small, also charges Ni-HM etc.

[Richard Lowe]

And another BC6 vote here :)

[Spencer Mulcahy]

I have the trackpower charger and balancer very easy to use, I think you have to be carefull with the chargers that can do both as it easy to set it to the wrong setting (charge lipo on nimh setting) which is not good.

[Kecky]

BC6 here too, quality piece of kit :thumbsup:

[Fabs]

I've got the Orion advantage lipo edition and as far as i'm concerned it's been fine.

[Dhami1]

wow lots of bantam bc6 recommendations!!

i'll look into getting one... how much are these normally? not seen them in my shop.

anyone with a cellpro10s?

cheers
gurdeep

[jim76]

they are about £100-105.

microtech stock them, they are under the flight section on the website. best bit is they have optional boards to connect to just about any cell on the market and they only cost about £3 per board.

[Dhami1]

Do any of you with the bantam bc6 charger, charge two stick packs at the same time with a balance lead... can this be done? or is it better to do one at a time.

thanks

[Bungleaio]

I belive it may well be possible as the charger will go to 6s. I've not looked into it myself and some sort of custom balancing harness will be needed. If both pack had different charge levels then it would take a while to bring all 4 cells into alignment.

It could all end in tears though if you mixed different makes and mah ratings of cells.

To be honest mate I doubt its worth the hassle and risk, if you specifically want to charge 2 packs at once I would invest in an extra charger or the bantam BC8dx

[Dhami1]

yeah.. guess i will stick to charging one pack at a time. Do many of you charge with a balance harness? or do you only balance charge now and again? the reason i ask is, the charging instructions that come with my orion lipo says its not necessary to balance charge all the time.

cheers

p.s... whats the bc8 like.. what advantages does that have over the bc6?

[jim76]

i balance charge all the time on my BC6, only because once you have it set it charges that way all the time. It isn't necessary though. I know people who only balance every 10-12 charges or so. Some people never balance!

[Alfonzo]

Lipo Rocks :woot:

[Kecky]

I always balance charge, so never have to worry :D

[mark christopher]

yeah.. guess i will stick to charging one pack at a time. Do many of you charge with a balance harness? or do you only balance charge now and again? the reason i ask is, the charging instructions that come with my orion lipo says its not necessary to balance charge all the time.

cheers

p.s... whats the bc8 like.. what advantages does that have over the bc6?
i have bc6 and the bc8dx, both brilliant chargers

all the specs are here http://www.flighttech.co.uk/index.asp?page=Products/Chargers/Bantam/index.asp

[AndyF]

Would the bantam LP4 be any good? Seams to charge every thing and requires no user input.

[mark christopher]

if your happy to charge at 2.5 amps max, if your looking at that then go for trakpowers pit pro

[Dhami1]

thanks for all your help guys.. got my a bc6 charger and very happy with it. ;)

gurdy

[DaveG28]

How user definable is the charge rate on the BC6?

I have the trakpower charger at the moment, and my only concern with it is it only charges in 0.5A increments, so for example if I end up with a 4200 I charge at 4 or 4.5A!? Assuming it's not safe to charge most Lipo's (except trakpower) at over 1C but don't really want to charge at under 1C either! Or does under charging have zero effect??

[mark christopher]

bc6 is in .1 amps
4 or 4.5 will be fine, 4.5 is just a very small amount over 1c

[DaveG28]

Cheers for the info, what other advantages does the Bc6 have, did I read it's 12v or 240? Anything else?

[Dagger Thrasher]

It's best to stick with 4A in this case...don't go with 4.5 (sorry Mark Christopher). It's risky, and potentially dangerous to do with any pack with is only rated for a 1C charge (which is most of them). Charging below 1C doesn't have any detrimental effect on performance with LiPos, either; it'll just take a tad longer to charge.:)

[Bungleaio]

Cheers for the info, what other advantages does the Bc6 have, did I read it's 12v or 240? Anything else?

It's both. When it's being used from the mains the crocodile clips are live with 12v power. I've used these to power my tyre warmers and also the occasional soldering iron. The manual doesn't say it's suitable for this and it's at own risk but I've not had a problem over the past 6 months. I wouldn't try using it to run another charger!

[DaveG28]

What reasons would there be for getting this over the trakpower charger, anything other than more user definable charge rate and dual voltage input?

[mark christopher]

can also balance charge and discharge, also does other cell types

[mark christopher]

It's best to stick with 4A in this case...don't go with 4.5 (sorry Mark Christopher). It's risky, and potentially dangerous to do with any pack with is only rated for a 1C charge (which is most of them). Charging below 1C doesn't have any detrimental effect on performance with LiPos, either; it'll just take a tad longer to charge.:)

sorry but to charge a 4200 pack at 4.5 amps is around 1.07c
that will NOT cause problems or damage packs so both rate WILL be ok

[Dagger Thrasher]

To be fair, charging at 4.5A *probably* wouldn't represent a problem. And of course it depends on the quality of the pack used as well, but there's a reason why cell manufacturers have labels warning users not to charge at over 1C (excepting the latest, faster-charging cells). It'd most likely result in just a slight lifetime/capacity reduction if done repeatedly, but it's just not worth it to gain a slightly quicker charge (IMO). LiPos demand respect.

Anyway, this is going off-topic, and there's no point getting into an argument. The BC-6 is a fine charger, and is very flexible; you'll be able to charge Nickel cells and Pb batteries with it too, and has a range of other features. The ability to precisely set charge current is important, though.

[DaveG28]

Cheers guys, not worried about a slightly slower charge, just wondered if charging below 1C impacted the C rating of the cell etc!

This sounds like a top charger anyway!

[DaveG28]

Sorry guys more questions:

What do the separate balance boards actually do? For example why the board and not just the trakpower harness?

Also, am assuming balancing most saddle packs is done like TP one's with just a lead connecting to the link wire between cells?? If so would the TP harness let me balance other Lipo's? (am thinking of going LRP!)

[mark christopher]

the boeads allow other makes of cells to be balanced that have the small pliug for balancing, the trakpower harnes lets you do anything with the 2mm and 4mm plugs

[traffman]

Another BC6 purchase here !
Ordered today . The price is a little steep but considering what it does and the main point is that it can run off 12v and 240 .:)

[jono83]

where can i get one and and how much?

[traffman]

I bought mine from Microtech , 108.00 pounds.

[DaveG28]

Ordered mine the other day from Blink Helicopters!