Charger / Power Supply help...Please.

[Lemski]

How do I know what power supply will be needed for my charger? Is it all about wattage? Or ampage? I don't wanna buy a decent charger and it underperform because it's under powered!

Specs of charger are;

Input voltage range: 10~28.0VDC
Charging current range: channel 1/2 0.05~20.0A
Discharging current range: channel 1/2 0.05~20.0A
Maximum charge power capacity: 300W@input voltage >18V (Per Channel)
Maximum discharge power capacity: 20W
Maximum regenerative discharge power capacity: 300W
Maximum external discharge power capacity: 500W@25V/20A
Current drain for balancing: < 350mA
Balance accuracy: < 10mV
Lithium (LiPo/Lilo/Life) battery cell count: 1~6 series (In non-balance mode, Life cell count can be expanded to 8S)
NiCd/NiMH battery cell count: 1~17 series
Pb battery cell count: 1~12series (2~24V)
Battery setup memories: 10

[jcb]

I'm not exactly sure how to work out what power supply you need based on charger specs, but the sky rc rs16 has a dedicated power supply that's rated at 230w and 17amp. I suspect your input amp rating needs to be a certain amount higher than what you want to charge at but by how much I don't know.

Alternatively there are the excellent chargers from corally that enable you to use mains or 12v for input power. Some will also allow you to charge up to four packs or batteries at once.

[MiCk B.]

Hi,

You need to look at what watt (power) the charger can charge at.

From your specs:

Maximum charge power capacity: 300W@input voltage >18V (Per Channel)

Watt (w) = volts (v) x amps (a).

So if you are charging a 2s pack 8.4v at 300w, you would be charging at a rate of 300/8.4 = 35.7a

Or that is the max the charger could charge a 2s pack at.

The supply needed to charge at this rate, would need to supply 300w plus to the charger. Assume the supply is 12v.

So to give 300w the supply would need to give: 300/12 = 25a

So to charge at the max rate of the charger you would need a 25a (or greater to cover the losses in conversion) 12v supply.

That would be needed if you are going to use the charger at it's highest rate.

What would you be charging, ie what is the cell count (2s, 3s etc.) and what is the charge rate in amps you would like to charge at. Let me know and I can give you an idea of what supply you would need.

MiCk B. :-)