all18th

iTrader: (4)

as of right now i only have a onyx 230 i will be charging mostly 2s lipo
im looking to upgrade i have read about all the new high end super charger like
the thunder power tp-802cd and the power lab 8 and the icharge 306b
now they sound awsome but i do most of my charging at home witch is a
RV at the moment and i dont wanna over draw my electrical system with a
massive charger. i will be useing one of the 12v 47 amp PSU
sold here

http://www.rctech.net/forum/r-c-item...-supplies.html

i want something kinda simple and easy to use i will be getting 4-8 turnigy
2s 5000 mah lipos here soon witch charger should i go for ?
i see many ppl talking about useing the power lab 8 and parallel charger many lipos could i charge all 4 or 8 of my 2s at once at 1c and not over draw my RV
electrical system ? the wireing and balancing adapter mess seems confusing
and not sure what type of balance plug the turnigy come with.
my RV is also pluged into a 30amp breaking from a house not sure what diffrence that makes. any advice would be great

Duster_360

iTrader: (21)

Turnigy lipos use the JST-XH (also called Align type) of balancing plug.

Unless you're buying 2 of those PC server supplies to wire together in series for 24v, you will not power any of the chargers you listed to full power. The iCharger and PL8 will run at half power on 12v and I'm not sure what the new TP 820CD will run at since it is listed as needing 27v to develop full power. Details are still emerging on that charger.

For charging in parallel, the lipos have to be the same cell count and should be the same C rating and close in cycle history and voltage when hooked together. Yours will meet that requirement assuming you bought all 8 of the same lipo. I don't know of anyone making parallel wiring/balancing harnesses for parallel charging more than 6 lipos at one time, so thats a limiting factor you'll prob have to live with or build your own.

Six of those lipos in parallel at 1C will require 30amps and 252watts of charger output power. That's doable with the single 500watt supply you linked, but would push your house wiring, prob tripping a breaker since you'll prob have other appliances running when you're charging. Its prob more practical to plan on charging 4 lipos at once using only 20amps and 168watts. Thats should be compatible with the 30amp service unless some big electrical appliance like AC kicks on while you're charging. You really don't want the breaker tripping while charging, that could put the electronics in these chargers at risk. Wtih the 30a service limitation, I don't see any reason to spend the extra money for something like a PL8 at $240 (cables and attachments not included) versus a iCharger 306b for $195. If your electrical arrangements will change in the future and you add the 2nd PS, then any of them would be great chargers with the PL8 having athe highest charge rate and charger output power.

If you're going to parallel charge, the TP 820CD is prob not one you'd seriously consider, being its a true dual charge with a 20am limit in each port. The Paraboard parallel charging accessory eliminates most of the parallel wiring mess and makes it plug and charge.

all18th

iTrader: (4)

thanks for the reply ! as of right now with my onyx 230 it takes me about 55-60 mins to fully charge my 5000mah 2s one at a time if i got with the icharge 306b
and the PSU i linked how many 2s1p lipos should i be able to charge at a time parallel ?

im used to 60 min per batt so anything faster is better. i was looking into the
hyperion duo3 but from my reading it seems limited in power compaired to the others hoping in the future i have more power available i dont wanna be that limited with my charger. im thinking the 306b is a good middle ground

Lason

iTrader: (1)

A typical 120v house outlet with a 15 amp breaker is good for 1800 watts isnt it? 3600 watts if you consider the 30 amp breaker in your example. Two 12v 47a PS's in series pulls 1128 watts at full advertised power so assuming he isnt running anything that pulls alot of amps and the wiring in his RV can handle it, he shouldnt have an issue I would think.

Duster_360

iTrader: (21)

The only thing that will reduce charge time is increasing charge rate - charging at 2C, or 3C instead of 1C. The prob with parallel charging is the lipos in parallel become a big lipo real quick. Effectively, 6 5000mah lipos in parallel becomes a 30,000mah lipo. So a 1C charge would take 30amps and a 2C charge would require 60amps, a 5C (if the lipos permitted charging at 5C) would take 150amps.

It looks like I was stuck in DC land when I worried that your breaker would trip charging at 30amps. As pointed out below, it really shouldn't be a prob, even running full power on a 306b. My bad, sorry about any confusion. I have a 3010b iCharger (only diff in mine and 306B is 10S capability of the 3010b vs the 6S capability of the 306b) and I've run mine parallel charging two 4S 5000mah lipos at 3C (30amps) at 504watts on a 15amp household circuit with no probs. Don't know what I was thinking about....

With a 306b, the max charge rate of 30amps is going to be the limiting factor. With your 12v PS and its 564watts, you'll be able to parallel charge six 2S 5000mah lipos at 1C using 30amps max charge rate (30,000mah equiv lipo) with only 252watts from the charger. Again, the limit is the charger's max charge rate, not the power in this case since these are only 2S lipos. PowerLab 8 would do a little better here due to its 40amp max charge rate, charging the same 6 in parallel at 1.3C. At 1C, this parallel charge will still take about an hour. At 1.3C, it would reduce charging time maybe 15min.

Thanks for setting that straight, my bad....

all18th

iTrader: (4)

so to get my charge time down i would have to charge only lets say 2 at once
and charge at 2c 10 amp ? or 3 at 30 amps etc etc so im mostly limited
to 4 at 40amps if i wanted 2c rates and i got the power lab8 .

Lason

iTrader: (1)

If you have that many packs then I suggest getting a dual station type charger like a Hyperion Duo 3 and charging 2 at a time. You said the 0615 duo 3 isnt powerful enough but they are about to come out with a 0720i super duo 3 and each side is capable of 500W assuming your power supply can keep up.

I was in the same boat as you and wanted the biggest baddest charger so I can charge a pack in the blink of an eye but think I will go with the Hyperion 0720i duo 3. It should be able to charge 2 5000mah 2s packs at 5c in around 10 minutes assuming your packs can handle 5c charging. Hyperion has a real good track record so that is the main reason Im waiting.

Duster_360

iTrader: (21)

The C rate applies to the 'effective' battery you create when you hook them in parallel. Charging two 2S 5000mah lipos at once in parallel is the same as charging a 2S 10,000mah lipo. At 1C, the charge rate for this 10,000mah (effective) lipo is 10amps, (10000/1000 = 10amps), at 2C it's 20amps, 3C its 30amps.

Most of HobbyKings lipos are 2C rated for charging and that's what you go by - what the manufacturer recommends for charging. Unless you buy lipos with a higher C rating, all you'll be able to do with ordinary Turnigys is 2C.

So with a 30amp charger, your could charge six in parallel at 1C or three in parallel at 2C. A 40amp charger would let you charge 6 in parallel at 1.3C and four in parallel at 2C. The extra money for a PL8 will buy the diff in charging 3 5000mah 2S lipos in parallel at 2C and 4 in parallel at 2C.

all18th

iTrader: (4)

2 x 2s 5000mah = 10,000mah at 2c 20 amps what would be the estimated time it would take ? also just throwing this out there i have been looking into LIFE
packs would this make a significant difference in the charger i get ?

Duster_360

iTrader: (21)

Lipo charging is a 2 step process, CC/CV - 2C charging cuts the Constant Current (CC) part in half, but the CV (Constant Voltage) part is not reduced that much and it takes the longer time of the two to complete. Charge time will be cut by less than half, reducing an hour charge time to around 35-40min. Time is also affected by how discharged the lipo is when it's charged.

LiFe uses the same kind of charge protocol so in that regard they are a lot like lipo. They have less voltage, they seem to require a breakin period where discharge and charge rates are limited. The LiFe I use as a rcvr battery is 2C capable. As far as a charger, if you're looking at the same 4 - 8 of them, the charger requirements won't really change. But you have to have the same type of battery construction as lipo. LiFe may not be always be 2S1P, but 2S2P and I'm not sure you could parallel charge that 'mixed' construction.

gulio

iTrader: (32)

It would be good to use the rv battery and forget about spending for a ps.

Depending upon how the rv is set up it may have potential to run lots of power and still stay charged from the ac plug-in you already have.

all18th

iTrader: (4)

well sounds like ill stick with lipo i read a few house fire stories and was like hmmm maybe life !!! but nah i wanna keep it simple just 2s1p 5k lipos
im now thinking its either the 306b or the PL8 i coulda swore i read somewhere that they released a software update to the 306b and it could do 40amps now but i cant find where i read that ....

Duster_360

iTrader: (21)

This is the iCharger thread - the manufacturing rep is very active on here and there has been no mention of 40amp upgrade for either the 3010b or the 306b....


http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=839657

all18th

iTrader: (4)

that is worth looking into ! never even thought about it

of course i would still be limited to 12v correct ?

Duster_360

iTrader: (21)

That battery may have a little higher voltage, but you're still basically limited to 12v.