Schulze $700 chargers
11-09-2011, 11:02 AM
#31
The Cell Lab 8 is the best charger on the market right now. 1344 watts. It only cost about $279.00. They also have a Cell Lab 6 coming out soon that is 1000 watts and I believe under $200 bucks.
I have the Cell Lab 8 with a 24 volt power supply. I can charge some of my 6s packs from dead in less than 8 minutes. I am at the point now that charging at 5c seems slow. Best money I have spent in this hobby in a long time.
http://www.revolectrix.com/
The CellPro 10xp is also a great 10amp charger.
I have the Cell Lab 8 with a 24 volt power supply. I can charge some of my 6s packs from dead in less than 8 minutes. I am at the point now that charging at 5c seems slow. Best money I have spent in this hobby in a long time.
http://www.revolectrix.com/
The CellPro 10xp is also a great 10amp charger.
11-09-2011, 11:32 AM
#32
The smaller 10xp is a dual port charger. I think 20amps per side or maybe 10. Not sure. The Cell Lab 8 and Cell Lab 6 are not, but you can daisy chain and parallel charge multiple packs as long as they are the same cell count.
The packs charge so fast, I really haven't had a need to parallel charge multiple packs or required a dual port for a second battery.
The packs charge so fast, I really haven't had a need to parallel charge multiple packs or required a dual port for a second battery.
11-09-2011, 11:36 AM
#33
http://www.revolectrix.com/10xp_description_tab.htm
http://www.revolectrix.com/pl6_description_tab.htm
http://www.revolectrix.com/pl8_description_tab.htm
From cheapest to most expensive. For most folks, the 10XP is probably adequate but I think the Powerlab 6 is a good bargain. Most folks won't ever use the full potential of the Power Lab 8. I would have bought the PL6 had it been out earlier this year when I got my PL8.
http://www.revolectrix.com/pl6_description_tab.htm
http://www.revolectrix.com/pl8_description_tab.htm
From cheapest to most expensive. For most folks, the 10XP is probably adequate but I think the Powerlab 6 is a good bargain. Most folks won't ever use the full potential of the Power Lab 8. I would have bought the PL6 had it been out earlier this year when I got my PL8.
11-09-2011, 11:43 AM
#34
Maybe I'm missing the point, but my $40, 5a, AC/DC charger has the batteries fully charged for my races with plenty of time to spare too. I have 2 packs and have been racing 2 classes. Now I can see how 6s 8th scale and 2s 10th scale have different wattage needs, but when I have an hour or more between races, I don't really need to have them charged in 5 minutes. Even on practice days, its rare that the other battery is done any later than I'm done making tweaks to the car before the next run. Besides getting up and running with fully discharged packs at the beginning of a day, are there any other advantages I'm missing?
However, I will say I have spent more replacing three cheap chargers than I did buying my Power Lab 8. Had a cheaper Hyperion and a couple of iChargers. I also think the PL8 charging/balancing resolution is better than some of the cheaper chargers.
I just like knowing I can get charged and running in hardly no time. It makes my practice day go better as I am not waiting up to an hour to charge a pack. I literally run, spend 10 minutes tweaking and then can run again on the same pack. No need to lug 5 or 6 packs to the track anymore. It really does make electric plug and play instead plug, play and wait....
11-09-2011, 01:44 PM
#35
this thread inspired me to write this thread...
http://www.rctech.net/forum/electric...ould-know.html
hope this helps some of you.
for those of you who are running 7.4v and want to charge at about 5C, a 40AMP 13v power supply is good enough. However, if you are charing 6S 22v at 5 to 8C, then you will need like a 30 to 40V power supply and a charger who can consume those voltages.
http://www.rctech.net/forum/electric...ould-know.html
hope this helps some of you.
for those of you who are running 7.4v and want to charge at about 5C, a 40AMP 13v power supply is good enough. However, if you are charing 6S 22v at 5 to 8C, then you will need like a 30 to 40V power supply and a charger who can consume those voltages.
11-10-2011, 06:07 AM
#36
Tech Apprentice
I also have a Powerlab 8 with 2 x 47A 12v power supplies.
I don't really need that power for my 1/10 scale TC batteries but I do need it for my 550 Trex heli which uses 1 5000mAh 6s battery in about 6mins.
Aside from the power, the features and accuracy of the charger makes it stand out from my other chargers.
I don't really need that power for my 1/10 scale TC batteries but I do need it for my 550 Trex heli which uses 1 5000mAh 6s battery in about 6mins.
Aside from the power, the features and accuracy of the charger makes it stand out from my other chargers.
11-10-2011, 08:04 AM
#38
http://www.revolectrix.com/10xp_description_tab.htm
http://www.revolectrix.com/pl6_description_tab.htm
http://www.revolectrix.com/pl8_description_tab.htm
From cheapest to most expensive. For most folks, the 10XP is probably adequate but I think the Powerlab 6 is a good bargain. Most folks won't ever use the full potential of the Power Lab 8. I would have bought the PL6 had it been out earlier this year when I got my PL8.
http://www.revolectrix.com/pl6_description_tab.htm
http://www.revolectrix.com/pl8_description_tab.htm
From cheapest to most expensive. For most folks, the 10XP is probably adequate but I think the Powerlab 6 is a good bargain. Most folks won't ever use the full potential of the Power Lab 8. I would have bought the PL6 had it been out earlier this year when I got my PL8.
For Battery types: Lithium Polymer (1s to 6s balanced, 1s to 2s unbalanced), Lithium Ion (1s to 6s balanced, 1s to 2s unbalanced), Lithium Manganese (1s to 6s balanced, 1s to 2s unbalanced), A123 (LiFePO4) (1s to 6s balanced, 1s to 8s unbalanced), NiCd (1s to 19s), NiMH (1s to 19s), 6v, 12v, 24v Lead Acid batteries (Flooded, Gel, AGM, SLA)
Can it not charge 3s to 6s without being balanced?
11-10-2011, 09:12 AM
#39
My email to cell lab. If some one can answer.
Hi,
I am interested in the powerlab 8 charger. *However, i do have a few questions. *Can you answer the questions in details?
1) question on the description.
For Battery types:*Lithium Polymer (1s to 8s balanced, 1s to 2s unbalanced), Lithium Ion (1s to 8s balanced, 1s to 2s unbalanced), Lithium Manganese (1s to 8s balanced, 1s to 2s unbalanced), A123 (LiFePO4) (1s to 8s balanced, 1s to 10s unbalanced), NiCd (1s to 21s), NiMH (1s to 21s), 6v, 12v, 24v Lead Acid batteries (Flooded, Gel, AGM, SLA)
does this mean, you cannot charge 3s to 6s without being balanced? *if yes, why not?
2) for the combo package that chargers packs in parallel, how do you do that? *
3) I understand for parallel charge, the packs have to be the same cell count. *but do they need to be the same "mah"?
4) for parallel charging, do the batteries have to have similar charge? *Meaning, can one 2s have a charge of about 40% and the 2nd 2s have a charge of 80%?
5) for the polwerlab 8, do they have the regular bananna plugs to fit into the proteck 40AMP power supply?
Hi,
I am interested in the powerlab 8 charger. *However, i do have a few questions. *Can you answer the questions in details?
1) question on the description.
For Battery types:*Lithium Polymer (1s to 8s balanced, 1s to 2s unbalanced), Lithium Ion (1s to 8s balanced, 1s to 2s unbalanced), Lithium Manganese (1s to 8s balanced, 1s to 2s unbalanced), A123 (LiFePO4) (1s to 8s balanced, 1s to 10s unbalanced), NiCd (1s to 21s), NiMH (1s to 21s), 6v, 12v, 24v Lead Acid batteries (Flooded, Gel, AGM, SLA)
does this mean, you cannot charge 3s to 6s without being balanced? *if yes, why not?
2) for the combo package that chargers packs in parallel, how do you do that? *
3) I understand for parallel charge, the packs have to be the same cell count. *but do they need to be the same "mah"?
4) for parallel charging, do the batteries have to have similar charge? *Meaning, can one 2s have a charge of about 40% and the 2nd 2s have a charge of 80%?
5) for the polwerlab 8, do they have the regular bananna plugs to fit into the proteck 40AMP power supply?
11-10-2011, 11:23 AM
#40
Tech Apprentice
My email to cell lab. If some one can answer.
Hi,
I am interested in the powerlab 8 charger. *However, i do have a few questions. *Can you answer the questions in details?
1) question on the description.
For Battery types:*Lithium Polymer (1s to 8s balanced, 1s to 2s unbalanced), Lithium Ion (1s to 8s balanced, 1s to 2s unbalanced), Lithium Manganese (1s to 8s balanced, 1s to 2s unbalanced), A123 (LiFePO4) (1s to 8s balanced, 1s to 10s unbalanced), NiCd (1s to 21s), NiMH (1s to 21s), 6v, 12v, 24v Lead Acid batteries (Flooded, Gel, AGM, SLA)
does this mean, you cannot charge 3s to 6s without being balanced? *if yes, why not?
2) for the combo package that chargers packs in parallel, how do you do that? *
3) I understand for parallel charge, the packs have to be the same cell count. *but do they need to be the same "mah"?
4) for parallel charging, do the batteries have to have similar charge? *Meaning, can one 2s have a charge of about 40% and the 2nd 2s have a charge of 80%?
5) for the polwerlab 8, do they have the regular bananna plugs to fit into the proteck 40AMP power supply?
Hi,
I am interested in the powerlab 8 charger. *However, i do have a few questions. *Can you answer the questions in details?
1) question on the description.
For Battery types:*Lithium Polymer (1s to 8s balanced, 1s to 2s unbalanced), Lithium Ion (1s to 8s balanced, 1s to 2s unbalanced), Lithium Manganese (1s to 8s balanced, 1s to 2s unbalanced), A123 (LiFePO4) (1s to 8s balanced, 1s to 10s unbalanced), NiCd (1s to 21s), NiMH (1s to 21s), 6v, 12v, 24v Lead Acid batteries (Flooded, Gel, AGM, SLA)
does this mean, you cannot charge 3s to 6s without being balanced? *if yes, why not?
2) for the combo package that chargers packs in parallel, how do you do that? *
3) I understand for parallel charge, the packs have to be the same cell count. *but do they need to be the same "mah"?
4) for parallel charging, do the batteries have to have similar charge? *Meaning, can one 2s have a charge of about 40% and the 2nd 2s have a charge of 80%?
5) for the polwerlab 8, do they have the regular bananna plugs to fit into the proteck 40AMP power supply?
2) I don't quite understand the question.
3) No they do not.
4) It is better to be close to the same voltage but not necessary. In any case powerlab's safe parallel adapters prevent any overcurrent between cells.
5) No, they come with battery clamps. 4mm banana plugs can be marginal for a charger that can draw up to 60A from the power supply. If you want you can disassemble the clamps and use the ring type terminals already installed. This does not mean you can't cut the input wires and use a different connector (I use EC5 connectors).
11-10-2011, 11:43 AM
#41
1) Yes, it is a safety issue.
2) I don't quite understand the question.
3) No they do not.
4) It is better to be close to the same voltage but not necessary. In any case powerlab's safe parallel adapters prevent any overcurrent between cells.
5) No, they come with battery clamps. 4mm banana plugs can be marginal for a charger that can draw up to 60A from the power supply. If you want you can disassemble the clamps and use the ring type terminals already installed. This does not mean you can't cut the input wires and use a different connector (I use EC5 connectors).
2) I don't quite understand the question.
3) No they do not.
4) It is better to be close to the same voltage but not necessary. In any case powerlab's safe parallel adapters prevent any overcurrent between cells.
5) No, they come with battery clamps. 4mm banana plugs can be marginal for a charger that can draw up to 60A from the power supply. If you want you can disassemble the clamps and use the ring type terminals already installed. This does not mean you can't cut the input wires and use a different connector (I use EC5 connectors).
5) what's the EC5 connectors? Can you elaborate on "If you want you can disassemble the clamps and use the ring type terminals already installed"? Or what's the next best way to connect the charger to the power supply without using battery clips. Battery clips doesn't seem to be the saftest way to connect to my proteck 40amp power supply. the power leads are close together. bulky clips can possibly touch.
other question is for the balancing charging. I hear instead of discharging a cell during balance like other chargers, it uses the balance ports to help speed up charge. How good does this charger use this feature? Like other chargers, after getting close to a full charge, it signification reduces the current charge to top off the lipo. Is this the case with this charger? If is set for a 60amp charge, will it charge 60amp until lipo is full? or does the current goes down like the other chargers?
thanks for you answers.
11-10-2011, 12:31 PM
#42
Tech Apprentice
2) The best way to explain it is in the charger's manual. Download it and the answers are there.
5) These are the EC5 connectors
http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...odID=EFLAEC503
Also in this document you will find the ring terminals. You can use them to connect to you power supply.
http://revolectrix.fmadirect.com/sup.../item_1371.pdf
Powerlab's clips are plastic covered and can't touch.
The PL8 bleeds current through the balance port like all the other chargers. The difference is that it balances throughout the charge and not just in the end and that it has 1000mA current bleed capability which is a lot more than other chargers. This results in faster balancing.
Charging lipo batteries is done using CC/CV which means constant current initially and constant voltage in the end of the charge. This is the same for all chargers including the powerlab 8.
You will find a lot of info on the powerlab 8 in this thread.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1176112
The designers of the charger monitor this thread and answer any questions.
5) These are the EC5 connectors
http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...odID=EFLAEC503
Also in this document you will find the ring terminals. You can use them to connect to you power supply.
http://revolectrix.fmadirect.com/sup.../item_1371.pdf
Powerlab's clips are plastic covered and can't touch.
The PL8 bleeds current through the balance port like all the other chargers. The difference is that it balances throughout the charge and not just in the end and that it has 1000mA current bleed capability which is a lot more than other chargers. This results in faster balancing.
Charging lipo batteries is done using CC/CV which means constant current initially and constant voltage in the end of the charge. This is the same for all chargers including the powerlab 8.
You will find a lot of info on the powerlab 8 in this thread.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1176112
The designers of the charger monitor this thread and answer any questions.
11-10-2011, 05:33 PM
#43
Thanks for the info. Very informative!
2) The best way to explain it is in the charger's manual. Download it and the answers are there.
5) These are the EC5 connectors
http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...odID=EFLAEC503
Also in this document you will find the ring terminals. You can use them to connect to you power supply.
http://revolectrix.fmadirect.com/sup.../item_1371.pdf
Powerlab's clips are plastic covered and can't touch.
The PL8 bleeds current through the balance port like all the other chargers. The difference is that it balances throughout the charge and not just in the end and that it has 1000mA current bleed capability which is a lot more than other chargers. This results in faster balancing.
Charging lipo batteries is done using CC/CV which means constant current initially and constant voltage in the end of the charge. This is the same for all chargers including the powerlab 8.
You will find a lot of info on the powerlab 8 in this thread.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1176112
The designers of the charger monitor this thread and answer any questions.
5) These are the EC5 connectors
http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...odID=EFLAEC503
Also in this document you will find the ring terminals. You can use them to connect to you power supply.
http://revolectrix.fmadirect.com/sup.../item_1371.pdf
Powerlab's clips are plastic covered and can't touch.
The PL8 bleeds current through the balance port like all the other chargers. The difference is that it balances throughout the charge and not just in the end and that it has 1000mA current bleed capability which is a lot more than other chargers. This results in faster balancing.
Charging lipo batteries is done using CC/CV which means constant current initially and constant voltage in the end of the charge. This is the same for all chargers including the powerlab 8.
You will find a lot of info on the powerlab 8 in this thread.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1176112
The designers of the charger monitor this thread and answer any questions.
11-13-2011, 07:57 PM
#44
The Cell Lab 8 is the best charger on the market right now. 1344 watts. It only cost about $279.00. They also have a Cell Lab 6 coming out soon that is 1000 watts and I believe under $200 bucks.
I have the Cell Lab 8 with a 24 volt power supply. I can charge some of my 6s packs from dead in less than 8 minutes. I am at the point now that charging at 5c seems slow. Best money I have spent in this hobby in a long time.
http://www.revolectrix.com/
The CellPro 10xp is also a great 10amp charger.
I have the Cell Lab 8 with a 24 volt power supply. I can charge some of my 6s packs from dead in less than 8 minutes. I am at the point now that charging at 5c seems slow. Best money I have spent in this hobby in a long time.
http://www.revolectrix.com/
The CellPro 10xp is also a great 10amp charger.
Now I need to figure out how to create a station where all parts are together, yet portable.
11-15-2011, 02:16 PM
#45
I have a 6s 2650 pack for my 1/8 buggy that is rated for 10c. I charge that puppy at 26amps all the time with no issues.