Is 10A really enough
 

Is 10A charging output enough

and go

Enough for what? Over here most tracks and racing series nowadays have a limit of 12A - not all that much higher. IMO 10A is enough for most people.

If you're racing with folks who do the whole 40A+ thing and believe you're a good enough driver (being marshaled just once will cost you way more than you will ever gain by high amp charging) that it truly matters and are willing to replace your batteries accordingly, then no.

Fast charging kills batteries fast.

10A for an 8000mAh battery is just slight more than 1C, what fast charging??????

Maybe they meant that going more than 10A is bad, so 10 is enough?

10A is the legal limit where I race, so yeah definitely "enough".

It depends on what enough means. 10amp is is enough to go racing and be usable sure. But am I personally ok with only having 10amp is of power then the answer is no. I personally use a icharger 458 with a 24 volt power supply. The reason I have this charger is because I like charging at 45amps and I like have 1500+watts of available power. No it’s not necessarily but I like it.

it’s like saying is my 200hp civic enough. Sure it enough for basic commuting but I sure as hell won’t like it or enjoy it.

Yes. It's actually a bit too much. Lipo batteries like 1 to 1.5C charge rate. They're not NIMH batteries where you can charge at a billion amps to get a bit more punch.

There is another reason why we have limited charging currents. It is to keep the mains fuse alive. Most normal clubs have a 35A fuse on the incoming 230v, that is 8000w. If you have a race with 100 drivers and everyone is charging at 40A (+/- 350 watt) then only 20 people can charge batteries before the fuse gets critical.

lipo’s can charge much much faster than 1c with out any problems. Now a days more of the fast stock 17.5 racers cycle the batteries at 40-45 amps. Even the basic 18650 and 21700 lithium ion cells in my tesla charge at over 3c on the super chargers and these basic 18650 cells can’t charge close to as fast as rc lipo’s. I generally charge at 15-20 amps when I’m not in a rush. But many time I just charge at 45 amps.

absolutely if this is an issue then require everyone to charge at a much slower rate. I generally don’t run into this issue. Any where I go or if I’m at home.

balance current will be far more important, I charge my packs at 20A with average charge time of 10-15 min, when a pack takes longer than 15 min to charge, the IR is fading at that point and it's time to replace the battery, more info here:

• Which charger is the best?

Balance current is irrelevant if your cells are closely matched. It only matters if the charger detects a voltage mismatch.

Bad practice, reduces total mAh capacity, and kills the longevity of the lipo. Also, that risks a fire. Don't do it.

Balance current is key, it will significantly improve charge times for a degrading pack that would otherwise need to be replaced far too soon with a charger with a poor balance current rating.

I once had a low quality charger that didn't provide any balance current rating and my battery took close to 45 min to charge at 10A and a buddy at the track put the battery on his iCharger to test the IR for me and showed how the IR was a little high but not bad and he charged it in 15 min at 10A and that's when I was convinced that balance current was the most important thing that mattered. I bought an iCharger the next day and never looked back at any of the budget chargers ever again ;)

Ehhhh. Yes and no. It will be enough to charge one pack between 1-2C depending on your battery size. TBH I only see a small improvement once Athena electronics get warmed up after one track practice session that usually takes the battery to around 8.0v.

I charge my 6400mah battery at 18amps. IR and total capacity seems to be starting to fall. I will probably start charging at 10 amps to extend the battery life. My budget isn’t ready for a new battery yet

If my packs are degraded to the point that the charger needs to spend a noticeable amount of time balancing them, they're already due for replacement.

Agreed for a racer in a spec class, but all that matters in a mod class is making a full 10 min main... an aged pack with IR that is increasing can "limp along" with a higher quality charger for an extra 4-8 weeks which can significantly reduce long term expenses.


Too many people buy the cheap charger without any concern for the balance current and will replace their batteries sooner than they could with a higher quality charger which can save them a lot of money over time ;)

I charge at 6.5amps just to attempt to keep batt life.
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Is a 10 minute main normal for mod?

At least not in 1/0th scale. Not sure how long 1/8the scale eBuggy runs though..

It really depends on the club, I recently raced at the ROCCK in Knoxville and they do 7 min quals and 7 min mains, most clubs do 5 min quals and 8 min mains, depending on turn out they will do 10 min mains and most big race events will do 10 min mains. Just to clarify I only race 1/8 electric these days as the 1/10 program in my area is non existent.

Long mains for mod are welcome. Properly picked and sized motors, low motor timing, correct boost and turbo, equals low heat. High efficiency.

Long mains for overloaded BS slow stock motors on blinky are terrible. Geared to the moon with too much timing. Motors simply get too hot. Any way you cut it, 13.5 is the bare minimum to move an ST or Wheeler. I get why we need slow. But Long mains or practice sessions are not for them.