131LikesToolkitRC M8D Charger
09-18-2024 | 03:45 PM
#46
RC discharger says you need to use 10awg charging cables when doing 40A, so I'd try to get something in that gauge. This one only does 30A in recycle mode, but probably not a bad idea anyway.
This charger looks cool, but I've been doing 40A with my iCharger, so kinda hard to justify going back to 30A. Glad they included a recycle function though!
This charger looks cool, but I've been doing 40A with my iCharger, so kinda hard to justify going back to 30A. Glad they included a recycle function though!
09-18-2024 | 04:09 PM
#47
Tech Lord
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 14,052
From: Holland
RC discharger says you need to use 10awg charging cables when doing 40A, so I'd try to get something in that gauge. This one only does 30A in recycle mode, but probably not a bad idea anyway.
This charger looks cool, but I've been doing 40A with my iCharger, so kinda hard to justify going back to 30A. Glad they included a recycle function though!
This charger looks cool, but I've been doing 40A with my iCharger, so kinda hard to justify going back to 30A. Glad they included a recycle function though!
10-03-2024 | 01:35 PM
#50
Tech Master
iTrader: (52)
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 1,455
From: Spokane, WA
Just wanted to come back to this thread to say my M8D charger has been awesome so far. The interface is much easier than the iCharger's. No issues running both channels simultaneously at 30-amp charge or 30-amp regenerative discharge. Only complaints are:
1. Screen resolution/refresh rate isn't that great - This can make precise settings via touchscreen cumbersome - you'll want to use the scroll wheel. Regular tasks, like selecting a charge profile or starting a charge is not issue via touchscreen.
2. Voice prompts are annoying.
UPDATE to below statement. This charger DOES in fact offer a DC out option up to 30 volts.
I was about to pull the trigger on an iCharger DX6 but ended up going to the M8D due it being half the price. The only feature from the DX6 that I'd like to have on the M8D is the power supply function. It would be great to be able to plug my 24-volt soldering iron into the charger output instead of using a boost converter off the 12-volt supply.
If you look around AliExpress, you can find M8D's for under $80 delivered to your door.
We have a group of five people that will be plugging in multiple chargers to a single 100Ah LiFePO4 battery. I believe between us, we'll have three M8D's, two X6's and maybe a 308 or 406 DUO. I tested the setup at home with my 406DUO and M8D. No issues doing a combined 140 amps charging nor regenerative discharging with all four charger channels fully loaded with 1s batteries (we race 1/12th scale). We have the luxury of our own static pit spots, so we can leave the 12 volt battery on-site, but even if I had to lug it, it's only about 25 LBS. I paid about $160 for it, which is getting down close to the least expensive 2-pack of 4s 10,000mAh LiPo's I saw on Amazon and the big battery is 5x the capacity. The big battery also has the advantage of having a built-in battery management system, so no need to worry about balancing cells. Just for reference, charging the four ~7,500mAh 1s packs from 3.2 volts to full charge consumed 4% of the available capacity of the 100Ah LiFePO4. Simple math says we can charge more than 40 1s batteries from dead to full charge on a single charge of the LiFePO4 battery. We'll keep the big battery topped off with a small Hota 200-watt AC-powered charger that can run simultaneously during any charge or discharge cycles.
1. Screen resolution/refresh rate isn't that great - This can make precise settings via touchscreen cumbersome - you'll want to use the scroll wheel. Regular tasks, like selecting a charge profile or starting a charge is not issue via touchscreen.
2. Voice prompts are annoying.
UPDATE to below statement. This charger DOES in fact offer a DC out option up to 30 volts.
I was about to pull the trigger on an iCharger DX6 but ended up going to the M8D due it being half the price. The only feature from the DX6 that I'd like to have on the M8D is the power supply function. It would be great to be able to plug my 24-volt soldering iron into the charger output instead of using a boost converter off the 12-volt supply.
If you look around AliExpress, you can find M8D's for under $80 delivered to your door.
thats 100% of every thread on this forum unfortunately. Thats why I don’t frequent here too often anymore.
……as for the charger its great and easy to use. I used a 6S 6000 pack to power it yesterday. Fully charged the pack is a 25.2V I charged two 6300 packs at 20amps from storage voltage to 8.7 for practice. Monitored ir’s during the charge to see what they are at before a second charge after discharging. The interface is simple and easy to use so selecting the regenerative discharge function was cake. I discharged at 20amps down to 3.6 per cell. The Voltage of the 6S pack increased as the 6300 was being discharged. Simple process and very straightforward. Now the only concern I had was the 6S pack. I personally don’t discharge a pack down past 3.5 per cell so for the 6S that 21.0V and monitoring its voltage which is displayed on the screen i was near that and didn’t want to take it below a safe voltage so I removed it and placed the normal power cable on and connected to my power supply. I finished the day charging one my M8D but discharging on my Muchmore charger. I don’t know what capacity pack should be used for powering the charger but the actual features of this unit are nice. Especially at the price point. I lucked out getting it during a Labor Day sale. I hear that there’s a regenerative bank soon to be released for this similar to the icharger bank.
……as for the charger its great and easy to use. I used a 6S 6000 pack to power it yesterday. Fully charged the pack is a 25.2V I charged two 6300 packs at 20amps from storage voltage to 8.7 for practice. Monitored ir’s during the charge to see what they are at before a second charge after discharging. The interface is simple and easy to use so selecting the regenerative discharge function was cake. I discharged at 20amps down to 3.6 per cell. The Voltage of the 6S pack increased as the 6300 was being discharged. Simple process and very straightforward. Now the only concern I had was the 6S pack. I personally don’t discharge a pack down past 3.5 per cell so for the 6S that 21.0V and monitoring its voltage which is displayed on the screen i was near that and didn’t want to take it below a safe voltage so I removed it and placed the normal power cable on and connected to my power supply. I finished the day charging one my M8D but discharging on my Muchmore charger. I don’t know what capacity pack should be used for powering the charger but the actual features of this unit are nice. Especially at the price point. I lucked out getting it during a Labor Day sale. I hear that there’s a regenerative bank soon to be released for this similar to the icharger bank.
Last edited by biz77; 11-12-2024 at 02:06 PM.
10-03-2024 | 02:28 PM
#51
RC discharger says you need to use 10awg charging cables when doing 40A, so I'd try to get something in that gauge. This one only does 30A in recycle mode, but probably not a bad idea anyway.
This charger looks cool, but I've been doing 40A with my iCharger, so kinda hard to justify going back to 30A. Glad they included a recycle function though!
This charger looks cool, but I've been doing 40A with my iCharger, so kinda hard to justify going back to 30A. Glad they included a recycle function though!
10-03-2024 | 06:13 PM
#52
Just wanted to come back to this thread to say my M8D charger has been awesome so far. The interface is much easier than the iCharger's. No issues running both channels simultaneously at 30-amp charge or 30-amp regenerative discharge. Only complaints are:
1. Screen resolution/refresh rate isn't that great - This can make precise settings via touchscreen cumbersome - you'll want to use the scroll wheel. Regular tasks, like selecting a charge profile or starting a charge is not issue via touchscreen.
2. Voice prompts are annoying.
I was about to pull the trigger on an iCharger DX6 but ended up going to the M8D due it being half the price. The only feature from the DX6 that I'd like to have on the M8D is the power supply function. It would be great to be able to plug my 24-volt soldering iron into the charger output instead of using a boost converter off the 12-volt supply.
If you look around AliExpress, you can find M8D's for under $80 delivered to your door.
We have a group of five people that will be plugging in multiple chargers to a single 100Ah LiFePO4 battery. I believe between us, we'll have three M8D's, two X6's and maybe a 308 or 406 DUO. I tested the setup at home with my 406DUO and M8D. No issues doing a combined 140 amps charging nor regenerative discharging with all four charger channels fully loaded with 1s batteries (we race 1/12th scale). We have the luxury of our own static pit spots, so we can leave the 12 volt battery on-site, but even if I had to lug it, it's only about 25 LBS. I paid about $160 for it, which is getting down close to the least expensive 2-pack of 4s 10,000mAh LiPo's I saw on Amazon and the big battery is 5x the capacity. The big battery also has the advantage of having a built-in battery management system, so no need to worry about balancing cells. Just for reference, charging the four ~7,500mAh 1s packs from 3.2 volts to full charge consumed 4% of the available capacity of the 100Ah LiFePO4. Simple math says we can charge more than 40 1s batteries from dead to full charge on a single charge of the LiFePO4 battery. We'll keep the big battery topped off with a small Hota 200-watt AC-powered charger that can run simultaneously during any charge or discharge cycles.
1. Screen resolution/refresh rate isn't that great - This can make precise settings via touchscreen cumbersome - you'll want to use the scroll wheel. Regular tasks, like selecting a charge profile or starting a charge is not issue via touchscreen.
2. Voice prompts are annoying.
I was about to pull the trigger on an iCharger DX6 but ended up going to the M8D due it being half the price. The only feature from the DX6 that I'd like to have on the M8D is the power supply function. It would be great to be able to plug my 24-volt soldering iron into the charger output instead of using a boost converter off the 12-volt supply.
If you look around AliExpress, you can find M8D's for under $80 delivered to your door.
We have a group of five people that will be plugging in multiple chargers to a single 100Ah LiFePO4 battery. I believe between us, we'll have three M8D's, two X6's and maybe a 308 or 406 DUO. I tested the setup at home with my 406DUO and M8D. No issues doing a combined 140 amps charging nor regenerative discharging with all four charger channels fully loaded with 1s batteries (we race 1/12th scale). We have the luxury of our own static pit spots, so we can leave the 12 volt battery on-site, but even if I had to lug it, it's only about 25 LBS. I paid about $160 for it, which is getting down close to the least expensive 2-pack of 4s 10,000mAh LiPo's I saw on Amazon and the big battery is 5x the capacity. The big battery also has the advantage of having a built-in battery management system, so no need to worry about balancing cells. Just for reference, charging the four ~7,500mAh 1s packs from 3.2 volts to full charge consumed 4% of the available capacity of the 100Ah LiFePO4. Simple math says we can charge more than 40 1s batteries from dead to full charge on a single charge of the LiFePO4 battery. We'll keep the big battery topped off with a small Hota 200-watt AC-powered charger that can run simultaneously during any charge or discharge cycles.
10-04-2024 | 07:42 PM
#55
10-07-2024 | 11:33 AM
#59
Tech Fanatic
iTrader: (36)
Joined: Apr 2018
Posts: 954
From: Los Angeles
I just ordered this charger for $73 shipped + tax from aliexpress. Seems like a crazy deal at this price. Lets see how it compares to all my ichargers. This would 100% be an icharger killer if it could discharge on the second channel into a resistor bank but since it cant seems like ichargers will stay in business.
10-18-2024 | 09:26 AM
#60
Tech Regular
iTrader: (10)
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 471
From: Wyoming
Thinking of purchasing this charger, has a lot of great features and seems that those who have it really like it. I wonder if you could use the RC Discharger system with this charger for the recycle discharge function? May not be possible, but just a thought.
Patrick
Patrick