New to Charging Lipo's
 

Hey everyone,

I just picked up my first set of Lipos and was wondering if you could verify my thoughts. Here is what I have:
(4) Turnigy 5000mAh 2S 20C
Triton EQ AC/DC Charger

From what I have read in these and other forums it seems to me that I could charge 2 or 3 of my batteries at one time if they were wired in a series to the charger since this charger is capable of charging up to a 6S lipo. Is this correct?

If this is correct and I wanted to charge 2 batteries at once I would essentially be telling the charger it is charging a 4S 5000Mah lipo?

Thanks for your help!

That sounds about right.. but you better make sure to balance them on every charge. You are not going to save any time this way... just more to hook up. You would be better off getting a second charger...

Jerome :tire::tire:

The specs on your charger shows its only a 50watt output charger. You'll be current limited trying to charge a 4S equivalent lipo. You'll only be able to charge at about 3.4amps. (50watts/14.8v = 3.38amps). It'll work, just takes longer.

The hassle with putting lipos together to charge is the balancing side of this. You have to series the balance connection so the charger sees all 4 cells before it'll balance correctly. There are chargers that offer this capability on a plug in basis, but they're expensive.

If you're doing this to save time, the 50watt limit messes that up. If you're doing this to have 2 lipos that have identical charges to run them as a pr, balancing while charging is the best way to go if you can wire that to make it happen.

I appreciate your responses. I guess I was doing this mostly to save time since I am running an e-revo and need 2 batteries per run. It sounds like I would either be better off getting 2 chargers (I was looking at the Duratrax Onyx 230) or a charger that puts out more watts. Is this correct?

Yes, that would be the cheapest route. A charger capable of doing what you want from what I've seen, I don't have a need for one so I haven't shopped around much, is well into the $200 range.

Prob with the Onyx 230 - has no builtin balancer so you'd need separate balancers and more wiring.

Hyperion makes a charger thats designed for charging 2 lipos at once - its basically 2 separate chargers built in one case - two sets of main charging leads and two individual balance ports. Its powerful (360watts, 180watts for each side) and expensive.

There is another charger thats been out a while thats basically just a powerful charger (350watts), A-Main sells them - Protek iCharger 208B. Some one else is building them, can't remember who offhand, but supposed to be a good charger, plenty of features and can do all chemistries. What makes it unique is the balance board - it has multiple, same size cell count balance taps and you just wire a pr of lipos together using a series connector on the main power wires and then plug in both balance connections into the balance board, set it up and charge. No additional wiring, no worries about frying a lipo if you've got balance connections wired wrong (you can short them thru the balance wiring this way if its not wired correctly).

Unfortunately this is not cheap, but its half what the Hyperion costs. The other approach as you've mentioned is to but two chargers. You can get a pr of Accucel 6 chargers and a power supply for around $135 or so shipped from HC (using their slow shipping).

I have a Flux and use a pair of Hyperion 0610iNet chargers (~$300) so I can charge two lipos at once to save time and optimize lipo performance - chargers lionk together and charge two 2S as a linked 4S and balance all 4 cells the same.

Instead of waiting for the Accucel to arrive, you can get an Orion Clubman Lipo for not much more. Get it quicker, have a charger with a locally honored warranty from a well established RC company with a solid support record.

Pretty much any budget Lipo charger is going to have a 50W max. This will really slow you down having to do one at a time. If you are going to get a nice charger that is designed for both then that would be the best route, second would be this http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...Charge_Capable it has a 2amp max, but thats pretty much all you will get with any other budget chargers.

+1 on the Clubman Lipo

They go for around $50 from Tower or Stormer... you could get 2 of these for just over $100... and for another $40-$60 get a decent 10-20amp power supply.. then you are all set! The Clubman has a built in balancer as well!

Can't beat that!

Jerome :tire::tire:

Guys, he already has one charger. he only needs to buy one more not 2 if he goes that route.

2 amps:weird: who the heck is going to sit around and grow old waiting for that thing to charge a 5000mah pack:eek:

I do have one charger already, but I bought it from my hobbyshop recently and haven't used it yet, could probably return it. I like the idea of going with the 2 Orion clubman's with a power supply.

So if I were to get the Triton 2 EQ which has 100w max in AC mode I could then series charge 2-4s lipos?

Any single charger can also do multiple packs if they are in series, require the same amount of charge and are not over the charger's max output voltage.

I am continuing to see a trend that I knew would happen. That is when balance boards appear that allow the user to place multiple packs in series for balancing. It may give the impression that one can throw any packs together in series just because they will plug intio the board and be charged by charger.

The packs still need to be nearly identical in every way when done in series , the same way as any single (multiple cell) pack.

Your particular case is ok since you have identical capacity packs , and they are used in series together equally in an e-revo.

The T-EQ would do a nice job at 100 watts.

T2EQ and TEQ modded for AC (good way to void warranty)
 

AC powered Tritons , Triton EQ and Triton 2 EQ.

Triton EQ uses a 60 watt ps and does 63 on DC and 50 watts on AC. It's operation is nearly identical to the Triton JR and Equinox balancer together.


Triton 2EQ uses a 150 watt ps and does 100 on AC and 120 on AC. It's operation is nearly identical to the Triton 2 and Equinox balancer together. Has a 8 amp max and 100/120 watts instead of 90 watts.

I had wondered about modding these to increase the AC power to the DC limit by reconfiguring the DC input so that it pulls power from the AC power supply. This gives the max power on AC and IF the DC wires are left intact it does allow the charger itself to power another device. Careful not to overheat or short out. The AC ps inside will run quite hot at the new level and the DC clamps will be hot all the time. It may be best to provide cooling and remove the dc input leads completely if one wants AC only. I do not recommend this mod for hot weather , but can be done successfully especially where the rate terminates toward end of charge on LI type bats.

I still do not like the capacity setting without current adjust for LI batts. I've heard of a few reports on AC quitting, but mine have been real reliable.

Here's a trick you can do without any disassembly on both units (to try it out). The 2EQ seems safer , but please watch temps when using AC power at the DC max. Using your battery or car battery or any other 11-15 volt device power up the charger before plugging into AC , After it is powered up then plug in the AC. Now you can remove the DC temporary powering up device and use the charger at the max power of 63 watts for TEQ and 120 watts for T2EQ. Use at own risk, I have not logged many hrs this way on either charger. Warranty void is possible.