Charger help
 

I have a mrc super brain charger now the 977

I am looking for a charger that can do the lipo balancing in the charger(I guess maybe i am just not educated on the external ones)

I have been looking at hitex x4 i just want to know what other ones like this i should be looking at

I like the ability to charge 2 or more batteries at once and want one that is not a cheapy so my batteries last longer.

Look at the Hitec x2 also - its a dual charger.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXAYVD

The x2 has more charger power in each channel (200 watts) than the x4 (50watts).

Amain sells a version of it too -

http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...S-10A-200W-x-2

So what benefit does the extra power per battery give me?

Extra power will allow charging higher cell counts (3S , 4S etc) at a full 1C charge rate or if the lipos are rated for higher than 1C charging (some allow charging at 3- 5C) the extra power will allow that.

50watts will charge a 2S 5000mah lipo at 5amps (1C charge) but if you try charging anything higher capacity or higher cell count, a 50watt charger will limit charge current to stay under its power limit and the charge will take longer to complete. In some cases a lot, lot longer.

Lots run into this when they decide to run 1/8 e buggy. Those typically use 4S 5000mah lipos and a 50watt charger will charge one of those as low as 3amps since thats all the power it has. 200watt wouldn't be limited.

well I running a 1/8 buggy with 4S lipos so I think i will go with the x2

What should i look for on a power supply for this?

I am probably going to be making my own wwith a computer supply so

what should i look for there?

Thanks you have been a ton of help

There is about a 20% inefficiency in chargers - they have losses and generate some heat, so to run it at full power, you should look for a PS with 220watts or more. I've not converted a normal PC power supply, but do use a PC server type supply which required a little wiring, but nothing like what you're looking at. Most PCs these days seem to have a 250-350watt supply, so you should be good once its converted.

There are a bunch of how-to's on the net, just do a google search. Here is one and its def RC oriented -

http://www.tjinguytech.com/my-projects/convert-pc-ps

So as far as charging goes the website says the x2 can charge lipos the same way the x4. 1c charge rate

So does this change anything ?

Sorry for all the silly questions

Thanks for the how-to

There are 3 diff lipo charge modes - charge mode (no balancing) lipo balance mode (balances while charging), lipo storage mode (charges to storage voltage) and lipo fast charge mode. Only the fast lipo charge mode is limited to 1C. If you look at the manual, pg 17 you'll see the charge rate mentioned as settable from 0.1 - 10amps.

The reason for a FAST lipo charge mode is to reduce time, so it seems stupid to me to impose this limitation, especially if you have a high C charge capable lipo. They do this by shortening the CV part of the lipo charge protocol.


So to answer your question, no it doesn't change anything, the X2 is still a more capable, more powerful charger.

So is the Venom the same charger just in red?(saw it in banner below thread)

Or do I just stick to the Hitec one?

I think the X2 is going to be the way I want to go .

Dell power supply:

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_from=R4...-700AB&afsrc=1

Directions here:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...&postcount=408

Fan is loud, you can quiet it:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...&postcount=444

This is where these came from -

http://www.skyrc.com/index.php?route...t&product_id=2

The ads on here change all the time, but I did see it on their website -

http://www.venom-group.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=0663

Looks like they've had it re-badged as well.....cheaper than the Hitec or the Amain Prodigy 610Dual. I've had probs with their Venom stuff, they always made good, it was just the hassle of going thru the process and waiting.

Looks like the Venom warranty is just 30days, Hitec's warranty is two years (see pg 30 at the bottom in the manual) and I don't know what Amain has for a warranty on their Prodigy, but suspect its at least a year.

That is prob the reason there's a diff in the prices.