Looking at picking up a 2 channel lipo charger, and am wondering how to calculate approximate charging times on a dead battery. Looking to reduce downtime during practice sessions at the track.

I have a few Lectron 2S 4600mAh 100C (5C charge rate) batteries. What would the effective time difference using either the Hitec X2 AC Plus Dual Port AC/DC Multi-Charger (6S/6A/100W) or the ProTek RC Prodigy 625 DUO Touch AC?

The charge time would depend on how discharged the pack is. That would roughly determine how may amps you would need to put in the pack. In theory you would multiply the percent of charge from your checker by the capacity of the battery and divide by your charger's amp setting. Ex; 4600mah pack at 40% charged at 5 amps would be 4600(.4) /5000 = .368hours. The reality is your charge time also depends on the pack's efficiency so the actual charge time will be longer. Im sure there are battery charge calculators floating around on the internets also.

The charge time will vary mostly based on the charge rate and how far you discharge the packs. I'm using an icharger and usually charge at 10 amps, but it is capable of 30.

Charge at higher amperage in a lipo sacks.
Dead 8000mah battery fully changed in 16m at 45amps

So the Hitec does 10a max while the Protek does 25a max. Usually at 1c charge (1x capacity of the pack) in your case 4.6a would be about an hour to charge. Meaning the Hitec would do it at like 28 mins at 10 amps and the protek would be around 11 mins to fully charge. There's a few variables of course such as pack voltage, age, fast or balance charge etc. Just rough estimates though.

Thanks, this is the info that I was looking for.

In general, charging at 1C = 1hour charge, and 2C=1/2 hour (double amperage)....4C=15min (4x amperage)

You probably already know, but 1C is charging where charging amps = battery amp hours. Your 4600mAh pack = 4.6Ah (amp hours), so if you charge at 4.5A, it will take ~1 hour to charge.



Pay attention to the rated wattage of the charger. This will tell you more about the charger than just the amps. We know that volts*amps=watts. In order for a charger to charge a 4S pack at 20 amps, it needs to have ~300watt capacity. A 200w charger claiming 20A charge rate can charge a 2S pack at 20A, but higher volt packs will charge at lower amps. Charging a 2S pack at 20A requires only 168watts (8.4v*20A=168watts), but the same charger can only charge a 4S pack at 12amps. And a 6S pack will be even less.

Also, pay attention to the fine print. Some AC/DC chargers claim 500watts per channel, but only when running off of a separate DC power source. The output on AC power is lower.

Of your options, I would go with the prodigy 625. It has 200watts, so will speed up charging.

As an alternative I would also recommend this charger: Thunder 0620AC 300Watt 20Amp Dual Charger w/ Built-n AC Power Supply

I have used it for a few years, and one of it's main benefits is the 300w output. Granted it is a single output, but you can always use a parallel board to charge multiple batteries. The advantage of a single output charger is that 100% of the power goes into a single battery, meaning faster max charging. And it can charge multiple packs at the same time with the use of a parallel board.


(Parallel charging requires all packs have equivalent capacity and to be equally discharged. Running packs 'till LVC leaves them at an equal discharge. If different charge state or different capacity packs are charged together, charging just takes a lot longer...because when one pack is full, the charger must resort to balancing current to continue charging the other packs. So worst case if you parallel charge with mis-matched batteries is that a charge takes a long time. I've done parallel charging for years, and never had a problem.)

That description for balance charging of multiple packs simultaneously would only apply for serial connections. If you connect two batteries in parallel with different voltage levels, one pack will immediately start charging the other at a potentially very high current.

I think this is the math I was skipping. The HiTec is going to probably fall short for what I'm hoping to do because of what you outlined right there. I can charge those 2S packs at 20A, and the HiTec can only put out 100w on the combined channels.

Depends on how you have the charger powered. On AC power it's 100W split between the two channels however you want. On DC power it's 100w on each channel (total of 200w), which will do 10 amps an each channel with 2S packs.

If you need an AC charger that has serious power for quick recharge times then I'd look at the Hitec D7. It's not exactly small, but the thing has 200 watt per channel on AC or DC and will charge your 2S packs at the full 20 amps the charger is capable of, that's just under a full 5C charge rate.

Power Peak D7 AC/DC Charging Station | HITEC RCD USA