Somebody own or seen one of these chargers ?

[bjosko]

Hi.
I am in the process to build 3 x 7s A123 packs for my heli, and need a new and larger charger that can handle either 6s or A123 directly, and it should also could do it with 2C = minimum ~6A


1. Jamara X-Peak Premium found locally for $ 212
http://www.jamara-modelltechnik.de/product_info.php/info/p2840_X-Peak-Premium.html
I am familiare with the brand from a balancer I have, so I think the quality are ok, but I cant see that it can do storage-charging on Lipos, and no fancy graphs on the display.

2. MegaPower Infinity 960 SR Found locally for $ 233
http://planemania.dk/elektrisk/lader_mega_power_960_sr_da.html
Sorry, only in danish. I cant find this charger many places. It looks like a copy of Robbe (but who do not copy each other .. ).
It seems like it can do all the smart things, storage charging, and with graphic display.
I already have this balancer :
http://flying-hobby.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=12_41&products_id=1953
As you see on these pictures, they use the same charger I am looking at, but since I only find it very few places, I am a little bit worry about the brand and quality.

A third charger to recomand in about the same priceaspect ?

(Sorry for my spelling, can't find the spell-checker :)

[csell]

Hello Bjørn.

Kgfly makes some great charger comparisons, here is one from august in post nr 29:

http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=41658&page=3

and this from oktober in post nr 10 : http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=47385


For 7s a123 you will need a 8s or 10s charger, but be aware of, that many charger charge
a123 batteries with less current as the number of cell increase. This happen allready at 7s or 8s.


I charge my own 12s a123 packs in 15 min with the max recomended charge current of 10A and recomend you to do the same:

http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=39527&page=15


I don't know your time schedule, but may be you can consider the new CellPro10s, even that I personally
don't like its dual 5s specification. It is for heavy power charging between 6s and 10s and is in your price range:

http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=50016


Regards Carsten

[bjosko]

Thanks Carsten.
I think the CellPro10 looks intresting, but I wont one soon :-)

Maybee I should buy a Daptor for now ? (I have alredy ordred a 13,8V / 10 A Powersupply for home use, and they have 60 A at my flying field)

We will see many new chargers next year, I think.

Your soloutions look nice, but i think it is a little bit overkill for my use, I want to keep it simple to set up, and move, without to many loose cables and boxes to drag with me.
So, with 3 packs, I think i could wait a little bit longer between each charging, or snap my little T-Rex when charging the bigger one :-)

Maybee some of our Swedish neigbours chime in about the MegaPower, as it seems like some of them are using that charger. I know Ezfly sell them, thats might be the reason.

[csell]

Hello Bjørn.

Maybee I should buy a Daptor for now?.

I know 2 different Daptors If you choose this solution temperary:

http://slkelectronics.com/lipodapter/index.htm

and

http://www.infinity-hobby.com/main/product_info.php?cPath=30_77&products_id=1877

I have alredy ordred a 13,8V / 10 A Powersupply for home use.

Charging voltage for 7s a123 is 25-26 volt. If you use a 13,8V / 10 A power suply will the charge current be below 5 Amps.
If it still is possiable will I recomed to cansel this order and get a min 20A instead. Price differences between 10A and 20A is very small.

We will see many new chargers next year, I think.

Yes, kgfly had stated that and I agree.

I want to keep it simple to set up, and move, without to many loose cables and boxes to drag with me.

DeWalt balance the a123 batteries while charging. I recomend to balance at least once in a while. When looking on how many cables and boxes is it an advance to select a charger with built in balancer.

or snap my little T-Rex when charging the bigger one :-).

I don´t know, but if your bigger one is a T-Rex 600, if it is, will I recomend you read my entire thread, even it is quit long:

http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=39527

Regards Carsten

[bjosko]

Hello Bjørn.

I don´t know, but if your bigger one is a T-Rex 600, if it is, will I recomend you read my entire thread, even it is quit long:

http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=39527

Regards Carsten

Hello Carsten.
I have read your exelent thread here, and at RCU.

I will try to change my PowerSupply order, thanks.

The bigger one, that I wanna use A123 on are my Hurricane 550. The small one which I still would use Lipos on, are on my T-Rex 450, and what the future will bring ..... :-)

[kgfly]

1. Jamara X-Peak Premium found locally for $ 212
http://www.jamara-modelltechnik.de/p...k-Premium.html
I am familiare with the brand from a balancer I have, so I think the quality are ok, but I cant see that it can do storage-charging on Lipos, and no fancy graphs on the display.

2. MegaPower Infinity 960 SR Found locally for $ 233
http://planemania.dk/elektrisk/lader...960_sr_da.html
Sorry, only in danish. I cant find this charger many places. It looks like a copy of Robbe (but who do not copy each other .. ).
It seems like it can do all the smart things, storage charging, and with graphic display.
I already have this balancer :
http://flying-hobby.com/catalog/prod...oducts_id=1953
As you see on these pictures, they use the same charger I am looking at, but since I only find it very few places, I am a little bit worry about the brand and quality.

1) Looks externally a lot like the Hyperion 1210iA which is a good unit. Hard to say where it is or isn't the same :dontknow:

2) I have seen this same charger (identical appearance and specifications) under at least three different brands. I did see glowing reports about it from one user in Asia where he said they are very popular under the Tamazo (?spelling?) brand. They never mention the max output power but I did see someone mention it as something over 100W, maybe 150W? You would want to confirm the output power before committing so that you can assess whether it will meet your needs.

3) Since you already have the 2s-12s balancer you could just try the cheap Dapoter from flying-hobby, or possibly even go without. It is not entirely clear, but since the balancer specs say "charge-through" and "Over-voltage protect" I am guessing that it will break the primary charge circuit if any cell goes over the threshold, effectively doing the same as the dapter/Dapoter. The A123 cells are amazing robust, there have been some very punishing tests done by folk on RCG, including charging them to 4.3V over a 100 times in a row, all with no discernable affect on performance or capacity, so you could try just using your balancer without much risk of damaging the A123 pack.

Note that a 13.8V/10A DC supply is only going to work for 3s A123, for 7s A123 you need at least 22V plus some current limiting so as not to blow the fuse on your balancer.

You could balance charge a 7s A123 using the 6s LiPo setting on a Hyperion 0610i together with your existing in-line balancer. That would give you up to 10A charge rate so long as your input supply is up to the load. The 0610i has a nice feature where you can tell it the limits of your input power supply and it will ensure it does not overload the supply.

Other choices for 7s A123 include:

* eStation BC8 (2s-8s integrated balance charger, 150W/7A output)
* Hyperion 1210i + 2xLBA10 (2s-12s, charger + 2 balancers, 180W/10A output)
* eStation 902 + 2xPB6 (2s-12s, charger + 2 balancers, 200W/10A output)
* TP1010 + 210V (2s-10s, charger + balancer, 220W/10A output)

The current leading wisdom on A123 packs is that they should be carefully balanced for about their first 10 cycles then checked. If they are in balance after that then they only need balancing every so often (some say never, others say around 1 in 10 cycles). Of course it never hurts to balance charge.

Let us know what you decide and how it turns out. I would certainly be interested in a Freak's review of that (2) charger as well as any comments you have about your MegaPower 2s-12s balancer.

[bjosko]

1. As I can see, the Jamara charger are missing the storage-charging for Lipos, that I also wanna use, as I have many of them.

2. The MegaPower charger should put out 180 watts from the primary outlet, and 50 watt (only for NiXx-batteries) at secondary outlet.The chager are rated to 10 A, same as the Jamara (1.)

So far, this are my favourite, it should be a copy of Robbe Power Peak 3 ( that cost the same as eStation 902 (but without BID (whatsoever that is) but can handle A123 Cells - opposite to the Robbe), and my new MegaPower balancer should works together with it.

I cant find any adresses on my MegaPower balancer or the charger, other than made in Korea.Well, my eStation 301 also came from Korea, and that little charger I have seen under many brands.

About the eStation E 902, it is a bit more expensive, and I think its first in the later releases they support A123 directly. For my sake, with 7s, they should charge fine from a 6S lipo-setting, but I might step up to more cells later on :-/

[kgfly]

2. The MegaPower charger should put out 180 watts from the primary outlet, and 50 watt (only for NiXx-batteries) at secondary outlet.The chager are rated to 10 A,
OK 180W output means it will do up to 4S LiPo/5S A123 @ 10A and then the max current goes down from there, 7S A123 @7A, 10s@5A or 12s@4A which is not bad. Combined with your existing balancer that would give you a pretty good solution.

Is there an optional data cable connection between the MegaPower charger and MegaPower balancer that lets the charger monitor/display the per-cell voltages ? That is quite an important feature IMO, although you certainly can get by without it.

About the eStation E 902, it is a bit more expensive, and I think its first in the later releases they support A123 directly. For my sake, with 7s, they should charge fine from a 6S lipo-setting, but I might step up to more cells later on :-/
The e902 is an excellent charger and I know quite a few very happy users.It was one of the first to offer integrated A123 support, from a year or more ago. It is best matched with the PB6 balancers otherwise the charger (and you) cannot monitor the per-cell voltages. The 200W/10A output gives you a bit more oomph than the MegaPower.

[bjosko]

OK 180W output means it will do up to 4S LiPo/5S A123 @ 10A and then the max current goes down from there, 7S A123 @7A, 10s@5A or 12s@4A which is not bad. Combined with your existing balancer that would give you a pretty good solution.

So I could exept a charging time about 20-25 minutes with a 7S setup ?
If so, thats sound ok to me.


Is there an optional data cable connection between the MegaPower charger and MegaPower balancer that lets the charger monitor/display the per-cell voltages ? That is quite an important feature IMO, although you certainly can get by without it.

Yes, thats one of the reasons I am a little bit warm on this charger.
If this links works (dont now how to insert pics in a quote/quick reply), here are som pics from the screen:
http://planemania.dk/popup_add_image.php?imagesID=202

http://planemania.dk/popup_add_image.php?imagesID=203

And here one from the connection:.
http://flying-hobby.com/catalog/popup_image.php?pID=1953&photo=5

The store that sells the MegaPower here in Denmark are closed for vacation until Nov. 13. , so I have some time to build my A123 setup, and look after other soloutions.

[kgfly]

Yes, at 7A you should get under 30 minute recharge.

Well it's not my money but given you already have the MegaPower balancer and that the MegaPower charger seems to have the right features and adequate power all at the right price I think I would buy it. It seesm to me it will be a neat and highly flexible solution.

Let us know how it goes :)

[kamtsa]

(Sorry for my spelling, can't find the spell-checker :)

Firefox has a built in speller (and many other great features) and it is free ;-)

Kam