Guide for Chargers

[kianhon]

I have two 11.1v 2200mah 20c and one 25c lipo batt, and I'm sick of waiting for hours to get one charged with my stock Esky charger. I''m looking to buy a charger around the price range of $100 plus minus. I don't understand most of the specification when I surf the net for it. Saw thunderpower TP425c, TP535, TP610c and Triton Jr Charger, which you recommend? What is balancer? is it necessary? does it comes with those charger I mentioned? Other cheaper and better charger you can recommend?

[ChasHeliCop]

Check out KGFly's post in this thread, it compares alot of chargers.

http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=76010

[marchambault]

Oh man... another "tell me what to buy" thread ...

There's dozens of threads on this subject, just do a little bit of browsing here on helifreak.

What specifically do you find confusing about the specifications?

If you only need to charge Lipos, and don't want to mess them up by mistake, then buy the FMA Direct Cellpro 4s. It charges up to 4s packs without any user interaction. Just plug and charge!

If you need to charge more than 4s packs, or need to charge other chemistries, then there are several dozen chargers to look at, you'll find all the info in the thread referenced above.

Don't forget, you'll need to buy a 12VDC power supply. Don't cheap out on this, a good one will last you 20 years, a cheap one could wreck a charger. Here's a good one that could easily power several chargers. http://www.hamcity.com/detail.aspx?ID=1237

[marchambault]

Saw thunderpower TP425c, TP535, TP610c and Triton Jr Charger, which you recommend?

I like the TP610c, I wrote a quick start guide for it here: http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=68927

What is balancer?

It equalizes the voltage between the cells in the pack.

is it necessary?
YES

does it comes with those charger I mentioned?
It does come with the TP-610C, it's built-in. Only the multi-adapter board sticks out. You will also need to buy/build a banana to deans adapter cable if you are going with the TP-610C

Other cheaper and better charger you can recommend?
Several good ones from Hyperion. Some with internal power supplies, but that tends to limit the output power (50 Watts typical).
Usually $80 - $150 for a good charger, $60 - $150 for a good power supply (depending on how many Amps you need to draw).

I have not tried it but many people seem to recommend the Thunder Power KP-100W6 ( http://www.readyheli.com/Kong_Power_Charger_KP_100W6_p/kp-100w6.htm ) which is the same as the Maxpro X6.

Selecting a charger:
1) Don't compare Amps, compare output Watts between chargers
2) How many cells do you need to charge today? What about in 6 months?
3) Do you need to charge Lipo only? What about Nicad or Nimh (receiver packs, transmitter, ...)
4) Does the charger come with the balancing adapter for your Lipos?
5) What other cables / plugs will you need? Charger to battery? Power supply to charger?