Do you know Pulsar 3?

[Ivamos]

I am negatively surprised, that the Pulsar 3 Charger from ELPROG seems to be here completelly unknown.
It's a waste, because im think - its one of the best and powefulls High End chargers in the world, especially for us - helicopter pilots with modern big 10 -12 S batteries.
This small thing in best best aluminum housing ist the most powerfull charger i ever had seen. It has 1500Watt charging power !!! and an internal Balancer for up to 16 Cells!
Its possible to charge 12S with up to 30A and balancing them during that time with 60Watt Power! You can supervise the whole loading and balancing process wireless on your smartphone or laptop. The Fast mode is fantastic - it shorten significantly the charging process (up to 20% for packs used many times) without adverse effects for the batteries.
This thing is manufactured by small manufactury in Poland - and its a hit in Germany! They did sale there hundreeds of the smaler predecessor Pulsar 2, Equal Balancers.
Here are some Pictures and technical specs:
http://www.elprog.com.pl/english/?st...&pstrona=02/00
I am using this baby near a year. If someone is interested, i am willing to share any experiences with it.

[Gregor99]

Most likely cost and availability in the US are major factors. When you can get a 1000 watt charger for $160-$170 that will charge at up to 40 amps, its hard to convince anyone that serial charging is worth the extra money and lack of US based support.

[buzzsaw 46]

At $630USD it is just too expensive. Could buy 2 powerlab8's for less money and have ~2700watts of charger power. Or three PL6's and have 3000watts.

[Ivamos]

Or 30 Turnigy Eco and have 6000Watts. This is not the point.
Yes - there are RC transmitter for 60USD and RC Transmitter for 2000USD. Both are working basically the some way...
Remember - there is over 120 Euro european VAT tax in the EU Price.
Pulsar 3 is of course not a cheap charger for everyone. Its an absolutelly High End Machine pricelly comparable with products from Schulze.
There are a lot of competition pilots buying and using 6S packs for 200 - 250 USD and they certainly appreciate the quality, comfort difference and safety for longer battery life with such an charger.
And there many more differences as soon as the maximum power: beginnig with precision of measurement of electrical parameters (most cheap chargers have real problems to keep the higher currents within the limits of +/- 2A near displayed value and measure the voltage under high charging current making absurdly large errors on internal resistancy etc. etc.) over complete freedom to set parameters like ending voltage per cell or balancing currents, ending with comfort to backup of any charging curves for every battery on SD card.
These are the reasons why 6 persons on my flyifield (the rest is flying nitro) decided to buy after Pulsar 2 (what was the charger for $ 250) even this baby.

[Gregor99]

Originally Posted by Ivamos

Or 30 Turnigy Eco and have 6000Watts. This is not the point.

Point taken. However this is not a fair or acurate comparsion between Pulsar and the Powerlab. Looking through the specs the Pulsar has some similar specs, some better, some worse. In no way do I get the impression that is superior. In fact for a number of my applications it would not perform as well as my Powerlab8.

And there many more differences as soon as the maximum power: beginnig with precision of measurement of electrical parameters (most cheap chargers have real problems to keep the higher currents within the limits of +/- 2A near displayed value and measure the voltage under high charging current making absurdly large errors on internal resistancy etc. etc.)

Even though the Powerlab6 or Powerlab8 are an exceptional value when compared to the Pulsar, they suffer none of these issues you attribute to "cheap chargers". It sounds like you may not be familar with the Powerlab line. I recommend that you purchase one and run it through its paces. Who knows, you may end up selling your Pulsar

[Ivamos]

Originally Posted by Gregor99

However this is not a fair or acurate comparsion between Pulsar and the Powerlab. Looking through the specs the Pulsar has some similar specs, some better, some worse.

Okay Gregor - i did my homework and i did read about Powerlab 8. And i didn`t fount anything in tech spec what can Powerlab8 better. Except in kategory " $ for Watts" - what is od course advertising and not a seriously technical spec.
Even if Powerlab8 looks to be an impressive thing for 240USD - the complete basic show us, that they are not comparable chargers. Powerlab can charge maximum 8LiPo Cells - Pulsar is made for up to 16S! Technology behind this difference is RADICALLY more complicate than 2x 8S. But even if you use packs smaller than 8S: to comparise you need to take minimum TWO Powerlabs 8. And you are by 480USD.
1344 Watts looks impressive - but Powerlab can handle max. Input Voltage 32 DC. This means near 60Ampers of Input current.
I do not know how familiar are you with electronics - but the Ohms Law ist simple.
I x R = U. Current x resistance is Voltage! When i see the 10AWG input cables of Powerlab - i definitelly don`t recomment to try this! To safe handle such a current without massive Voltage Drop and heating - you need cables twice/third time thicker!!!
But you probabły wan`t find a Power Source capable to give 60Amps by 36V and you stay by 24V and reduced power.
Speaking about two Powerlabs8 - we need two power supplys too, or one with 120Amps currents! As you can see, this range of power by Powerlab8 are very very far from the real possibilities - and the will stay most times only theory for advertising.
Pulsar 3 handle 48V Source Voltage. And this means - 28Amps by 1344Watt and still only 31Amps by 1500Watt.

Other point: "Charge current is factory calibrated on a 4A standard; calibration is to +/- 1mA"
This is a charger capable to charge with 10mA to 40A Currents! Seriously calibration need to be absoltelly minimal on the two points with minimal a maximal current! Calibration by 4A is useless by 30A! And ist very very important for safety to have control when charging LiPos with this range of currents!

There is a lot of things i can show you why there is no really comparison between Powerlab8 and Pulsar 3 possible. And i am not a charger technician or constructor - this are only the basics. (By the way a do not sell chargers - i am only user).
It is not my purpose to critise Powerlab8 - so i will write something about the charging technology, that make Pulsar 3 unique.

[Ivamos]

As i wrote - U= I x R. One of the most important parameters of a battery is internal resistance. This is R. Charging current on internal resistance make voltage.
A normal charger see (can measure) only U between plus and minus. This is an addition of battery voltage (Ub) and voltage on internal resistance (Ui). U=Ub+Ui.
Ui depends from charging current and from internal resistance. Older, more used or damaged packs have bigger internal resistance. Every Cell in the pack can have different Ri!
Measuring the Cell Voltage during high charge current mean a massive measurement error! Voltage on Cell with bigger R means higher Ui. So voltage on this Cell has during charging the fastest increase. Charger and Balancer interprete this as a best loaded cell and reduce the charging. After loading process is this cell not fully loaded and because missing the Ui, is his voltage too low. The battery is not really good loaded, the cells are not balanced right. Even most precise measurement under charging current is not enough to handle the battery pack right.
So what do the Pulsar 3 othervise?
Pulsar ist not onlu a marketing name - its the basic of its charging technology.
It means no constant load current - it mean pulses.
The voltage measurement is doing as usual at first under charging current, but after this makes Pulsar a short charging break and very short DISCHARGING Pulse. And make the second measurement. Free of Ui on the internal resistance! A real cell voltage !
This process let the cell fully and safe load indepently of how high ist the charging current and independently from internal resistance.
Especially on many times used batteries - you have more usable capacity and more power! The batteries are much better balanced and have longer life!
The measurements show lower internal resistance after Reflex charging.
Since Pulsar make two different measurements - it can calculate and observe the resistance of every cell in the pack during the whole charging process! This mean - it can detect worse cells long before they get definitelly damaged!
You have complete owerview on the state of every cell in a 16S Pack!
For charging LiPos with high currents this is an extremally big plus an safety. Without this kind of controll i would not risk to load flammable and explosive LiPo Cells with more than 2C.
This is of course still only the basic to understand the philosophy behind the Pulsar 3 technology. It makes it of course definitelly not cheaper - but it makes it much much better and safer to use with the enormeous charging power.
Only this aspect itself is enough to make it a fantastic value for this money. But there is a lot more.