Need a good Parallel lipo charger

[Steven_1984]

So... I have 7 Protek batteries for my 120 sr and I'm using the stock celectra charger. I'm looking for a good charger so I can charge all my batteries at once, I know I need to buy the parallel plug but what is a good reliable charger that won't set me back hundreds of dollars?

[mybad]

I've been using the 4 port charger that came with my mSR.

It works great for my Tenergy batteries which have TWO connectors, including one that plugs into the charger without an adapter! (You might want to use tweezers or some other object to guide it into place). The batteries charge to exactly the right point; if I move them to the 120SR Celectra charger, they are right at the "Night Rider" oscillating lights.

Load 4 good D alkaline batteries into the charger and you can charge on the run

Works great for me!

[Texalmighty]

Originally Posted by mybad

I've been using the 4 port charger that came with my mSR.

It works great for my Tenergy batteries which have TWO connectors, including one that plugs into the charger without an adapter! (You might want to use tweezers or some other object to guide it into place). The batteries charge to exactly the right point; if I move them to the 120SR Celectra charger, they are right at the "Night Rider" oscillating lights.

Load 4 good D alkaline batteries into the charger and you can charge on the run

Works great for me!

What's your charge time using the 4-port?

[Steven_1984]

Yeah I have heard of that option, but I will be stepping up to a CP bird very soon, I'm going to need something that can handle the many types of packs I'm going to end up owning, any ideas?

[jonamore]

I have a 120sr with 4 stock batteries. I use a "Thunder AC 6" charger and can charge all 4 at once with a parallel cable. Takes about 70 minutes to charge all 4. I got mine from hobbypartz.com here: http://www.hobbypartz.com/thac6smbachw.html

I charge at .8 Amps and 1S (3.7 volts) for the 4 batteries. I still haven't researched the appropriate charge rate/conversions for parallel, but those settings seems to work really well for me. .8 amps is only .1 over the e-flight recommended so I think the risk is minimal.

[Johnbt]

I bought a Venom charger. It comes with everything you need. Power supply, balancing board, all of your basic adapters for batteries. You can charge AC/DC it comes with the alligator clips also to charge from a DC source.

You can also charge up to 5 amps. Cost you 125.00 bucks!

[Robertmendon]

Originally Posted by Johnbt

I bought a Venom charger. It comes with everything you need. Power supply, balancing board, all of your basic adapters for batteries. You can charge AC/DC it comes with the alligator clips also to charge from a DC source.

You can also charge up to 5 amps. Cost you 125.00 bucks!

Do you have a link for this one

[Johnbt]

Originally Posted by Robertmendon

Do you have a link for this one

I got it at my LHS (gotta keep some of my funds going to the local economy) but if you do a google search most all hobby shops sell them online.

[Steven_1984]

Yeah, I didn't want to spend that much, but I figured it would be worth it in the long run. I bought the Venom Pro Charger Plus, seemed like a good deal with all the different cables and not needing an external power supply.

[mybad]

Originally Posted by Texalmighty

What's your charge time using the 4-port?

About 60-90 minutes or so. Longer if weak alkaline batteries.

[Johnbt]

It took 110 minutes to charge my 3 proteks together at .8 amps.

[Texalmighty]

Originally Posted by mybad

About 60-90 minutes or so. Longer if weak alkaline batteries.

Think that charge time would be reduced with AC power, i only ask because my car has a 110/115 AC plug

[Johnbt]

Originally Posted by Texalmighty

Think that charge time would be reduced with AC power, i only ask because my car has a 110/115 AC plug

My 110 minutes was on ac power.

[Holly]

Originally Posted by jonamore

I charge at .8 Amps and 1S (3.7 volts) for the 4 batteries. I still haven't researched the appropriate charge rate/conversions for parallel, but those settings seems to work really well for me. .8 amps is only .1 over the e-flight recommended so I think the risk is minimal.

If you charge 4 stock 500 mAh batteries in parallel, it would be 2 A (1S). The charger sees these 4 batteries as one bigger one (4 x 500 mAh = 2 A).

If you would charge them with 2 A this would be a charge rate of 1C what is below e-Flite's recommendation and would result in a charging time of approx 1 hour for all 4 batteries (normally even less, as the batteries aren't totally empty). And if you're in a hurry, you could even go higher than 2 A to speed up charging times. But in general 1C is considered to be the best charge rate for Lipo batteries.