Looking for a new charger

[lucas2696]

I have a couple Accucel 6's and an old Electrifly Triton charger I use to charge all of my batteries, and having to deal with all the cords is just getting annoying. I haven't bought into the whole parallel charge board thing because I have too many different batteries and there's no way I'd be able to discharge them to close enough voltage to each other to use a parallel board. I was looking at either the Dynamite Passport Ultra Duo mostly, is there any known issues with that charger I should be aware of? I've messed with one a few times (used to work at a hobby shop that sold them) and I really like the menu layout and the controls, as well as the fact that it has a built in power supply (one thing that pisses me off about my charging setup now is the massive external power supply) Anything else I should look at? My only requirements really are a built in power supply, AC/DC capable, at least 200 watts per channel, and at least two channels.
Thanks guys

[Slyster]

Your won't find any good chargers that are AC/DC. If fact you don't want AC capapble.. too limiting. You can't use your car batter, deep cycles, 24v power supplies, even a larger lipo to power the charger for micro helis.

I went from this.... SEE FIRST PIC... to THIS... watch video. Couldn't be happier.

What Charger? What PSU? (sticky)
https://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=476431

iCharger 4010 Duo. A little tour of Chernobyl (0 min 56 sec)

[lucas2696]

That does look pretty slick, but unfortunately I don't have a car I can just lug three deep cycles with me around anymore. Although I admit what you have is ideal, I need more portability than that. Thus why the Passport is appealing, One cord to plug it in to the wall and that's it, and if I take it with me just use the jumpers it comes with to run off the car battery. And I'm not flying anything bigger than 4S 4500 at the moment and I only charge at 1C (cheap batteries for cheap aircraft) so I don't need huge power. Some day though, I'll have a setup like yours

[RedOctobyr]

Originally Posted by lucas2696

My only requirements really are a built in power supply, AC/DC capable, at least 200 watts per channel, and at least two channels.
Thanks guys

You're painting yourself into a corner, those are somewhat mutually-exclusive requirements.

This charger was mentioned recently here, it's 4 channels, AC/DC input (has its own PS), but it's only 7A/80W per channel. Perhaps useful if you want >2 channels, however. Pro-Tek Prodigy 67 Quad AC:
http://www.amain.com/protek-r-c-prod...0w-x-4/p260577

The Passport Duo is the most powerful option I know of that does what you're asking (internal PS, 2 channels or more). The main trouble (in my opinion) with it and the Pro-Tek is price. They seem to be ~$240-270, and are 320W-400W chargers. The main advantage is they include an internal PS. The iCharger 308Duo is $270, 2 channels, 30A+30A, 850W+850W, for a total output of 1300W.

But you *would* have to use an external PS. You could use something like a single DPS-1200FB (you could buy it from ebay for $30 or less, and modify it yourself), which would give you about 650W of output available with a 308Duo. If you put the charger & PS in some sort of case, it would be a single item to bring around/plug in. I use a plastic toolbox, it holds my PS, 308Duo, and parallel boards. It's not customized or fancy like some cases. The Duos almost certainly have higher balance current (1.2A) than the Dynamite & Pro-Tek, as well as other features that make the Duos more appealing, IMO.

Short form: if willing to give up your internal-PS requirement, you could get much more charging capability for a similar price. You may not need the extra power at the moment, but if you buy a bigger heli in the future, 200W/channel could suddenly seem a lot smaller.

[UFOking]

You can also look at the Advanced Touch Duo from Team Orion.
http://www.teamorion.com/index.php?s...eatures_hash=0

[jbrandt]

If you don't have a car, how do you get your heli to where ever you fly?

Keep in mind you can't parallel charge different cell count batteries anyway, like 3s and 6s together. But you CAN parallel charge different capacity batteries like a 3s 2200mAh and a 3s 2800 mAh pack together. Best way to keep pack voltages similar is to fly with a timer.

I think you have 3 basic options:

1) Buy more batteries:
If space is really that limited (no car), just buy a few more batteries. By far the "smallest" option. That way, you don't need to bring a charger, power supply and/or car battery with you when you go flying, or even have to worry about finding a place to plug in to ac power. For the cost of the ProTec quad (above) you could get ~12 3s 2200mAh batteries!!

2) Buy a single channel high output charger:
Also for ~$240(ish), you could get an iCharger 306B and a good 24v power supply (a converted computer server power supply) that'll give you more overall amps (30 vs 7.0amps x 4=28), and a LOT more watts (1000 watts vs. 80 x 4=320 watts). Or for a few bucks more the Power Lab PL6 has is 40amps at 1000watts.

3) Buy a low output multi-channel charger:
Since you have a few different sized batteries, however, the ProTec quad is probably the better choice. You'd be able to charge 2 3s and 2 4s batteries simultaneously, at 7amps or 80watts EACH. That's pretty cool. Not super fast if you have 6s batteries, but still cool. I have a single port 80watt 6 amp charger, and I can squeeze about 25 minute charge or so out of a 3s 2200mAh pack (just under 3C charge rate).

[RedOctobyr]

Or,

4) Buy a high-output 2-channel charger. An iCharger 308Duo, at $270, is nearly the same price as the Passport Duo, or the 4-channel Pro-Tek. Though you do need a power supply. If you can get by with 2 channels, it would offer more power, amps, and balance current than the Passport Duo. And much more than the Pro-Tek.

This assumes you don't need to charge more than 2 different cell counts at the same time. It's not too hard to go from "320W is more than I'll ever need" to "That one is only 750W?".

Buying more batteries is certainly an option. That does add cost for every heli you want to fly, however. I opted to buy a good field-charging setup, and fewer packs, when I bought a "big" (to me) heli. LiPos degrade over time, even if you aren't putting a lot of cycles on them, so they will have a shelf life.

I'm not trying to imply that the path I took is the "correct" one or anything. There are a lot of criteria, which are different for each user. Just sharing some of my thought process.

I've bought 2 chargers, a 10A/250W single channel, then 30+30A/1300W dual channel. I wanted to avoid making a "small" upgrade, then shopping for chargers again a year later.

[jbrandt]

I know, I'm guilty of constantly forgetting about the duo's...

I was mainly trying to keep the overall costs to about the same as the low output quad charger ($270 ish). The 308 Duo (cheapest icharger duo) is about the same price, but you have the extra cost (and weight) of the power supply(s) and/or deep cycles, etc...

But if you're willing to spend a few bucks more, I agree the duo would be worth it in the long run if you have a few different cell count batteries.

Then all you need is a $25 tool box from Home Depot (or where ever) and a little creativity, and you can make a pretty slick charging "station" (similar to the case combos from Progressive RC). That way, you minimize the cords flopping around everywhere, and have a cool "grab and go" case.