Power Supply Help!

[ssschmidt4]

Hello all,

I flew helis hard and heavy back in 90's and early 2000's, wow a lot has changed!😳😳 I have an old Pryamid power supply, Input: 115V Ac 60Hz 70 watt, Output: 13.8 V D.C. 5 amp constant 7 amp surge! Would this be suitable to power a iCharger 206b, or should I just update to new times? Thanks for the help!!!

[ssschmidt4]

I forgot to mention, I plan on charging a 6s 910 mah 30c battery!

[Imzzaudae]

Your power supply should do the job nicely!

[Wargamer]

+1, and if that supply dies or you decide to go bigger, there are several guys around who will provide single (12v) or double (24v) power supplies that are built from server supplies. They don't charge you much more than you would pay on ebay just to buy the server supply as is.

[ssschmidt4]

Correct me if I'm wrong, and to help clear up my confusion:

In charging the pack I mentioned earlier at 2C the math would be?

Watts=Volts X Amps soooo...

Watts= 6s (25.2v) X 2C (1.8amps)
Watts=45.36

My power supply is 70w and I know the charger is more than capable of providing 45.36w, however if I chose to charge a 6s 5000mah at 2C I should plan on buying a much larger power supply to provide the correct watts? Am I making any sense here?

[HeliLust]

Yes, the part you are missing is though is voltage. Your power supply is 13.8 v dc, you need need one that matches the 6s battery at 25.2. It's common to wire 2 identical power supplies in series. To get the proper voltage.

[oliver1071]

Originally Posted by HeliLust

Yes, the part you are missing is though is voltage. Your power supply is 13.8 v dc, you need need one that matches the 6s battery at 25.2. It's common to wire 2 identical power supplies in series. To get the proper voltage.

The Icharger will up-convert a 12v psu though no biggy you just have a lower maximum amps usually limited to 10 or 20 amps. I charge no problem off of a 12v 750watt psu at 10 amps on my 206b I have at work. I charge 4 1800mah 6s lipos in parallel.

If i'm not mistaken my 306b can handle 20amps at 12v as long as you have enough of a psu to do it but you need 24v to hit 30amps.

[ssschmidt4]

So if I'm only supplying 13.8 v to charger while charging a 6s the charger will ramp up the voltage? Is this hard on the charger? The high volt psu are expensive!!!

[oliver1071]

Originally Posted by ssschmidt4

So if I'm only supplying 13.8 v to charger while charging a 6s the charger will ramp up the voltage? Is this hard on the charger? The high volt psu are expensive!!!

It's a little harder on the psu and the charger just because it will use more amps to charge no biggy though.

People make them pretty cheap on ebay and here. But you're only charging a 900 mah lipo so until you go bigger I wouldn't worry to much. http://www.ebay.com/itm/24v-1500w-62...kAAOSwHJhXM1XV


http://www.buddyrc.com/ep-buddy-1800...er-supply.html

or feathermurchant has cheap ones as well
http://feathermerchantrc.com/

There are plenty of sites that show you how to float the ground on a server psu to combine two to get 24v if you think you're up to it.
I've always made my own psu's out of server power supplies.

[ssschmidt4]

Makes sense now, thanks for the help!!

[Wargamer]

another good source...

http://www.lipoconnectionsolutions.com/

The prices from the one-man shops are very reasonable, so it really comes down to whether you like messing with your own electronics (for the fun of it) or would rather spend the time doing something else!

[oliver1071]

Yeah it's actually quite simple to float one RCHN has some nice instructions on one of the best psu's to use http://www.rchelination.com/setting-...-power-supply/

The DPS1200 is crazy small for the 1800watts you'll get out of it. It's only 1200 at 220v think it's 900watts per unit at 120v which is why I say 1800.

[Ace Dude]

I always recommend using a power supply of the desired voltage rather than using a multiple power supplies in series. Keep in mind those power supplies were never designed to be used in series and if one in series dies it can take out your charger as well.

[Wargamer]

Theory is good, and data is also good when making practical decisions. There are a LOT of guys using 2 x 12v server supplies in series, and I have yet to see a post about a failure, so the frequency has to be pretty low.

The guys who build them have a very satisfied customer base, and I saw many more complaints about issues with some of the purpose-built hobby power supplies.

Again, just trying to provide some of the data that I used when making a decision.

[ssschmidt4]

Thank you all for the advice! I am planning on charging 6s batteries for awhile! According to the math a Junsi P350 and iCharger 206b will do fine for that! I know the junsi p350 only offers 15v I would like to use 24 volt but it offers enough amps to get the job done!!!

[peteski]

Originally Posted by ssschmidt4

Thank you all for the advice! I am planning on charging 6s batteries for awhile! According to the math a Junsi P350 and iCharger 206b will do fine for that! I know the junsi p350 only offers 15v I would like to use 24 volt but it offers enough amps to get the job done!!!

Yes, that's a well proven setup for sure. I use the P350 with a 106b+ (250W 10A charger) and even that works pretty well with 6S packs as long as you stick to 1C charging. The 206b should be fine for your immediate needs.