Thinking About Buying A PL8

[Onewaymitch]

I am considering purchasing the Revolectrix FMA PL8 “The Powerline” 1000W Combo from PRC http://www.progressiverc.com/the-pow...00w-combo.html.
I have a couple of questions to assure that I have the proper equipment and accessories to work with my current setup.

Currently I am using an iCharger 206B with a P350 PS with a JST-XH/TP balance board with 2x 6S-TP balance lead or 6x 3S-TP balance lead and a 6x-EC5 charge lead.
The batteries that I have are; 4 Thunder Power 3SPP65 and 4 Thunder Power 6SPP65.
I had inadvertently pulled the charge lead positive side out of the 206B as I was disconnecting a battery and it shorted out across the balance port on the charger damaging it, causing the balancing function to not work. This is the reason for possibly purchasing a new charger.

The questions that I have are;
*Will the balancing and charging leads that I currently have work? In reading the manual for the PL8, I believe that it indicates a specific fused lead, do I really need those?
*Will I need any other accessories?
*Could I just buy the PL8 and use the P350 PS that I already have? If I did that would I be severely handicapping the PL8?
Is it possible to repair the balance port on the 206B and save $$?

Are there any other questions that I need to ask?

Thanks in advance for any advice,
OWM

[pctomlin]

First off the PL8 is an excellent charger and will meet your charging needs for many years. If the 208B/P350 was adequate then replacing the 208B with the PL8 is a good choice. As for the PL8 being severely handicapped - yes it will be, but only by your current power supply.
You can go all in with the Progressive charger case, or just buy a PL8 to replace the 208B if your old set up was working for you and upgrade the power supply later as your needs change. You can also make your own charging case with converted server power supplies.
When I went from a 306B to a PL8 as the main charger in my portable charging set up I had to make adapters for the EC5 squid because the banana plugs did not fit the PL8 charger connections to my satisfaction and also for the balance squid since the PL8 uses a JST PA connection on the charger.

[Onewaymitch]

Thank you for the response, that certainly helps to me to see your squids compared to mine. I think that I will add the fuses to my leads, maybe that would have prevented the short from causing the damage to my 206B.
Now I just need to decide if I really "need" the larger PSU.

[pctomlin]

The one thing I am going to change from the above picture is to get rid of the middle adapter (EC3 to banana female) and put the other half of the EC3 on the squid to mate up with the PL8 battery connector. I will use an adapter to the EC3/banana male if I want to use this with my 306B.
When I wired up the balance connector (6S) I went with the JST XH female to the JST PA wiring convention. You can see that port seven and eight are open on the PA connector.