BALANCE CHARGERS
 

Looking for some advice on which is the best balancer charger for lipos, I'm currently using an Imax b6. Any advice would be appreciated.

i dont think there is a best, there all good at what they do, just the more you spend the better internals you seem to get

cml do some good ones as do schumacher, but id struggle to pick one if i needed one

I'd second that, one balancer is as good as the next, its just the charger that's different, the balancing circuitry in every charger does the same job,

If you want a charger that will be amoung the best at not too bad a price get the team Orion advantage touch charger,

http://www.teamorion.com/index.php?d...iew&page_id=46

I have 2 and other guys at our track have them and others are planning on getting them,

The rest of the guys I know use the imax b6, so you could just stick with that as its a popular charger.

Mark is right, you get what you pay for and this is one of the latest and one of the best out there

http://www.the-pred.co.uk/zencart/in...oducts_id=1007

The B6 is an ok charger.
Just make sure you have enough power for 1 c or more!

Neil is correct but i use 6000 cells and still cahrge a 5 amps (habit really) as it make no difference to performance just reduces charge tile charging at higher amps, even though my charger will do up to 8 amps x 2 channels

Thaks for the input guys appreciated.:D

I would recommend getting a charger with an intelligent storage function. On my Hyperion charger I select store mode, the charger decides whether it needs to charge or discharge the cells to reach the ideal storage capacity of between 60-70%.

1+ for the Orion Touch Charger

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Just done the update aswell

Woo Woo i can change the colour of the screen!!

oh yeh.........and charges upto 6 amps

I have the icharger 208b, 350 watt charger most chargers are 50 watts, you can get the 106b for £50/60 but you need a psu to run it,

2A max discharge for the orion touch seems a bit low is that correct ???!!

you dont need to discharge lipo!

Gens Ace iMars chargers, good price to!! http://www.giantshark.co.uk/gens-ima...-p-407515.html

What are peoples thoughts on charging at more than 1c say at 10amps with the thunderpower charger or equivalent ?

Mark,
With today's Lipo's Team Orion recommended to charge at no less than 1C.
Better to charge at 6.5 amps!

If you fully charge a pack and your car breaks near the start of the race, you would want to storage discharge them which would take up to 3 hours at 2A.

That's why I have the LRP Pulsar Touch.

And? If you have a final to run no probs, if not discharge em while you mend ur car at home, not like there is any rush....

Only thing i can think of, is that if you've not raced in a while, you need to put a cycle or two through the cells to wake them up, if thats the case, a low discharge current will be a pain.

best value charger
 

I have two Turnigy Accucel 6 chargers from "nilesinstall rc" on eBay...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Turnigy-Ac...ht_1427wt_1111

As a club racer, this is fine for me and I don't see the need to spend more. It fast charges, balances and 'stores' my LiPos and my transmitter pack. I've also used them with LiFe and Nimh.

I'm new to lipo's but i thought they advantage over NiMH is that they don't have a memory? I thought if you put a storage charge through them, then just peaked them they should be perfect straight off?

storage charge/discharge is a setting on the charger that puts the lipo at 3.85V/ 50% capacity or there abouts depending on charger. This is because the lipo shouldn't be stored fully charged or drained. I had a team orion iq605 for sale a few weeks back and have decided to keep it for my nimh charging.
But too recommend a charger we need to know what lipos you will be using.will you be wanting AC or DC. Budget.